This guide is for CEFS 691 Week 2 Discussion Board Forum 1, start to submission. A 350 to 450-word thread on the week's addiction counseling reading, then two 200 to 300-word replies.
CEFS 691 is Substance Abuse: Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention, 3 credit hours, in Liberty University's MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Canvas and the course guide file print the code as CEFS691; it is the same course.
| Course | CEFS 691 Substance Abuse: Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention |
|---|---|
| Module/Week | 2 |
| Points | 50 points |
| Length | Thread 350 to 450 words; replies 200 to 300 words |
| Replies | 2 classmates' threads, 200 to 300 words each |
| Sources | Capuzzi and Stauffer, Miller and Rollnick, and research |
| Faith integration | Not required by the guide |
| Format | Canvas discussion thread |
What CEFS 691 Week 2 Discussion Board Forum 1 asks for
For each forum you create a thread of 350 to 450 words showing course knowledge, then reply to 2 classmates with 200 to 300 words each. Forum 1 is due in Module/Week 2 with Capuzzi and Stauffer chapters 4 to 6 and Miller and Rollnick chapters 1 and 2. Worth 50 points.
Where it fits in CEFS 691
In the published schedule, Discussion Board Forum 1 is one of 8 graded written assignments in CEFS 691. It follows Week 1 Substance Abuse Certification Paper and comes before Week 3 Experiential Paper 1: AA.
How CEFS 691 Week 2 Discussion Board Forum 1 is graded
Liberty grades Discussion Board Forum 1 with the rubric attached to the assignment in Canvas, worth 50 points in the published guide. That is about 5% of the course's 1,010 points. Read the rubric first. Each row is a criterion, and the wording of the highest column is the closest thing you have to a model answer.
Course grades in CEFS 691 use Liberty's point scale: an A is 940 to 1010 points of the course total. Missing the length or source minimum usually costs points on several rows at once, which is why the checklist below starts with them.
Timing in the published guide: Each course module/week begins on Monday morning at 12:00 a.m. (ET) and ends on Sunday night at 11:59 p.m. (ET). The final module/week ends at 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Friday. Check the due dates in your Canvas section, which govern.
The CEFS 691 Week 2 method, step by step
Read the prompt against the week's material
Open the Discussion Board Forum 1 prompt in Canvas and list every question it asks before you read anything else. Most CEFS 691 prompts ask two or three linked things; a thread that answers only the first is graded as incomplete no matter how well it is written.
Take a position in the first two sentences
Lead with the claim, not the background. One sentence that answers the prompt, one that says why, and the reader of your CEFS 691 thread knows exactly what the next paragraphs will prove.
Build the body from course concepts
Each body paragraph should carry one idea from the Substance Abuse: Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention reading, put to work on the prompt. Define it briefly, apply it, and say what it changes. Repeating the chapter back is the most common reason threads score in the middle of the rubric.
Place the sources where they do work
Meet the source rule (Capuzzi and Stauffer, Miller and Rollnick, and research) inside the argument, not in a closing sentence. Cite the textbook where you define a concept and a peer-reviewed article where you make a claim that needs evidence.
Connect it to practice
Show what the answer changes in a real setting: a unit, a team, an organization or a client. Graders in CEFS 691 look for the line between the concept and its use.
Write replies that add something
Replies are graded too (2 classmates' threads, 200 to 300 words each). Agree or disagree with a specific point, add a source or example the classmate did not use, and ask one real question. Praise alone does not meet the word count in substance.
Explain the concept, give a brief counseling example, and cite the readings.
A structure for CEFS 691 Week 2 Discussion Board Forum 1
Word targets are planning numbers for about 500 words of body text, set by the length in the guide; the rubric decides where to spend more.
| Section | What it must do | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | Answer the main question of the prompt directly and state your position. | ~80 words |
| Concept | Define the course concept from the week's reading that the prompt turns on. | ~140 words |
| Application | Apply the concept to the case, setting or question in the prompt. | ~150 words |
| Evidence | Bring in the required sources where they support a specific claim. | ~100 words |
| Close | Restate the answer and what it means for practice or the field. | ~30 words |
A topic angle that works
Miller and Rollnick's opening chapters present the spirit of motivational interviewing: partnership, acceptance, compassion and evocation. If the prompt asks how MI differs from confronting clients, explain why confrontation tends to increase resistance.
Model paragraph with notes
An original paragraph written by our desk to show the register that earns full rubric credit. It is study material: learn the moves, then write your own.
Miller and Rollnick describe motivational interviewing as a collaborative conversation that strengthens a person's own motivation to change. Confronting a client with the harms of drinking often provokes the righting reflex in reverse: the client defends drinking. Asking what the client values and how drinking fits with it invites the client to voice reasons for change instead.
- MI's spirit.
- Why confrontation backfires.
- An example.
Mistakes that cost points on CEFS 691 Week 2
- Lecturing instead of MI.
- Outside the word range.
- Thin replies.
Checklist before you submit
- Length: Thread 350 to 450 words; replies 200 to 300 words
- Sources: Capuzzi and Stauffer, Miller and Rollnick, and research
- Replies: 2 classmates' threads, 200 to 300 words each
- Every question in the prompt is answered, in order
- The thread is typed into the text box, not attached
- Each rubric row read against the section that answers it
Questions students ask
How many forums are in CEFS 691?
Four, in Weeks 2, 4, 6 and 8, worth 50 points each.
How many points is CEFS 691 Week 2 Discussion Board Forum 1 worth?
50 points in Liberty's published course guide for CEFS 691, out of a course total of 1,010 points (about 5% of the grade). The rubric attached to the assignment in Canvas shows how those points are divided.
Is CEFS 691 Week 2 the same in every section of CEFS 691?
This guide follows Liberty's published course guide for CEFS 691. Liberty notes that course content can change from term to term, so if your Canvas section shows different instructions, a different week or different points, follow Canvas and your instructor.
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