Counseling Psychology (PhD)
The doctoral program in Counseling Psychology is accredited by the American Psychological Association Commission on Accreditation (750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242, 202-336-5979), and it is recognized as acceptable for licensure by the Board of Psychology for the State of Oregon. The program has been accredited since 1955.
Earning a doctoral degree in counseling psychology typically requires five to six years of study beyond the bachelor’s degree. Graduate training includes research training; completion of separate pre-dissertation and dissertation research projects that each demonstrate a high standard of scholarship and the ability to conduct independent, original research; clinical practica working with children, adolescents, adults, and families; and a 1-year, full-time, supervised predoctoral internship.
The program follows an ecological model of training embedded in the scientist-practitioner tradition. Students learn to use evidence-based preventive and remedial intervention strategies for working with individuals, children, families, and groups within their many contexts. This includes training in culturally sensitive assessment and intervention strategies designed to increase understanding and effect change at all levels. Students engage in critical reflection on the science and practice of health service psychology as core to their training.
The doctoral program prepares health service psychologists specializing in counseling psychology who can make a significant contribution to the field through scholarly research and professional practice. Students participate in integrated classroom and practicum activities in research, prevention, and intervention with children and adults, families, groups, and communities. Training experience largely occurs within the HEDCO Clinic within the College of Education and in community agencies or nonprofit research centers.
Graduates are prepared to work as researchers, practitioners, and educators in research institutions, institutions of higher education, medical settings, managed and integrated health-care organizations, community college and university counseling centers, community mental health centers, juvenile corrections agencies, human resources departments in business, and career counseling agencies.
Application and Admission
Prospective applicants may find detailed information concerning admissions on the Counseling Psychology program website (https://education.uoregon.edu/cpsy/apply/phd). The closing date for receipt of completed applications is posted on the website for entry the following fall term. All materials must be received prior to the stated application deadline for an application to be considered complete. Only complete applications will be reviewed.
Prospective applicants still under consideration following application review will be invited for interview. Notifications of invitation to interview are emailed in December, and applicants are requested to RSVP for the interview by the deadline stated in the email. See the Counseling Psychology program website for this year’s interview date(s).
Notices about the disposition of applications are e-mailed by April 15.
Program Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:
- Research methods and statistical analysis: Demonstrate the substantially independent ability to formulate research or other scholarly activities (e.g., critical literature reviews, dissertation, efficacy studies, clinical case studies, theoretical papers, program evaluation projects, program development projects) that are of sufficient quality and rigor to have the potential to contribute to the scientific, psychological, or professional knowledge base. Conduct research or other scholarly activities. Critically evaluate and disseminate research or other scholarly activity via professional publication and presentation at the local (including the host institution), regional, or national level.
- Ethical and legal standards: Be knowledgeable of, and act in accordance with, each of the following: the current version of the APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct; Relevant laws, regulations, rules, and policies governing health service psychology at the organizational, local, state, regional, and federal levels; and Relevant professional standards and guidelines. Recognize ethical dilemmas as they arise and apply ethical decision-making processes in order to resolve the dilemmas. Conduct self in an ethical manner in all professional activities.
- Individual and cultural diversity: Have an understanding of how their own personal/cultural history, attitudes, and biases may affect how they understand and interact with people different from themselves. Be knowledge of the current theoretical and empirical knowledge base as it relates to addressing diversity in all professional activities, including research, training, supervision/consultation, and service. Have the ability to integrate awareness and knowledge of individual and cultural differences in the conduct of professional roles (e.g., research, services, and other professional activities). This includes the ability to apply a framework for working effectively with areas of individual and cultural diversity not previously encountered during the course of their careers. Also included is the ability to work effectively with individuals whose group membership, demographic characteristics, or worldviews create conflict with their own. Demonstrate the requisite knowledge base and ability to articulate an approach to working effectively with diverse individuals and groups, and apply this approach effectively in their professional work.
- Professional values and attitudes: Behave in ways that reflect the values and attitudes of psychology, including integrity, deportment, professional identity, accountability, lifelong learning, and concern for the welfare of others. Engage in self-reflection regarding one's personal and professional functioning; engage in activities to maintain and improve performance, well-being, and professional effectiveness. Actively seek and demonstrate openness and responsiveness to feedback and supervision. Respond professionally in increasingly complex situations with a greater degree of independence as they progress across levels of training.
- Communication and interpersonal skills: Develop and maintain effective relationships with a wide range of individuals, including colleagues, communities, organizations, supervisors, supervisees, and those receiving professional services. Produce and comprehend oral, nonverbal, and written communications that are informative and well integrated; demonstrate a thorough grasp of professional language and concepts. Demonstrate effective interpersonal skills and the ability to manage difficult communication well.
- Assessment and psychometrics: Select and apply assessment methods that draw from the best available empirical literature and that reflect the science of measurement and psychometrics; collect relevant data using multiple sources and methods appropriate to the identified goals and questions of the assessment as well as relevant diversity characteristics of the service recipient. Interpret assessment results, following current research and professional standards and guidelines, to inform case conceptualization, classification, and recommendations, while guarding against decision-making biases, distinguishing the aspects of assessment that are subjective from those that are objective. Communicate orally and in written documents the findings and implications of the assessment in an accurate and effective manner sensitive to a range of audiences.
- Intervention: Establish and maintain effective relationships with the recipients of psychological services. Develop evidence-based intervention plans specific to the service delivery goals. Implement interventions informed by the current scientific literature, assessment findings, diversity characteristics, and contextual variables. Demonstrate the ability to apply the relevant research literature to clinical decision making. Modify and adapt evidence-based approaches effectively when a clear evidence base is lacking. Evaluate intervention effectiveness and adapt intervention goals and methods consistent with ongoing evaluation.
- Supervision: Demonstrate knowledge of supervision models and practices.
- Consultation, interprofessional, and interdisciplinary skills: Demonstrate knowledge and respect for the roles and perspectives of other professions. Demonstrate knowledge of consultation models and practices.
- History and systems of psychology: Demonstrate knowledge of general systems and theoretical models in psychology as a general field and in Counseling Psychology as a specific discipline in applied psychology.
- Basic content areas in scientific psychology: Demonstrate basic competency in basic content areas in scientific psychology, including affective aspects of behavior (e.g., affect, mood, and emotion), biological aspects of behavior (e.g., neural, physiological, anatomical, and genetic influences), cognitive aspects of behavior (e.g., learning, memory, thought processes, and decision-making), developmental aspects of behavior (e.g., transitions and growth across an individual’s lifespan), and social aspects of behavior (e.g., group processes, attributions, discrimination, and attitudes).
- Advanced integrative knowledge of basic discipline specific content areas: Demonstrate integration of at least two basic content areas in scientific psychology (i.e., affective, biological, cognitive, social, and/or developmental aspects of behavior).
PhD Requirements
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Discipline-Specific Knowledge & Profession-Wide Competencies in Research, Statistics, & Psychometrics | ||
| Quantitative Research Methods & Statistical Analysis | ||
| EDUC 612 | Social Science and Education Research Design | 3 |
| EDUC 641 | Applied Statistics in Education and Human Services I | 3 |
| EDUC 643 | Applied Statistics in Education and Human Service II | 3 |
| EDUC 645 | Applied Statistics in Education and Human Services III | 3 |
| Assessment & Psychometrics | ||
| SPSY 672 | Intellectual Assessment | 4 |
| CPSY 622 | Psychological Assessment II | 3 |
| Dissertation Research | ||
| CPSY 603 | Dissertation | 18 |
| Other Discipline-Specific Knowledge | ||
| History & Systems | ||
| CPSY 613 | Introduction to Counseling Psychology | 3 |
| CPSY 614 | Theories of Counseling | 3 |
| Biological Aspects of Behavior | ||
| SPSY 652 | Biological Aspects of Behavior | 5 |
| Social Aspects of Behavior | ||
| CPSY 635 | Social Aspects of Behavior | 5 |
| Cognitive & Affective Aspects of Behavior | ||
| SPSY 651 | Cognitive-Affective Aspects of Behavior | 5 |
| Individual Aspects of Behavior | ||
| CPSY 621 | Lifespan Developmental Psychology | 3 |
| Other Profession-Wide Competencies | ||
| Ethical & Legal Standards | ||
| CPSY 612 | Professional Ethics | 3 |
| Intervention | ||
| CFT 620 | Mental Health and Diagnosis | 3 |
| CFT 640 | Beginning Practicum | 3 |
| CPSY 611 | Counseling Skills | 3 |
| CPSY 615 | Counseling Diverse Populations | 3 |
| CPSY 617 | Theories of Career Development | 3 |
| CPSY 625 | Child and Family Interventions | 3 |
| Clinical Practica | ||
| CPSY 690 | Adult Practicum (Taken three times) | 12 |
| CPSY 691 | Child and Family Practicum (Taken three times) | 9 |
| CPSY 606 | Practicum: [Topic] (Prac Adults) | 6 |
| CPSY 606 | Practicum: [Topic] (Prac Child & Family) | 3 |
| CPSY 606 | Practicum: [Topic] (Prac Doctoral Extern) | 3 |
| Non-Course Requirements | ||
| Research Competency I: Specialty Area Project/Paper | ||
| Research Competency II: Integrative Aspects of Behavior | ||
| Research Competency III: Dissertation Proposal | ||
| Research Competency IV: Dissertation | ||
| Predoctoral Psychology Internship | ||
| Total Credits | 115 | |
MS Requirements
Note: the Counseling Psychology MS degree is only offered en route to the Counseling Psychology PhD. The University of Oregon does not offer a standalone MS program.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Discipline-Specific Knowledge & Profession-Wide Competencies in Research, Statistics, & Psychometrics | ||
| Quantitative Research Methods & Statistical Analysis | ||
| EDUC 612 | Social Science and Education Research Design | 3 |
| EDUC 641 | Applied Statistics in Education and Human Services I | 3 |
| EDUC 643 | Applied Statistics in Education and Human Service II | 3 |
| EDUC 645 | Applied Statistics in Education and Human Services III | 3 |
| Other Discipline-Specific Knowledge | ||
| History & Systems | ||
| CPSY 613 | Introduction to Counseling Psychology | 3 |
| CPSY 614 | Theories of Counseling | 3 |
| Other Profession-Wide Competencies | ||
| Ethical & Legal Standards | ||
| CPSY 612 | Professional Ethics | 3 |
| Intervention | ||
| CFT 620 | Mental Health and Diagnosis | 3 |
| CFT 640 | Beginning Practicum | 3 |
| CPSY 611 | Counseling Skills | 3 |
| CPSY 615 | Counseling Diverse Populations | 3 |
| CPSY 617 | Theories of Career Development | 3 |
| CPSY 625 | Child and Family Interventions | 3 |
| Clinical Practica | ||
| CPSY 690 | Adult Practicum (Taken three times) | 12 |
| CPSY 691 | Child and Family Practicum (Taken three times) | 9 |
| CPSY 606 | Practicum: [Topic] (Prac Adults) | 6 |
| CPSY 606 | Practicum: [Topic] (Prac Child & Family) | 3 |
| Non-Course Requirements | ||
| Research Competency I: Specialty Area Project/Paper | ||
| Total Credits | 69 | |