Counselor Education

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Counseling is a unique helping profession based on social and behavioral sciences. Professional counselors help individuals grow and develop to their full potential by assisting clients in addressing developmental challenges of everyday life as well as assisting clients who may have a mental illness. The professional positions that students prepare for require individuals who can work well with others, communicate effectively, tolerate ambiguity and can handle themselves in unclear interpersonal situations that can be addressed in multiple ways.

The degree programs in counselor education are the master’s (M.Ed.), education specialist (Ed.S.), and doctorate (Ed.D. and Ph.D.). Graduate study in counselor education provides opportunities to acquire a depth of knowledge in theories of counseling, group dynamics, multicultural counseling and social justice, interpersonal relations, human behavior dynamics, and research procedures. Most counselor education courses are available only to counselor education majors. Some courses such as EDHS 733, 824, 828, and 834 may be taken by other students with the instructor’s permission.

The Counselor Education program faculty at the University of Virginia adheres to a scientist-practitioner model of training. Consistent with this approach are the program goals of graduating counselors, counselor educators and supervisors who: (a) demonstrate competency in providing professional services to people from diverse cultural backgrounds; (b) can effectively evaluate research relevant to the profession; and (c) are supervisory, teaching, and/or programmatic interventions. It is also our mission to aid our graduates in becoming certified and/or licensed in their chosen counseling specialty.

There are two full-time entry-level professional training programs for future conselors. The counselor education entry-elvel programs (master’s and education specialist degrees) are designed to prepare students for positions in schools and community, mental health, and human service agencies and require a minimum of 49-60 credits. In addition to entry-level programs, students may earn a doctoral degree (Ph.D., Ed.D.) in Counselor Education and Supervision. The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), a specialized accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), has conferred accreditation to the entry-level and doctoral programs in counselor education.

Brief descriptions of the counselor education program options are below; additional information is available from the Counselor Education Program, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 400269, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4269 or the department web site http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/

Counselor Education Program Options

Mental Health Counseling

The Mental Health Counseling entry-level degree program is designed to prepare ethical, culturally competent counselors to provide professional counseling services in various clinical settings. The program is designed to meet the pre-degree academic and clinical requirements established by the Commonwealth of Virginia Board of Professional Counselors for independent practice as a Licensed Professional Counselor as well as for practice in a variety of agency settings that provide mental health services.

Diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental and emotional disorders are included in the coursework. Students will be awarded the M.Ed. and the Ed.S. degrees upon completion of the Mental Health Counseling program.

The Mental Health Counseling program requires a minimum of 60 (core, specialty, elective) credits. All students are required to complete a 100-hour practicum experience. Students in the Mental Health Counseling program also must complete a minimum of nine (9) credit hours in a supervised counseling internship (900 clock hours). All internship placements are based on the student’s intended work setting. The faculty-approved settings where students have served their internships include: mental health centers, women’s centers, state hospitals and training schools, facilities for clients with dual diagnoses, group homes (for youth and adults), primary prevention programs for children, youth and families, as well as multipurpose mental health agencies, and alcohol and substance abuse centeres.

Students must be enrolled on a full-time basis (including the following Summer Session between their first and second years) through the Spring Semester of the second year.

School Counseling

The master’s degree in School Counseling is designed to prepare counselors to promote the academic, career, and personal/social development of school-aged youth in the context of a comprehensive developmental school counseling program. Students are prepared to work professionally with children from the pre-kindergarten level through secondary school. Graduates of the program will demonstrate the ability to facilitate student development in three broad areas described in the American School Counselor Association’s (ASCA) National Standards: academic development, career development, and personal/social development. The program is broadly based and interdisciplinary in nature.

The School Counseling program requires a minimum of 49 (core, specialty, elective) credits. Students must enroll in a full-time basis during the academic year and may elect to take classes during the summer.

Students interested in the School Counseling Program focus their training on planning, implementing and evaluating guidance and counseling programs to meet the unique social, physical, intellectual, and emotional needs of children and adolescents in school settings. Although students may focus their training on a specific age level through the choice of electives, all students in the program are required to complete a counseling field experience at both elementary (pre-K through 6) and middle/secondary (7-12) school settings. Students are assigned to practicum and internship sites in local and neighboring school districts (e.g., Albemarle County, Charlottesville City Schools, Fluvanna County Schools, Greene County Schools, Nelson County Schools, and Orange County Schools). Students’ practicum, completed in their first spring semester, is 100 hours. Students must complete their internship during the fall and spring of their second year. They must complete a minimum of 600 hours (300 each semester).

Counselor Education Doctoral Program

The doctoral program in Counselor Education and Supervision is designed to prepare graduates to be faculty members in counselor education programs and to participate in leadership activities at the institution, state, regional, and national levels. The goal of the program is to graduate counselor educators and supervisors who have the knowledge and skills required for success in academic, in research and scholarship, and in the training, supervision, and education of masters level counselors, as well as who have advanced knowledge of counseling theory and practice, and who participate in on-going self-evaluation of all aspects of their work.

In addition to coursework, doctoral students have the opportunity to obtain a variety of other professional experiences through graduate assistantships and individual work with faculty (e.g., research, scholarly writings, and conference presentations). To assist students in their professional development, Counselor Education faculty members strongly encourage students to collaborate with them on research, publications, and professional presentations.

The doctoral degree in counselor education and supervision requires a minimum of 78 credit hours (including Master’s work), excluding the dissertation and doctoral counseling practice internship hours. There are four areas of concentration within the Counselor Education doctoral programs: Counselor education, investigative area, supporting coursework, advanced practice (practica in individual and group counseling, supervision, and teaching, and internship).