Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Counselor Education + Supervision

This course provides a foundation for the ethical practice of professional counseling. It introduces students to the history of the counseling profession as well as professional roles (practitioner, supervisor, educator, etc.) and professional organizations.

This course provides a survey of models and theories consistent with current research (evidenced-based) and practice in the counseling profession. Approaches include psychoanalytic, individual psychology, person-centered, existential, cognitive-behavioral, Gestalt, family systems, and postmodern theories.

This course teaches basic relationship and counseling skills using role-plays and other experiential activities. The course covers basic counseling skills (e.g., attending, active listening, building rapport), intake interviewing, and self-reflection/self-assessment procedures. It also addresses additional skills such as confrontation, immediacy, hereand-now processing, self-disclosure, and stages of change.

This course presents an overview of various models and theories in the discussion of the characteristics, developmental needs, and tasks at different stages of a person’s life cycle. The impact of social, cultural, biological, and psychological factors on prenatal life, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and aging will be discussed.

This course is designed to provide a basic foundation of knowledge, awareness, and skills needed for providing more effective counseling services in a multicultural society.

This course introduces students to theory and principles of group dynamics as well as developmental stages of groups.

This course will provide foundational knowledge of individual and group approaches to assessment and evaluation commonly used in counseling practice. Students will be introduced to a variety of formal and informal assessment tools and instruments.

This course is a master’s-level introduction to research methods and program evaluation as it pertains to the field of professional counseling. Major research designs including both quantitative and qualitative methods will be explored.

This course will examine career development and decision-making models and ethical counseling applications to diverse/multicultural client populations.

This course provides an overview of the major disorders in the current edition of the DSM. A range of mental disorders from adjustment disorders to serious psychopathologies will be discussed.

This course presents an overview of major models of couples and family therapy. The impact of multigenerational and environment factors on family dynamics and couples’ relations will be examined through various systemic perspectives.

This course provides an introduction to substance use and the treatment of addictive disorders. Assessment of substance use disorders and current treatment models for substance use, misuse, abuse, dependence, and concurrent disorders are discussed.

Counseling practicum/internship (a minimum of 600 hours).

This course aims at fostering the development of the counselor educator identity.  It will orient students to the role of counselor educator, and their ethical and legal responsibility as a scholar, trainer, supervisor, and gate keeper of the profession. Through this course, students will start implementing their plan of a specialty area by conducting a more in-depth literature review regarding their areas of interest and submitting a conference proposal for a local, regional or national conference. The course will also emphasize student actual involvement in organizations. Ethics regarding writing, publishing, and conducting scholarly activities will be discussed.   It will emphasize students’ understanding of academic writing, formulating a manuscript with the goal of journal publication. It will address the manuscript submission process and the submission of a manuscript for publication as well as the guidelines set forth by major counseling peer reviewed journals. Further refinement of the literature review of the specialty area will serve as a base for part of the doctoral student’s dissertation as well as a manuscript to be submitted to a peer reviewed journal by the end of the semester. The course also discusses consultation in different venues, clinical and administrative.

This course is an advanced, in-depth, exploration of the theories of counseling, including philosophical presuppositions, assumptions, and implications of counseling and psychotherapy and its theoretical dilemma. Also examined are research findings on consciousness and human change processes such as the stages, processes, and precursors of change.

This course is designed to strengthen doctoral students’ ethical and multicultural competencies as counselors/practitioners, counselor educators, supervisors, and researchers. In addition, this course also focuses on students’ understanding of leadership and advocacy models and development of advocacy and leadership skills.

This course is designed to orient doctoral-level counseling students to the major teaching and learning theories, perspectives, and developmental trends in the field of counselor education. The course includes in-depth discussion of teaching methods, pedagogy, learning styles, and characteristics of effective teachers.

This course will explore in-depth models of program evaluation and development. Students will learn about the application of research techniques and models to conduct needs assessments, input, process, and outcome program evaluation and use the evaluation data to inform program development or enhancement.

This course is designed to advance clinicians’ knowledge and skills in responding to both small- and large-scale crises and trauma, as an individual practitioner and as part of an interdisciplinary team in an agency or a community.

The course is designed to advance both students’ theoretical understanding and skill level in actual practice in facilitating group dynamics. Several approaches to group work are covered, including wellness and personal growth, mental health, and therapeutic groups for diverse clienteles, settings, and clinical issues.

This course is designed to provide in-depth study in various qualitative research methods in counseling, program evaluation, education, and behavioral sciences.

This course focuses on the use of quantitative data and application of both descriptive and inferential statistical research methods in the field of counseling, program evaluation, education, and behavioral sciences.

This course provides students training in advanced statistical methods and techniques in analyzing, interpreting and reporting quantitative data in research.

This course covers principles of curriculum design for universal learning for diverse individuals and various delivery modalities. There will be discussions on academic program development with reference to accreditation requirements and institutional and program missions. The course will also focus on how different elements of the program support the overall program effectiveness, including the design of each course and its learning objectives, assessment strategies for learning outcomes, evaluation of student dispositions for professional demeanor, admissions and selection of students, and support and retention of students.  Students will also be introduced to the accreditation process and the writing of self-studies for CACREP and other accrediting bodies for at both state and regional levels.

The DCES internships provide students a forum to enrich their professional portfolios and strengthen their career possibilities and potential as expert clinicians, supervisors, researchers, scholars, and counselor educators. Students will work with their faculty advisor to tailor their individual  internship experiences in order to enhance their professional goals. As a result, students will be responsible for developing their internship training sites and opportunities with assistance and support from their faculty advisor and the clinical training director.

The DCES Internships and Seminars provide students with venues to be trained in advanced clinical training, supervision, teaching, research, and other advanced professional experiences. Students are required to complete 600 hours of internship.

Students can complete these elements of the internship in sequence or simultaneously.  When formulating internship plans, students should consider using the experience to enhance their career profile and, where possible, specialty areas. In addition to the field hours and site supervision, students are required to register for seminars for group supervision and support.

All students are required to complete a minimum of 600 hours of Internships in the following areas collectively:

• Research.
• Advanced Clinical Practice.
• Teaching.
• Supervision.

For Students who did not complete the 200 hours of Social Justice Practicum in their master’s program.

The Social Justice Internship (SJI) is designed to advance students’ degree of understanding of leadership in effecting change at the community and professional level.

For Students who did not complete the 200 hours of Social Justice Practicum in their master’s program.

The Social Justice Internship (SJI) is designed to advance students’ degree of understanding of leadership in effecting change at the community and professional level.

Students are expected to apply one or more of the major research models or theories to conduct a research project in a dissertation format.In this first phrase of the dissertation, students are expected to form their dissertation committees, and work on the research proposal, chapters 1, 2 & 3.

In this phase of the dissertation, students should complete the research proposal (chapters 1, 2, and 3),  coordinate an oral defense of the research proposal, and submit the IRB application.

Upon the approval of the study by the IRB, students can begin to implement the methodology of the dissertation research, including data collection and analysis, to write about the results and conclude the research.