Counseling MA

The program prepares its graduates to have a significant impact on the mental health field as counselors, program directors, researchers, grant writers and policy makers on the local, state and national levels. With those goals in mind, the curriculum focuses on a broad spectrum of issues including:

  • the antecedent conditions that predispose people to situational and developmental problems,
  • the nature and treatment of those problems,
  • crisis intervention strategies and
  • the influence of various family and group dynamics, gender differences, cultural diversity, social problems and age on people's problems.

Students will be trained to conduct intake and assessment interviews, to develop counseling interventions, and to function as an ethical and competent counselor. Students also will acquire a knowledge of research and assessment techniques and the pragmatic concerns (e.g., managed care and budget constraints) facing the mental health field today.

Students will develop the skills necessary to be an effective mental health professional in the new millennium and will have the opportunity to choose areas of special interest, e.g. psychopharmacology, substance abuse, sexual issues, death and dying.

In order to apply what they have learned in the classroom, students will be placed in practicum and internships -- experiences arranged with the program's field director and supervised both 'on site' and on campus by licensed personnel.

The MA in counseling is a 48-credit degree. To meet the requirements for licensure (LPC), students must complete an additional 12-credit graduate certification. These programs are based on the practitioner/researcher model valued in the mental health professions as well as the educational requirements of the Marriage and Family Therapy Examiners Board for Licensure as a Professional Counselor (LPC) in the State of New Jersey and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) and the expertise of the department's faculty.

Thus, the curriculum incorporates those competencies necessary for graduates to succeed at every level in the mental health field, to assume a leadership role and to make major contributions to the body of knowledge and the quality of service delivery in mental health care.

 

Requirements for Graduate Programs Leading to a Master of Arts Degree

1. Satisfactory completion of the core requirements. Students are required to complete core requirements before additional courses may be taken. However, during the semester in which core requirements are being completed, a maximum of one additional non-core course may be taken, subject to departmental approval.

2. Satisfactory completion of a minimum of 42 credits for graduate majors in industrial / organizational psychology and 48 credits for counseling majors. Students are required to maintain a minimum overall grade point ratio of 3.00 and must not earn more than one C level grade (C or C+) throughout graduate course work. Students who earn two grades of less than B- or one F grade will be subject to dismissal.

3. A written comprehensive examination of the candidate's knowledge of his or her field of specialization is required at the end of the graduate counseling and industrial / organizational graduate psychology programs. Students are eligible to take this exam during the semester in which they are enrolled in their last graduate courses. The comprehensive examination may be taken only twice. Failure to pass the comprehensive examination, either in part or in full, will result in dismissal from the program.

4. All graduate programs in counseling should be completed within a period of five years. Applications for extensions of this period are subject to departmental approval.