PhD in Counseling Psychology

Our program is designed for students to complete requirements within 5–6 years. This includes a 1-year internship experience following completion of course requirements.

If you enter the program with a master’s degree in counseling psychology or an allied mental health field, you can complete the program within 4–6 years.

If you do not enter with a master’s degree, you can obtain a master of science (MS) degree in route to the PhD.

All students are required to complete two independent research projects (e.g., the specialty area paper and the dissertation) as well as pass written comprehensive exams.


PhD Requirements — Total Credits: 165

Course and Title Credits
Courses in psychological foundations and discipline-specific knowledge 24
Courses in research methods, design, statistics, and measurement 48
CPSY 603 Dissertation 18
Practitioner competencies 57
Professional competencies 12
Additional courses 6

Curriculum Progression Plan

Year 1

Course Work

Learning Activities

  • CITI Certification obtained
  • Ethics Oral Exam passed

Year 2

Course Work

Learning Activities

  • SAP Research Paper completed/passed
  • Theoretical Orientation I essay passed
  • Adult Interventions Clinical Competency I – oral and written passed

Year 3

Course Work

Learning Activities

  • Scientific Aspects of Behavior Comprehensive Exam question passed
  • Research Comprehensive Exam question passed
  • Diversity/Multicultural I Comprehensive Exam passed
  • Child/Family Interventions Clinical Competency II – oral and written passed
  • Assessment Clinical Competency III passed

Year 4

Course Work

Learning Activities

  • Experiential supervision training completed

Year 5

Course Work

Learning Activities

  • Conference presentation completed
  • Diversity/Multicultural II essay completed
  • Theoretical Orientation II essay completed

O – Odd years
E – Even years