Clinical Counseling is awarded after successful completion of 54 semester hours. It is the mission of this program to prepare students to function as scholarly-practitioners. In order to achieve this goal, the program is divided into three distinct course blocks, each building upon the one before. The first block focuses on training students as scholars and consists of core counseling and psychology courses. These courses are designed to enhance student understanding of individual differences, theories of development and behavior change, and professional roles and functions from a scholarly perspective.
All courses emphasize an empirical approach toward gaining and evaluating knowledge.
Students completing this core of courses should have a firm theoretical grasp of normal and abnormal development and of factors influencing such development. They should understand the major theories of personality and behavior change. Students will be expected to demonstrate knowledge of foundations of psychology and counseling, basic assessment skills, and good communication and listening skills. Additionally, students will appreciate the importance and utility of the scientific method for advancing knowledge and clinical practice. Following a demonstration of competency in the content of core courses as indicated by a passing score on a comprehensive examination, students will move on to the second block of courses.