• MA Degree Requirements
• Curriculum

The Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology is a counselor training program designed to prepare professional counselors to intervene in relation to both individual and social system functioning within family, work, academic and community settings. The program, jointly administered by The Graduate School at Northwestern University and The Family Institute, is strongly committed to ensuring that every student achieves the highest standards of excellence as a clinically skilled and theoretically sophisticated practitioner. Rigorous, intensive supervised clinical training and the ongoing integration of theoretical knowledge and applied practice are hallmarks of the program.

The theoretical coursework embraces a life-course developmental perspective with an emphasis on individual personality and social systems approaches to the study of human behavior, psychopathology and the adaptational aspects of individuals, groups, families and organizational systems. The faculty represent a wide range of interests and diverse scholarly backgrounds. It is a particularly notable strength of the program that every faculty member has extensive scholarly and clinical experience and expertise in the specific area of his or her teaching.\\

Students are admitted to one of two separate but overlapping curricula. The Standard Curriculum is appropriate for students entering the program with some academic and applied clinical experience in psychology or a related field and is completed in two academic years. The unique Two Plus Curriculum, welcomes students with minimal or no background in psychology who are shifting to Counseling from other careers or academic majors, and is completed in three academic years.

The program prepares students for clinical positions in mental health, human services and
academic/educational settings, including but not limited to community mental health centers,
specialized social service agencies, college/university career and psychological counseling services, hospitals, employee assistance and government agencies. Graduates are also competitive for quality Counseling or Clinical Psychology Ph.D. or Psy.D. programs. Both the Standard and Two Plus Curriculum satisfy the requirements for licensure as a Clinical Professional Counselor in Illinois, and every effort is made to enable students to satisfy Counselor licensure requirements in other states.

The program endorses and abides by ethical standards of service delivery and research established by the American Counseling Association, the American Psychological Association and Northwestern University, and rules of ethical conduct and practice prescribed by the State of Illinois.

For more detailed information regarding the degree program or program-specific requirements for admission please visit the program website at http://www.family-institute.org/education/master-of-arts.

Faculty

The primary appointment for those faculty with joint or affiliate status in another program is noted in parentheses.