20 courses (3 credits each) = 60 credits total

PSY 601: Biological Foundations of Learning and Development
This course will provide an overview of brain / behavior relationships. The way that biological processes affect behavior will be examined from the bio-psychosocial perspective. The structure and function of the nervous system will be introduced and methods utilized in bio-psychological research. Selected topics pertaining to assessment and psychopharmacology will be infused throughout the lectures. Current topical information on disorders such as Depression, Attention Deficit, Obsessive Compulsive, Tourette’s syndrome, Autism, Schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, Dyslexia and syndromes will be reviewed with case materials.

This course focuses on studying the relationships among biological systems, learning, and behavior, with particular attention to brain-behavior relationships, as well as providing an overview of neuropsychological and pharmacological issues.

PSY 611: Essentials of Measurement, Evaluation and Research Analysis
Introduction to principles, concepts and operations that are necessary for an understanding of individual and group assessment, and of empirical research methodology; derivation of standard scores and other attributes of normative test construction; correlation; reliability; validity; presentation of data in tables and graphs; descriptive statistics and their computation; fundamentals of inferential statistics, including comparison of mean differences by t-tests, simple analysis of variance; chi-square; individual differences and their measurement; and reading and interpreting research reports.

EdPs 620: Child Development
This course focuses on the nature of physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and moral development from birth through adolescence, with implications for learning and teaching; major perspectives on the study of child development, including Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory of child development and learning; periods of child development from birth through adolescence, seen in cultural context, with implications for learning and teaching; integration of theory and research findings from the fields of developmental and educational psychology; and multicultural contexts for growth, development, and learning with diverse student populations.

PSY 630: Individual and Group Counseling
This course covers counseling related to all ages in both individual and group formats. Students will work on general counseling skills, for example, active listening, empathy, and open-ended questioning. Students learn the advantages and disadvantages of individual versus group counseling and how and when to best employ the different formats.

PSY 631: Counseling Families of Exceptional Children
The focus of this course is to develop an understanding of the role and dynamics of a family in the management of exceptional children. The course introduces Family Systems theory and also explores the family as a mediator of the culture and as a context within which the child develops. The course will address the interactions of families with children with handicapping conditions such as medical conditions and learning problems. A focus will be on the impact of the child with special needs on parents and siblings. Students will develop skills in assessing the family’s interactions with the referred child, and evaluation of the family’s needs. Students will become familiar with the impact and relevance of the socio/economic and cultural context for families with special needs children.

PSY 632: Multicultural Counseling
This course is designed to provide an overview of different perspectives on multiculturalism in North American society, including theories and models of identity development as they pertain to ecological and societal forces influencing the provision of counseling services to culturally diverse clients in educational and community settings. The aim of this course is to provide students with skills to increase their effectiveness in serving underrepresented and minority populations.

PSY 636: Appraisal in Child and Adolescent Counseling I
This course is designed to give the mental health counselor a working familiarity with, and understanding of, the various aspects and components of the assessment process, as well as familiarity with various types of assessment tools and their uses. Regardless of the setting in which the Mental Health Counselor practices he or she will frequently be asked to perform an assessment of a potential client. Assessment is the fundamental step in ascertaining what, if any, intervention on the part of the counselor will be warranted. Furthermore, it will shape the nature of that intervention should it be decided that service is necessary.

PSY 637: Appraisal in Child and Adolescent Counseling II
This course is a continuation of the PSY 636 assessment course. The previous course was designed to give the mental health counselor familiarity with several psychological/psychiatric disorders of children/adolescents and the assessment process, and familiarity with various types of assessments. PSY 637 continues that process with the examination of additional disorders and the assessments thereof. This course is structured to function independently of PSY 636 (I). The current course focuses on utilizing rating scales and more quantifiable methodology to assess social-emotional status. The course contrasts clinical and non-clinical populations. Work, school and home intervention techniques are emphasized and include topics such as functional behavioral assessment, and behavior management applications.  

PSY 638: Assessment and Clinical Evaluation in Addiction Counseling
The course provides students with a thorough understanding and practical knowledge of the multitude of issues involved in addiction counseling. Assessment and treatment methods with adolescents, adults, and families are explored in detail.

PSY 640: Legal and Ethical Issues in Psychology and Counseling
This course provides an overview of the major legislative decisions that have influenced the practices of psychology and counseling, a review of the federal and state laws regulating the practice of psychology and counseling, and introduction to the principles of professional ethical conduct as outlined by the American Counseling Association and the American Psychological Association. 

PSY 662: Psychology of Adult life and Aging
This course will examine life-span approach to development in the adult years. Reminiscence and life review processes will be utilized to help gain the qualitative anecdotal perspective regarding human development only available through the wisdom of older adults themselves. During the first part of this course students will learn more about adult development connecting with their own inner wisdom and that of an older adult. Following this initial focus on overall human development, the young, middle and older adult years will be examined in specific detail.

PSY 670: Best Practices in Crisis Intervention
This course covers the theoretical foundations and current research on the impact of trauma and disasters on children, adolescents and adults. It focuses on best practices for short-term and crisis intervention to support a return to normalcy and resilience in youth. A major focus is on identification, intervention, and treatment of children who exhibit signs of distress or who are at-risk for future mental health problems. Group work is explored as a means to therapeutically intervene with youngsters who exhibit signs of traumatic stress.

PSY 678: Life Style and Career Development
This course is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of theoretical and practice aspects of career development across the life-span. In this context, the major career development theories will be presented as well as the treatment implications for counseling and psycho-educational interventions.

PSY 680: Group Dynamics
The course provides an overview of techniques of group procedures as they appropriately apply to decision making, problem solving, and resolution of conflict. An emphasis is placed on dynamics of group behavior and on self-understanding as applied to group procedures.

PSY 681: Psychopathology
The course will provide an in depth review of a broad spectrum of psychopathological conditions as defined in the DSM-IV-TR-2000. The focus of this review will include the etiology, prevalence & incidence, signs & symptoms, and criteria for differential diagnosis. The emphasis of this review will be on comparing and contrasting different theoretical perspectives on each disorder, as well as reviewing the empirical literature in support of these theoretical perspectives. As a graduate level course, this review will be at an advanced level and presumes mastery of the content of an undergraduate Abnormal Psychology course.

PSY 683: Assessment and Appraisal of Individuals, Couples, Families and Groups
This unique course will integrate different perspectives in individual and group assessment while providing an overview of the complex dynamics involved in the assessment and appraisal of individuals, couples, families and groups. Student will focus on the different processes involved in assessing the needs of these individuals/groups as well as the provision of counseling and the different counseling techniques.  

PSY 707: Professional Orientation
The course will provide a comprehensive examination of the role of the counselor as a professional in the field of mental health. The course will include seminars to address contemporary professional and practice issues. The course will emphasize the rules and regulations pertaining to professional conduct and the scope of practice for counselors. Legal and ethical responsibilities of counselors will be examined.

PSY 702: Integrating Evaluation and Report Writing Skills for Mental Health Counselors
This course continues to train students in psycho-educational and social-emotional assessment. Students are equipped to integrate their knowledge in these areas of assessment and begin to write varied and detailed reports regarding assessment data, classification outcomes, and recommended remediation strategies with diverse populations of disabled youth and adults. In addition, students training to become Mental Health Counselors will be encouraged to develop their clinical skills in a multicultural environment.

PSY 770: Internship I
Students will be completing 20 to 25 hours per week (350 hours total) of clinical practice in a community placement while continuing to come to class for support, consultation, and further training. At least 300 hours are spent in direct client contact. The remaining hours may be used for supervision, in-service education and training, recording and reporting, staff meetings, and related case management and administrative responsibilities. This means that the supervisor will determine together with the student how many hours will remain after a student deducts the hours that have been already documented during the clinical practicum. Interns will receive a minimum of one hour per week of individual supervision by a licensed mental health professional. Eligibility for this course requires having satisfactorily completed all other coursework in the Master of Science in Counseling program and approval of the Counseling faculty.

Students will be evaluated for their counseling provision competencies, their professionalism and documentation. They will have to log at least 300 hours, of which at least 50 will have to be directly supervised by a mental health professional.

PSY 771: Internship II
This advanced course focuses on the theory and practice of group counseling.
Students are provided opportunities to facilitate counseling groups under the
supervision of a faculty member who is a qualified clinician. Group practicum is designed to provide experiences that will develop group leadership skills. Practicum students are observed and supervised weekly.