Counseling Psychology

Master’s Program

Opportunities for graduate studies

A master's degree with a major in counseling psychology from the University of North Texas prepares you for work in private practice, universities and community colleges, industry, mental health and mental retardation centers, rehabilitation settings and hospitals. In many states, master's-level practitioners are required to work under the supervision of a licensed doctoral-level psychologist. With additional course work, you may meet requirements for licensure as professional counselors or marriage and family therapists.

The program is designed for students who do not presently intend to pursue further advanced study. The co-directors of counseling psychology training at UNT are Lawrence J. Schneider and Vicki L. Campbell.

Philosophy and objectives

The master's program provides training within the context of the scientist-practitioner model. This is accomplished through course work and practicum experience. The model focuses on application of the basic principles of psychology and psychotherapy to:

• provide instruction in the range of scientific and practice activities within counseling psychology
• aid in the resolution of psychological and social problems of essentially normal individuals
• serve as psychotherapeutic agents for individuals with severe problems in personal adjustment
• train counseling psychologists in basic research skills

The master's program emphasizes acquisition of counseling skills through exposure to educational and practical experiences.

Admission requirements

You must meet the following requirements or submit noted items to be admitted into the counseling psychology master's program.

• meet the admission requirements of the Toulouse School of Graduate Studies
• have a bachelor's degree in psychology or a related field
• submit GRE verbal and quantitative scores
• submit a resume
• submit a statement of goals. The statement should convey a fuller picture beyond the scope of a review of past academic records, test scores and reference letters. It can include descriptions of how you can enrich the program's diversity, language fluency, life experiences and commitment to working with diverse populations; reasons for applying to the program and UNT; academic goals; research interests; and applied practice goals.

In addition to those requirements, you need to have one of the following:

• an overall GPA of 2.8 on the bachelor's degree or 3.0 on the last 60 hours of the bachelor's degree
• a 3.0 GPA in psychology course work
• a minimum of 24 semester hours in psychology with 12 at the junior and senior levels. These hours must include courses in experimental psychology or research design and a course in elementary statistics.
• master's degree in another field
• be the first or second author in a peer-reviewed scientific or professional journal

The department also encourages you to include undergraduate course preparation in social psychology, personality theory, history and systems, tests and measurements, physiology, and learning or cognition.

Admission to the counseling psychology program is not determined by one criterion or quantitative measure of achievement. Motivation, aptitude, self-awareness and interpersonal poise are highly valued, as are skills in communication, research methods and professional/scientific writing.

The department regards admission into the master's program as a serious commitment on the part of you and the faculty. The counseling admission committee's goal is to make an optimal match between your qualifications and goals and the training program's resources and objectives. Detailed departmental admission requirements and an application may be obtained from the graduate coordinator or online at www.psyc.unt.edu.

Degree requirements

You may choose the master of arts or master of science degree option. Reading knowledge of a foreign language is required for the M.A. degree, but all other course work is the same for both degrees.

A master's degree in counseling psychology requires a minimum of 61 semester hours beyond the bachelor's degree. Full-time students typically can complete the program in 2½ years.

Counseling core

The counseling core consists of 30 hours of course work designed to integrate content and practice. The course work focuses on introductory counseling theory, assessment, occupational information, psychopathology, life span development, quantitative methods and ethics. The goal is to introduce you to the fundamental, theoretical approach taken by counseling psychology in the treatment of human psychological problems. An emphasis is placed on developmental and intervention issues as they relate to normal and deviant behavior.

Elective cluster

You select one of two 15-semester-hour elective clusters: marriage and family or mental health and aging.

Counseling practicum

The practicum component includes 4 hours of pre-practicum in the first year. After pre-practicum, most practicum course work (9 hours in the thesis option or 12 hours in the non-thesis option) is completed off campus. If you select the non-thesis option, you will begin your 12 semester hours of practicum training in the summer term of the first year. By the fall term of the second year, all students are involved in practicum training. On-site professionals in applied settings participate in the supervision of the off-campus practicum.

Thesis or non-thesis option

Thesis-option students must enroll in 6 hours of thesis and complete 9 hours of off-campus practicum. The thesis allows you to get involved as an active participant in research under the supervision of a faculty mentor. The research gives you the opportunity to become familiar with techniques and skills for systematic examination of problem areas.

A defense of a completed thesis substitutes for the final comprehensive oral exam over your completed degree work. Students in the non-thesis option must complete a final comprehensive oral exam over their completed degree work.

Evaluation of knowledge and skills

Throughout training, faculty members assess your progress. Evaluation focuses on development of general knowledge of psychology and the specialty area of counseling psychology, competence in the delivery of applied services, skill in scientific investigation, and appropriate interpersonal and ethical functioning. If you do not demonstrate satisfactory and continuous progress in these areas, you may be terminated from the counseling psychology program.

Student body

The rate of attrition from the master's program in counseling psychology is very small. At this time, the program has a larger percentage of women than men. Its students are diverse in age, backgrounds and interests. Most facilities on campus, including the Department of Psychology, are accessible to students with disabilities. The master's program has about 16 students and admits approximately eight students annually. About seven students graduate each year.

Facilities

The recently renovated Psychology Clinic is used for pre-practicum training and assessment classes. The clinic includes psychotherapy and assessment rooms and rooms with one-way mirrors for live observation of individual and group sessions. Extensive video recording capabilities are available for supervision of training. The bulk of applied practicum training occurs at off-campus sites.