CECP Master's Degree in Counseling Program
Master's Degree in Counseling
Our master’s programs in counseling include a variety of courses, practicum and training experiences that offer comprehensive preparation for professional practice as a counselor or therapist in different settings. Training in counseling skills begins in the first semester, and formalized practicum/internships usually begin in the second year.
Program philosophy
There are two specializations in our Master of Arts program: community counseling (general and child/adolescent/family) and school counseling. The Master of Science in clinical mental health counseling has an addiction-mental health specialization. Our programs emphasize the development of strong assessment, case conceptualization and intervention skills, in addition to solid preparation in the other research and professional skills that needed to become effective counselors.
Our programs use a developmental perspective that emphasizes growth and development, improving individuals' quality of life, and focusing on strengths and resources, in addition to psychological deficits and problems. The ability to diagnose and treat psychopathology is an essential skill in our graduates, but our program also emphasizes the assessment of strengths and resources, as well as the development of resource-focused interventions designed to maximize the healthy and optimal functioning of individuals and communities. In fact, we consider it an ethical obligation to focus on strengths and resources in addition to deficits and problems when conducting assessments and designing prevention programs and treatment plans for clients and students. Minimizing either one can result in an incomplete conceptualization that is likely to result in less effective interventions and potentially deleterious effects. Another implication of a developmental emphasis involves prevention and the need for proactive systems interventions. For example, fighting poverty, racism and other destructive societal and community influences are more important in certain contexts than applying individualized counseling interventions.
We believe that sensitivity to biological, psychological, social, cultural and developmental influences on behavior increases students' effectiveness as practitioners as well as the additional roles in which they are likely to engage (e.g., instructor, supervisor, consultant). This approach also helps students develop an appreciation for the importance of prevention with regard to behavioral as well as medical and social problems. Indeed, we view competence in working with all of these factors as necessary for the successful practice of counseling.
Our departmental policies also clarify our commitments with regard to diversity in our programs. Our policy on diversity reads as follows:
The Department of Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology, as well as Marquette University as a whole, is committed to social justice. These commitments are reflected in the Marquette University Statement on Human Dignity and Diversity, which reads, "As a Catholic, Jesuit university, Marquette recognizes and cherishes the dignity of each individual regardless of age, culture, faith, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, language, disability or social class." Our department emphasizes the importance of diversity and multicultural influences on development in all of our programs, including our course work and research, as well as throughout our practicum and internship training. The department expects that all faculty and students will engage in respectful explorations of issues regarding diversity and multiculturalism as we develop more fully our commitment to social justice. In addition, faculty and students are all expected to explore their own attitudes, knowledge and behaviors with regard to various forms of discrimination so that the quality of our research, teaching and practice improves.
Finally, our counseling programs also exist within the context of the Jesuit educational tradition. This includes assisting students to develop a care and respect for self and others consistent with the Jesuit tradition of cura personalis, or care for the person, and service to others. This 450-year-old tradition emphasizes a care for the whole person and the greater community, a tradition that is also very consistent with the history and emphases of counseling psychology. This orientation is also consistent with the mission and vision of the College of Education at Marquette, the graduates of which "will be 'men and women for others' who have a commitment to transforming social inequities in their schools, institutions and communities and who exhibit Marquette's hallmarks of excellence, faith, leadership and service."
