Counseling Psychology Program Overview

The UIUC Counseling Psychology Program (CPP) has been accredited by the American Psychological Association since 1985. Students in the CPP learn a scientist-practitioner orientation to counseling psychology. This orientation takes a critical, thoughtful attitude toward professional activities and views research and practice as interdependent and complementary. Within this approach, we adopt a multicultural perspective as outlined by the APA Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists. Faculty and students investigate research questions relevant to assessing and understanding behavior. They also strive to apply systematic, culturally-sensitive, research-based approaches to issues related to mental health, well-being, and counseling. Research is considered a fundamental and integral dimension of graduate education. Students are expected and encouraged to begin their research involvement during their first semester by working with faculty members on projects.

Practice is also an important aspect of the CPP, but is viewed more broadly than just individual and group psychotherapy. Students certainly learn to provide culturally-sensitive counseling and assessment to individuals and groups, but practice also includes a range of interventions that assist individuals, groups, and organizations to more effectively and responsibly facilitate development. The multiculturally competent scientist-practitioner is thus a professional who adopts an overarching scientific approach to the understanding of and intervention in the human condition across a range of populations, whether pursuing a career with a primary focus on research or practice.

We have adopted the following four central educational goals in our multicultural scientist-practitioner training model: (1) to provide students with a broad education in core areas related to professional psychology, including general psychology and counseling psychology; (2) to educate students about a range of research approaches and sophisticated analytic tools necessary for contribution to professional psychology literature; (3) to train students to be skilled in provision of a wide range of psychological services in a variety of contexts; (4) to encourage the adoption of values associated with being a competent, socially responsible professional psychologist.

Students with a strong interest in psychological research, pursuing academic careers, multicultural and social justice issues, and combining research and practice are given priority in admissions decisions. The Counseling Psychology Program is not designed to provide professional preparation at the terminal master's level.

The first two years of the CPP include a series of articulated, closely supervised courses in both research and practice. Over the next two years, students follow a more self determined path, choosing classes, research experiences, and practica that fulfill individual goals as well as program requirements. The internship year, typically the last year, immerses students in the life of a practicing psychologist.