Counseling Psychology
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Practical Experience and Emerging Specialties
Learn about our new tracks!
The graduate program in Counseling Psychology prepares highly qualified mental health clinicians for positions in schools, community mental health centers and agencies, hospitals and other health agencies, business and industry settings. Courses provide the history, theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy, and students are given ample opportunity to integrate coursework with firsthand experience by learning and practicing skills needed to be highly effective, culturally competent and ethical providers of mental health care to diverse populations. Graduates use their ever-growing base of knowledge and skills to provide evidence-based therapy to achieve good clinical outcomes.
Arcadia’s master’s program is designed for students seeking national and state licensure as master’s level mental health practitioners. The program is designed to enable its graduates to apply for licensure once an individual has accumulated 3,600 hours of supervised work experience. The program is accredited by the Masters in Psychology Accreditation Council (MPAC).
All master’s program students take most of the same core courses but have a choice of areas in which to specialize. Each track is offered as a full specialty master’s program and as a free-standing certificate program for practitioners who already have a master’s degree in counseling.
Specialization Tracks
Arcadia offers four specialization tracks:
Child/Family Therapy
Many families today have a family member—child or adult—with mental health needs. Studies estimate that about 20 percent of children today have some type of mental health need. Arcadia’s specialty in the area of Child and Family counseling recognizes the simultaneous mental health needs of parents, families and children—the impact of child on family or family on child.
Counselors are needed who are trained specifically to treat children, adolescents and their families. Courses focus on child and family mental health, including psychopathology and treatment strategies, as well as adolescent therapy and couples and family therapy.
Community Counseling Psychology
Arcadia’s Community Counseling Psychology program provides a solid core in counseling plus opportunities for electives in specialty areas of interest. Electives include the psychology of women, drug and alcohol counseling, and behavior modification.
School Counseling (Elementary and Secondary)
Professional school counselors serve a vital role in maximizing student achievement in a complex and diverse school environment. Arcadia’s program prepares students for positions in the public schools in Pennsylvania as elementary and secondary school counselors. The program is structured to meet the standards set by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Trauma: Clinical Bases of Treatment and Recovery
The past decade has produced a clear rise in trauma-related events—“terrifying experiences that rupture people’s sense of predictability and invulnerability”— confronting the general population on many levels, from individual to international. Arcadia’s new specialization in trauma responds to the growing need for counselors who can help people who have experienced trauma, including natural disasters, terrorist attacks, or other devastating events.
Advanced counselor training in trauma includes both short-term interventions and long-term care. Specialty courses focus on advanced treatment and recovery in trauma-intensive environments as well as strategies for treating grief and bereavement.
