• MA Degree Requirements
• Curriculum

For more detailed information regarding the degree program in Counseling Psychology, please click here.

Program Description
The Master of Arts Program in Counseling Psychology is designed to prepare professional counselors who are capable of understanding and intervening in relation to both individual and social-system functioning within family, work, learning and community settings. The program is committed to a life-course developmental perspective and to a personality and social-systems approach to the study of human psychopathology, personal and career growth, and adaptation.

The program is a terminal practitioner-training program leading to a specialization in general psychological counseling, career counseling, or child assessment and intervention. Students are admitted to either the two-year Standard Curriculum or three-year Two Plus Curriculum (see details below). The program provides general introductory theoretical knowledge and clinical experience in the first year, followed by more advanced and specialized knowledge and clinical experience in the second year. Graduates are prepared to work as professional counselors in mental health and special service agencies, college and university counseling services, hospital and residential treatment facilities, and other mental health service settings.

Rigorous, intensive, supervised field training is a critical component and hallmark of the program. Students complete a minimum of two years of fieldwork, including a general introductory experience in the Practicum year and a more specialized experience in the Externship year. All fieldwork training is accompanied by a concurrent class or seminar focusing on counseling skills, theoretical knowledge, professional issues and ethics, and the organization of service delivery systems. A detailed description of the fieldwork training sequence, requirements, monitoring procedures and settings is available on the program Web site.

The Two-Plus Curriculum is designed for qualified students entering the counseling field for the first time following a career in another discipline and having minimal academic and experiential background in psychology. This curriculum provides the supplementary coursework and experiential needs of such students.

Both the Standard Curriculum and the Two-Plus Curriculum satisfy the requirements for licensure as a Clinical Professional Counselor in Illinois and are typically able to be tailored to satisfy licensure requirement in other states.

For information regarding the program-specific requirements for admission please visit the program website at http://www.family-institute.org/graduate_macpp.aspx.

Faculty