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UIUC Counseling Psychology Program Handbook
We have adopted the following four central educational goals in our multicultural scientist-practitioner training model: (1) to provide students with a broad education in core areas related to counseling psychology, general psychology, and professional psychology; (2) to educate students about a range of research approaches and sophisticated analytic tools necessary for contribution to professional psychology literature; (3) to train students to be skilled in provision of a wide range of psychological services in a variety of contexts; (4) to encourage the adoption of values associated with being a competent, socially responsible professional psychologist.
Follow the links below to learn how you will proceed through the program and the requirements and expectations you will meet.
Course Requirements and Sequence
Master's Requirements
Doctoral Requirements
APA Psychological Foundations Requirements
Counseling Psychology Program Course Planner
Research Specialization Requirement
Practicum Placements
Dissertation Research
Internship
Student Evaluation
Annual Student Reviews
Qualifying Examinations
Policies & Procedures
Fellowship and Funding Opportunities
Diversity Statement
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND SEQUENCE
The Counseling Psychology Program (CPP) is a doctoral level program. Students are admitted into the Ph.D. program and a terminal master's is not offered. Students may be admitted with a prior bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree. The College of Education requires students who are admitted with a bachelor’s degree to obtain a master's in their pursuit of a doctorate degree. Information about the master's and doctoral requirements and specific APA requirements ensuring a solid grounding in psychological foundations of the discipline, is included in this section.
Master's Degree Requirements
Students admitted with master's degrees from other programs must show evidence of having completed courses comparable to those required by CPP for a master's degree or fulfill those requirements not met. One exception is that students coming in with a master's do NOT need to complete the College of Education Foundation requirements. Decisions about course equivalency are made after you have joined the program and completed at least one semester of coursework. Students need to work with their advisors when considering past course work and academic planning. Students admitted with a prior master's degree must complete an Early Research Project. Sometimes a previously completed master's thesis can be approved by the faculty as meeting the requirements for the Early Research Project. If a prior master’s thesis is not applicable, a student must complete a new project. The College of Education's Graduate Programs Handbook contains information about this research requirement.
Required courses for our master's degree are listed below:
- Counseling Psychology Professional and Ethics Seminar - EPSY 510 (4 hours)
- Vocational Psychology Theories and Assessment - EPSY 511 (4 hours)
- Research Methods II -EPSY 513 (4 hours)
- Special Topics in Counseling Psychology - EPSY 590BH (1 hour) – students are required to attend the brown bag every semester they are on campus
- Prepracticum - EPSY 419 (4 hours)
- Beginning Practicum -EPSY 520A (4 hours) - 2 semesters
- Psychological Measurement and Test Development - PSYC 490 (4 hours) or Principles of Measurement- EPSY 486 (4 hours)
- Two statistics courses: Statistical Methods in Education - EPSY 580 (4 hours) and Applied Regression Analysis - EPSY 581 (4 hours) OR Statistics Methods I - PSYC 406 (4 hrs) and Statistics Methods II - PSYC 407 (4 hrs)
- Thesis Research EPSY 599 (at least 2 hours)
- College of Education Foundation Requirements
Educational Psychology foundations (take one course from each area)
- Personality & Development (2 hours): EPSY 404, 4051, 407, 408
- Learning (2 hours): EPSY 400, 401, or 4021
OR take one course for 4 hours that counts for both areas: EPSY 4072, 408, or 490DE
1 Both of these courses also meet the requirement for the Social Basis of Behavior Doctoral Psychological Foundation.
2 This course also meets the doctoral requirement for the Cognitive-Affective Basis of Behavior Doctoral Psychological Foundation
Educational Policy Studies foundations (take one course from each area)
- Social (2 hours): EPS 400, 402 , 403, 404, 420, 421, 423, 424, or 426
- Philosophical (2 hours): EPS 401, 410, 411, 412, 413, or 414
Please note that these College of Education foundation requirements are NOT required for students coming in with a master's.
Doctoral Degree Requirements
In addition to the master's level course work, the following courses are required for the doctoral degree:
- Advanced Practicum - EPSY 520B (4 hours) - 2 semesters
- Dissertation Research - EPSY 599 (4-32 hours)
- Two Advanced Statistics/measurement/methodology courses (Complete two courses from one of the following sub-specializations.)
- Statistical/Quantitative Analysis Methodology
- Measurement Methodology
- Experimental Methodology
- Diversity Course*
Multicultural Counseling - EPSY 515
*Other courses may fulfill this requirement, but need your advisor’s approval. - Assessment course (complete one of the following courses)
Intelligence Testing - EPSY 413 (4 hours) (also meets requirement for the Cognitive-Affective Basis of Behavior Doctoral Psychological Foundation)
Personality Assessment - PSYC 567 (4 hours) - Special Topics in Counseling Psychology - EPSY 590BH (1 hour) – students are required to attend the brown bag every semester they are on campus
- Internship (EPSY 590E or GC599)
Other courses which are optional and may be of interest to specific students:
- Group Counseling EPSY 521 (4 hours)
- Supervision practicum EPSY 520C (4 hours)
- Racial identity theory
- Sex role theory in counseling EPSY 421 (4 hours)
APA Psychological Foundations Requirements
Doctoral students are required to complete, or to have completed, at least one course for each of the following five areas to gain a broad grounding in the science of psychology. The content areas of these courses are required by the American Psychological Association accrediting body because it is critical that professional psychology students receive a broad training in the core foundational areas of the discipline.
The courses listed are examples that meet these requirements. Students are encouraged to work with their advisors to identify (a) courses that meet requirements, (b) courses that overlap with more than one requirement, or (c) previous course work that fulfills the requirements.
History and Systems of Psychology (1 course)
- Modern Viewpoints in Psychology - PSYC 460
Biological Basis of Behavior (1 course)
- Advances in Psychobiology: Introduction for Graduate Students - PSYC 510
Cognitive-Affective Basis of Behavior (1 course)
- Adult Learning and Development (also meets the req. for the Master's Personality/Dev't & Learning Foundation) - EPSY 407
Social Basis of Behavior (1 course)
- Personality & Social Development - EPSY 405 (also PSYC 465)
Counseling Psychology Program Course Planner
The Counseling Psychology Program Course Planner is an excellent tool in which students and advisors work together to create a doctoral plan that meets the student's needs, interests, and goals.
Click here to see the Course Planner.
Research Specialization Requirement
Because research is a critical part of the training offered in the Counseling Psychology Program (CPP), it is important to choose research courses carefully and in a timely fashion. The CPP expects you to begin your research training during your first semester in the program, and strongly recommends that you continue taking courses each semester until you have completed the Research Specialization Requirement.
The Research Specialization Requirement is a College of Education requirement and a number of methodologies are currently available to students to pursue. However, students in the CPP generally complete the Quantitative Research Specialization. If you have a special reason for wishing to complete a different Research Specialization, you must discuss this with your advisor. The other research specialization areas include Qualitative, Evaluative, and Interpretive Research Specializations. Regardless of a student's research specialization, he or she will develop a foundation in quantitative methods with AT LEAST two semesters of beginning statistics and a measurement course.
Dissertation Research
The College of Education 's Graduate Programs Handbook can provide information about the dissertation requirement, including setting up a committee, scheduling your oral, and depositing your dissertation.
It is important to remain in close contact with your advisor and committee during the process of your dissertation research. In addition, many advisors provide students with opportunities to participate in thesis and dissertation research groups. These research groups provide students with support, new ideas, and a system of accountability that facilitate students' progress through out their research.
Students are encouraged to pursue their own interest areas for their dissertations. The dissertation requirement is an opportunit y for students to pursue their interests while bringing together the theory they have learned and quantitative and methodological skills they have developed in their course of study.
Practicum Placements
Practica in the Counseling Psychology Program is designed to help students integrate theory, research, and practice. These practica cover both theoretical and applied aspects of counseling psychology, and typically include opportunities for assessment, direct interventions with clients, consultation with other professionals, and psychoeducational services.
Beginning practica are designed for students in their first year of practicum training in the CPP, which typically occurs during both semesters of the second year of the program. In beginning practicum a student learns about ethical and legal issues, basic counseling processes, and developing a coherent approach to treatment based on science and theory. Students with previous practica at other universities are normally required to complete this practicum. Exceptions to this rule must be recommended by the Practicum Coordinator. Beginning Practicum sites are currently all on the UIUC campus: at the UIUC Counseling Center and McKinley Health Center (Mental Health Unit).
Advanced practica are designed for students in their second or higher practicum, which students generally take in their third and possibly fourth year of their program. In advanced practicum, students learn about psychopathology, diagnosis, advanced counseling process, and developing a case conceptualization that utilizes current theory and scholarship. Specialty practica are generally suitable for students in their third or higher placement and sometimes require special course preparation as well. Advanced Practicum Sites include: the Career Center, UIUC Rehabilitation Services, McKinley Mental Health Center, and the Psychological Services Center at the University of Illinois. Additionally, there are other local community sites that include Carle Clinic (child and adolescent outpatient), Centerpoint (outpatient community treatment facility), Cunningham Children's Home (residential treatment center for adolescents), Sites outside the Champaign/Urbana area include: the Counseling Center at Illinois State University in Bloomington/Normal, IL, and the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Danville, IL.
Practicum consists of three major activities:
(1) Weekly seminars
The weekly 3-hour seminar is taught by one of the Counseling Psychology faculty and typically involves discussion of readings relevant to the practice of counseling psychology, case presentations, writing topic papers as well as client reports, and presentations on clinical topics.
(2) Placement in an agency
Placement in an agency usually involves 10 to 20 hours per week in the setting. Students may carry a caseload of 1 to 10 clients depending on the agency's expectations, student experience, and service requests. Each site offers opportunities to work with different clients and offer different services.
(3) Individual Supervision
Individual supervision is received from a psychologist or other qualified supervisor at the placement agency and involves a minimum of 1 hour per week of face-to-face contact. Additional supervision is available as needed and other staff are available for consultation. Students are expected to audio or video tape at least some of their sessions and review these tapes weekly. Some sites also offer group supervision.
Internship
A full year of predoctoral internship is required. We strongly recommend that the internship take place in an APA approved internship facility. Two years of half-time internship may be substituted if necessary.
The internship year is an opportunity for students to apply their clinical skills and make the transition from student to professional. Internship sites differ with respect to population served, setting, and rotations. Students are strongly encouraged to be planful in their practicum placements to gain experience in the areas that will lead to an internship that matches their clinical interests and career goals. Many internships also allow students to pursue research activities, but the main focus of this training year is clinical.
In order to apply for internship, a student must have completed his/her preliminary orals (i.e., dissertation proposal). In addition, we recommend that by November of the application year, students collect their dissertation data. To encourage dissertation completion prior to or during internship, students who return to campus to complete their dissertations after internship will be given lower priority than other students for departmental financial support.
Student Evaluations
We want each of our students to succeed and excel in the CPP and as professional psychologists. To assist in student learning and professional development, we provide regular feedback to students about their strengths and areas of growth. This is done through traditional means such as coursework and practica evaluations, and is also achieved in other ways. For example, each student is evaluated annually by the CPP faculty as a method of providing students with a fair assessment of their progress in the program and the integration of their knowledge is assessed via the completion of the qualifying examinations.
Annual Student Reviews
Student progress is assessed annually. Each year, CPP faculty provide an evaluation of each student's strengths, areas of growth, and progress in the CPP. Students receive a written letter of this evaluation and meet with their advisors to discuss their progress in the program. The Department also requires an official letter about students' satisfactory progress in the program at the end of their second year.
Qualifying Examinations
Written qualifying examinations are a College of Education requirement and are usually taken after the completion of the master's thesis, often at the end of the second year of study. A student must complete a master's thesis or early research project before taking these examinations. For more information about the requirement you may consult the Graduate Programs Handbook. For the Counseling Psychology Program, qualifying exam inations are administered on two consecutive weekends during Fall semester. The examination consists of a General Field in quantitative methodology on one weekend, followed one week later by a Special Field in Counseling Psychology. The intent of the examination is to assess the student's ability to analyze and synthesize major ideas in the field. The broad content of these two exams are:
General Field:
- Statistics
- Research Design
- Measurement
Special Field:
- Counseling Theory and Practice
- Vocational Psychology
- Psychological Assessment
- Professional Issues
The faculty also expect the students to be knowledgeable about issues of diversity (e.g., sexual orientation, culture, ethnicity/race, religion, gender, disability), which are infused throughout the examination.
The Qualifying Examination readers determine the exam format and the breadth of coverage. Thus, the format (e.g., short answer, long essay, number of questions) and coverage may vary from one exam to the next. For more information see the Counseling Psychology Program Qualifying Examinations document.
Policies & Procedures
There are a number of campus and College of Education policies and procedures that are designed to protect the interests of graduate students. These policies and procedures cover issues related to grievances, petitions, appeals, and other actions. If there comes a time when a student has a grievance, he or she should consult first with his or her advisor or, if there is a conflict with the advisor, with the Chair and Director of Training. These individuals will assist the student in resolving the issue. For further steps, consult The Graduate College 's grievance policies at Policy and Procedures on Grievances by Graduate Students document.
For more information about the policies related to obtaining a graduate degree in the College of Education (e.g., student petitions, transferring credit, changing graduate college departments, etc.), please see the College of Education Graduate Programs Handbook. The following two websites are also helpful in finding out more about policies, procedures, and resources available to graduate students: Graduate Programs Handbook and Handbook for Graduate Students and Advisors.
Fellowship and Funding Opportunities
There are a number of funding sources for graduate students. For more information visit the following websites: http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/edpsy/financialaid/index.html, http://www.grad.uiuc.edu/fellowship/fellowGCstudents.html, http://www.apa.org/students/funding.html
Diversity Statement
The Counseling Psychology Program and its faculty view issues of diversity, multiculturalism, and social justice as core values of being an ethical and competent counseling psychologist. We adopt a pluralistic framework in our training in which multicultural issues are infused throughout our curriculum and training, including coursework, research and practice opportunities, and evaluation. As a faculty, we promote social justice through the adoption of anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-homophobic policies and practices on campus, in the surrounding community, and in our profession. For example, we have taken public stances to support partner benefits for same-sex couples in the university and to condemn the racially offensive campus mascot (which has been recently retired).