Memo re: PLEO 1.

Advanced Communication Skills (ACS) Summer Reading and Viewing

Hello, We hope you all enjoyed your fieldwork and are enjoying a bit of a break now, this summer.

We are writing to remind you of the requirements as you come into the PLEO 1 course, specifically, the ‘Advanced Communication Skills’ portion. You will need to purchase the Counselling and Therapy Skills; 5^th Edition (Martin & Johnson) textbook so that you can read it over the summer; it is required reading to prepare for the learning coming in ACS.

This portion of the course starts at the beginning of the school year, and you need to be ready to work immediately. This is because you ‘hit the ground running’ with practicing your communication skills in your situational client-therapist partnerships with the incoming MOT1’s.

You may remember that this section of the course, which includes five “counselling” sessions with the MOT1’s or a designate (some students may be matched with a new grad), must be completed prior to them leaving for their Basic placements.

You are expected to learn the theory and content throughout the summer and will write the exam in the second week back at school. It is a multiple choice and short answer-based exam. You will need to demonstrate an understanding of the material, before you can proceed into your 1:1 sessions. We will then use the Fall Term learning how to apply the material and develop a basic understanding of a therapy/counselling process through practice and application.

Please note that the exam is completed in person on your laptops. Please ensure you have everything ready. If you have accommodations and plan to write with SAS you will need to arrange this with them in advance, so please ensure you connect with them soon. We will be using Respondus for this exam.

Along with reading the textbook, there are several other steps that will need to be completed prior to starting your ACS classes. We have outlined them below:

Purchase & Read the Textbook using the companion Worksheets as a Study Guide:

Prior to leaving for fieldwork, purchase the Counselling and Therapy Skills textbook. This can be purchased from the UM Bookstore.

Martin, D. G., & Johnson, E. A. (2024). Counseling and therapy skills. Waveland Press.

o An Evocative Empathy Worksheet & Exam Preparation Guide have been provided to help you learn this material and prepare for the exam. You can find them at this link:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-2zCXqPr3-XHX-DLejsceIC4yqoK4_0n?usp=sharing

Complete the Background Readings Re: Virtual Therapy:

Guidance Document for OTs in Manitoba Regarding Telepractice (COTM) with important information related to virtual therapy

https://cotm.ca/upload/Telepractice_Guidance_Document.pdf

Rogante, M., Kairy, D., Giacomozzi, C., & Grigioni, M. (2015). A quality assessment of systematic reviews on telerehabilitation: What does the evidence tell us?
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-2zCXqPr3-XHX-DLejsceIC4yqoK4_0n?usp=sharing

Vizza, J., Riahi, S., Jackson, O., Potvin, C., & Rudoler, D. (2025). Therapy in the digital age: exploring in-person and virtual cognitive behavioural therapy. BMC psychiatry, 25(1), 615.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12888-025-07063-0

Aafjes-Van Doorn, K., Békés, V., Luo, X., & Hopwood, C. J. (2024). Therapists' perception of the working alliance, real relationship and therapeutic presence in in-person therapy versus tele-therapy. Psychotherapy Research, 34(5), 574-588.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10503307.2023.2193299#abstract

4. View the 3 Recorded Lectures:

o The following lectures are asynchronous course hours for ACS in PLEO 1

ACS Lecture 1: Introduction

(Please skip over minutes 9:35 to 10:11 as this information is not relevant this year. Stop watching the Lecture 1 recording at 15:30).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxV7mLwlr_k

ACS Lecture 2: Theory and Evidence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL76kKaFXSI

ACS Lecture 3: Empirical Evidence and Therapeutic Alliance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsPgyaGREyI

o Use the PowerPoint slides linked here to accompany the recorded lectures

(Note: There is also a slide deck for Termination. There is not a separate recording for this topic. It is discussed in Lecture 1. Read these notes as well).

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-2zCXqPr3-XHX-DLejsceIC4yqoK4_0n?usp=sharing

5. Complete the Pre-Assignment Reflection:

o Posted on UM Learn

To be completed after the above steps are completed and prior to attending the first class

All the above will be essential preparation for the exam and for your sessions. We look forward to working through this learning with you in the Fall. Please reach out with any questions you may have on the readings or required work listed in this Memo.

Lisa Diamond-Burchuk

Jodene Neufeld

Nadia MacKinnon

Bronwyn Fontaine

Andrea Mandzuk

Lisa

Lisa Diamond-Burchuk (she/her)

Senior Instructor

Occupational Therapy Program

College of Rehabilitation Sciences

Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

University of Manitoba

R127-771 McDermot Ave.

Winnipeg, MB

R3E 0T6

204 789-3221

I am grateful to be a guest on Treaty 1 Territory. I thank the Annishanaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, Dene and Metis people for taking care of this land over the centuries. Horrific harms have been done and continue to be done. I will work towards truth and reconciliation in my personal and professional lives.