About Master's Counseling Programs

Program Chairperson: Patricia Long

The Psychology Department offers two graduate counseling programs: Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) and College Counseling and Student Services. The admission requirements and program policies vary between the two.

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Programs

Admission requirements:
Some program tracks may have additional requirements:

  1. Marriage and Family Therapy Program. A bachelor's degree with the following six courses: general psychology, life-span developmental, abnormal psychology, research methods/experimental psychology, statistics, and one other psychology theory class.
  2. College Counseling and Student Services Program. A bachelor's degree with the following five courses is required for the College Counseling & Student Services concentration: general psychology, life-span development, research methods/experimental psychology, statistics, and one other psychology theory class.
  3. The undergraduate course work will be evaluated on an individual basis for its recency and appropriateness to the selected graduate program.
  4. An overall undergraduate GPA of 3.0. Applicants with GPA under 3.0 may be considered with additional requirements.
  5. ULV Graduate Studies Admission Form returned with nonrefundable $50 application fee.
  6. Completion of a 5-7 page statement of purpose and autobiography.
  7. A copy of a current resume.
  8. Three letters of recommendation from professors and colleagues who are familiar with the applicant's academic and professional abilities, potential, and appropriateness for the counseling profession. At least one letter should be from a professor.
  9. Applicants are strongly encouraged to have at least one year of volunteer or paid experience working with families, children, or couples.
  10. An interview with at least two psychology faculty members.
  11. Completion of a test of written language. A student is eligible to enroll in no more than six semester hours prior to being admitted into a Counseling program.

Program Candidacy: All counseling students are admitted into the program under a precandidacy status. After the completion of 12 semester hours, all students become eligible for candidacy status and are evaluated by the following criteria: GPA of 3.0 or above, a passing score on the Competency Examination (PSY 595), and demonstrated personal suitability for the counseling profession. Occasionally, students may receive a provisional candidacy status in which certain conditions must be completed before they can receive candidacy status. In some instances, students may be denied candidacy and be discontinued from the program. All students must receive candidacy status in order to complete the program.

During their coursework in the program, students continue to be evaluated for demonstrated suitability to the program and the counseling profession. Occasionally, discontinuation of a student from the program may occur, even after the conferring of candidacy status, if the student's personal or professional behavior does not continue to meet minimum professional and/or academic standards.

Personal Psychotherapy: The department believes that students entering the counseling profession benefit professionally, personally, and academically from experiencing personal psychotherapy, and believes that psychotherapy is a necessary training experience for counseling professionals. Therefore, after admission, all students enrolled in the MFT program are required to complete a minimum of 30 hours of personal psychotherapy over a six-month period or longer in order to complete the program. Likewise, after admission, all students enrolled in the M.S., Counseling program are required to complete at least 20 hours of personal psychotherapy spread over at least six months in order to complete the program. The therapy may include individual, couple, family, or group therapy, depending on the individual student's issues and preferences. In consultation with the program chair, each student designs a psychotherapy treatment plan for department approval no later than the time of evaluation for candidacy. Students enrolled in the MFT program may apply their psychotherapy hours towards the optional hours of experience category for California MFT licensure. Any exceptions to this policy must be approved by the department.

Competency Exam: This written exam, a part of the evaluation for candidacy, is based on coursework and requires students to integrate and apply counseling and/or student development theories, techniques, ethical, and legal issues. The exam is based on PSY 512, 516, 517, and 527 for students in the MFT program. The exam is based on PSY 510, 524, 525, 527, 531, and 532 for students in the College Counseling and Student Services program.