About Our Program
The Counseling Psychology program at UNC has been in existence since 1984. It became fully accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1995 and has maintained accreditation ever since. In 2009, the program modified its curriculum and it now offers only the PhD in Counseling Psychology. The PsyD degree is no longer available at UNC. For more information about APA accreditation, contact the American Psychological Association’s Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation at 750 1st Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242. By phone at (202) 336-5979 or on the web at http://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/
The Counseling Psychology (PhD) program adheres to the Scientist-Practitioner model of training, but we still place greater emphasis on practitioner skills (about 60% practice/40% science). Our program is designed for persons interested in careers as psychologists working in independent practice, mental health agencies, health care facilities and academic institutions. While most of our graduates obtain jobs in applied areas, some of our graduates have become college professors. Our program strives to train psychologists who can independently assess, diagnose and treat a wide spectrum of mental health and adjustment concerns, in a variety of settings, utilizing at least three core treatment modalities: Individual, Group, and Couples & Family Therapies. In addition to completing practica in these three core treatment modalities, you will also complete a practicum in Clinical Supervision of individual therapy. As a doctoral student, you will be supervised by a licensed psychologist and for most of your practica experiences you will receive live supervision from behind a one-way mirror. You will receive feedback as soon as you are finished with your sessions, and ongoing feedback will be dubbed onto the session recording. Students also learn how to administer, score and interpret a wide variety of psychological assessment instruments including the MMPI-2, Rorschach, and Wechsler’s tests. Practica experiences in psychological assessment are also a required part of your training.
Our program also believes that it is important for our students to become contributors to and informed consumers of psychological research. Consequently all students complete a rigorous statistics sequence that involves learning about both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Students will also participate in a program evaluation research projects and individual research apprenticeships. Students are encouraged to make professional presentations and author publications while in the program. Our research training culminates with the doctoral dissertation.
At UNC you will enter an academic environment that demonstrates respect for and understanding of cultural and individual diversity.