Academic Programs - Counseling Psychology
- Counseling Psychology
- Counseling and Student Personnel Services: Counselor Education and Supervision Focus
- Counseling and Student Personnel Services: College Student Affairs Focus
- College Student Affairs Administration
- Professional School Counseling
- Student Affairs Leadership
- Professional Counseling
- Recreation and Leisure Studies
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The doctoral program in Counseling Psychology at the University of Georgia is fully accredited by the American Psychological Association, and has been accredited since 1986. Our next site visit is in Spring 2014. The committee on accreditation can be reached at: http://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/. Counseling psychology as a psychological specialty facilitates personal and interpersonal functioning across the life span with a focus on emotional, social, vocational, educational, health-related, developmental, and organizational concerns. Through the integration of theory, research, and practice, and with sensitivity to multicultural issues, this specialty encompasses a broad range of practices that help people improve their well-being, alleviate distress and maladjustment, resolve crises, and increase their ability to live more highly functioning lives. Counseling psychology is unique in its attention both to normal developmental issues and to problems associated with physical, emotional, and mental disorders (APA, 1999).
The UGA Counseling Psychology doctoral program is designed to prepare scientist-practitioners who will provide the highest level of professional competency, research, scholarship, and clinical practice in Counseling Psychology. The faculty shares a philosophy of training that is based on the belief that each individual student brings to the program considerable personal strengths upon which each can build in the process of completing program requirements. We focus on providing a learning environment that is both challenging and supportive.
Specifically, the objectives of the program are to prepare professionals who will be able to:
- plan and conduct basic and applied research in Counseling Psychology;
- assume leadership positions as faculty members in institutions of higher education and comparable organizations;
- practice their unique clinical skills in human service settings; and
- develop a personal and professional identity commensurate with the expectations and ethical commitments of the Counseling Psychology profession.
Our students represent our greatest strength, particularly in terms of their diversity – in terms of background, life experiences, and previous academic and work experience. Given our competitive acceptance rate, the typical student’s academic record greatly exceeds our minimum criteria. In addition, our students come with a deep interest in scholarship, research and practice. Graduates are employed in a variety of settings, including counseling centers in colleges and universities, medical centers, Veterans Administration hospitals, schools, private practices, health and wellness facilities, state and federal agencies, family counseling services, academic departments in higher education institutions, and professional associations.
