Seeking and Finding Wholeness

Counseling psychologists are trained at the doctoral level (usually PhD, but also Psy.D. or Ed.D.) in programs that typically require at least four to five years of graduate study, involving coursework and integrated training experiences in a variety of topical areas and professional skills.

Coursework includes the following:

• Instruction in the core areas of psychology (biological, cognitive/affective, and social bases of behavior; individual differences; history and systems of psychology)
• Specialized instruction in theories of counseling and personality, vocational psychology, human life span development, psychological assessment and evaluation, psychopathology, measurement and statistics, research design, professional ethics, supervision, and consultation
• Supervised practica focused on the development of counseling, psychotherapy, assessment, and consultation skills
• The equivalent of a one year full-time predoctoral internship in professional psychology
• Completion of an original psychologically-based dissertation.

Counseling psychology programs usually are housed in departments of psychology or in colleges of education and most are accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA).

The list of accredited programs can be found here www.apa.org/ed/doctoral.html.

More detailed information about both accredited and non-accredited training programs is provided in the book, Graduate Study in Psychology, by the American Psychological Association, find it on Amazon:

Many psychology programs now have their own web pages. There are a few good guides online to those interested psychology graduate students. You may also review Dr. Stilwell’s page at the University of Kentucky for additional links to counseling psychology related sites (www.uky.edu/Education/EDP/psyprog.html).

Entrance to doctoral programs in counseling psychology is competitive and selective, for there are far more applicants to the programs than can be admitted. Recent data from the APA indicate that the typical counseling psychology program admits one in ten of the applications it receives.

Factors important in the selection process include a bachelor’s (and possibly master’s) degree earned from an accredited college or university, consistently high college grades, research experience, and coursework and/or volunteer or work experience that matches the orientation of the particular doctoral program to which one is applying.

Scores on standardized scholastic aptitude tests such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) usually are considered as well.