Counseling psychology and School psychology
Department of Educational Leadership & Counseling Psychology
Masters degrees (M.A. or Ed.M) with emphases in school or community counseling
Information Menu
- Contact information
- Program overview
- Special program strengths
- Application information
- Student funding
- Program faculty
- Program students
- Program handbook
- Information and forms for current students
- Helpful links
Contact information
For general information about all counseling psychology, counseling, and school psychology programs, email gradstudies@wsu.edu or call (509) 335-7016 or (509) 335-9195.
Program overview
The primary goal of the master’s programs in counseling is to train scholar-practitioners who understand counseling, understand clients, and counsel in context. Students develop the skills to critically evaluate the scholarly literature and to apply it in their counseling. The common thread of all training is a balance of applied, theoretical, and scientific components in the practice of counseling with a knowledge base drawn from existing practice, theory, and research in counseling. We recognize that there is no single approach to counseling and expose our students to the theoretical tenets, techniques, and research bases of the major counseling theories. Students are expected to select one of these theories or to develop a personal integrated approach to counseling that they demonstrate in their case conceptualizations and fieldwork. The program emphasizes the importance of understanding the world view of individuals. We emphasize the importance of counselor empathy and developing skills related to empathic understanding and the communication of empathy. The program seeks to enhance students’ understanding of children, adolescents, and adults by providing them with knowledge related to specific client problems, developmental tasks, current major counseling foci, and emphasizing the need to understand individuals in a socio-cultural context. We recognize that we will be preparing professionals who will be functioning in a diverse, constantly changing society who will need to be adaptable and flexible in their response to change.
The School Counseling and Community Counseling programs are available at both the Pullman and Tri-Cities campuses. Most Pullman students are enrolled full-time. Most Tri-Cities students are enrolled part-time. The curriculum for both programs includes course work in theory, research, and techniques in individual and group counseling; vocational/career counseling and assessment; professional and ethical issues; life-span development; counseling diverse populations; statistics, measurement, and research design. In addition, students in the School Counseling program complete a two-course sequence on current issues in school counseling, a course in program evaluation, and two semesters of internship in the public school setting. Students in the Community Counseling program take additional coursework in individual appraisal and two semesters of internship in community mental health settings. For both programs, additional courses are available on an elective basis, including courses on psychopathology, hypnosis, counselor supervision, Chicano/Latino psychology, cross-cultural counseling research, eating disorders, counseling at risk youth, and psycho-social aspects of disability.
Graduates of the School Counseling program are eligible to obtain residency certification as school counselors in the state of Washington. Specifically, they are prepared to serve K-12 students within the framework of comprehensive, developmental counseling models using the knowledge and skills required by state standards as well as the National Model for School Counseling of the American School Counseling Association. The school counseling program is approved by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and accredited by National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). In addition, program oversight is provided by a Professional Education Advisory Board comprised of practicing school counselors, teachers, and principals, as well as program faculty.
The Community Counseling program prepares students to work in a variety of settings including community mental health centers, college counseling centers, and individual or group practice. The program prepares students for licensure as a mental health counselor. Additional post-degree requirements are required for licensure in most states (for requirements in each state see www.counseling.org).
Program handbooks
For more specific information about the Master’s programs in School Counseling or Community Counseling, including sample course sequences, see:
- Master’s Degrees in Counseling: Steps for Completion Handbook: Pullman Campus »
- Master’s Degrees in Counseling: Steps for Completion Handbook: Tri-Cities Campus »
Special program strengths
We encourage applications from students with a variety of clinical and/or research interests in counseling psychology. We seek to train generalists who can function in diverse settings and with diverse populations, rather than narrow specialists. At the same time, the program has some areas of particular strength and focus, based on faculty expertise and interest. Among these are program emphases in multicultural counseling and cross-cultural research, hypnosis and attentional processes, and counseling of children, adolescents, and families. Please refer to the respective links below for more detail on each of these areas of emphasis:
- Multicultural counseling and cross-cultural research »
- Hypnosis and attentional processes
- Counseling of children, adolescents, and families »
Other program strengths include the following:
- For the school counseling program, a variety of sites at all levels of the public school system are available for internship placements. See School Counseling Field Placement Sites: Pullman campus or School Counseling Field Placement Sites: Tri-Cities campus for a list of current internship sites in the vicinity of Pullman and Tri-Cities, respectively.
- For the Community Counseling program, internship sites that enable interns to work with clients who vary in age (e.g., adults vs. children, adolescents, and families) and severity of mental health problems. See Community Field Placement Sites: Pullman campus or Community Field Placement Sites: Tri-Cities campus for a list of current internship sites.
- The ability of the program to serve both full-time graduate students at the Pullman campus, as well as part-time, place-bound students at the Tri-Cities campus.
- A program completion rate that approaches 100%.
- Cited in a recent issue of the American Psychologist (2006, vol. 61, issue 2, pp. 143-156) as one of 11 exemplary psychology programs nationally for successful efforts to recruit and retain graduate students of color.
- Student diversity; the counseling programs are among the most ethnically diverse at Washington State University. In 2002, the program was awarded the Suinn Minority Achievement award from the American Psychological Association, which is awarded to programs that are exemplary in the recruitment and retention of diverse students and in the program focus on cultural diversity.
- For the school counseling program, there is close integration of the program with state standards and input from professionals in the field through a Professional Education Advisory Board.
- Program faculty are active in training and service activities relevant to school counseling (e.g., the School Counselor Certification Work Group of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction) and have organized school counseling conferences with funding from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
- A diverse faculty in terms of ethnicity and gender; see Program Faculty.
- Faculty have international reputations in their respective areas of expertise, as reflected in the quality and quantity of publications and conference presentations, service as editors and editorial board members for major psychology journals, service in professional organizations, and success in obtaining grant funding; see Program Faculty.
- Library facilities consistent with a major research university, including, for example, over 2 million book volumes and 31,000 periodical subscriptions. The collection is further extended by our participation in a consortium of 27 libraries in Washington and Oregon via Summit with access to over 22 million items.
Application information
The application due date is January 10th for enrollment in the following fall semester. Applicants must apply to both the WSU Graduate School and to the Master's in Counseling program. Program review criteria include previous academic record (GPA); GRE scores, which are required by the program; appropriateness of interests and professional goals for the program; previous counseling, research, volunteer work, or other experiences relevant to the program; and current letters of recommendation. No single factor (e.g., GRE scores) is weighted so heavily as to preclude admission to the program. Applicants are generally informed about the admission decision in March. We appreciate receiving confirmation of admitted applicants’ decisions to enroll as soon as possible.
Average GPAs and GRE scores for students recently admitted into the program:
Undergraduate GPA
Mean: 3.50
Median: 3.53
| GRE Verbal | GRE Quantitative | GRE Writing |
| Mean: 469 | Mean: 538 | Mean: 4.4 |
| Median: 450 | Median: 550 | Median: 4.5 |
Student funding
Admissions decisions are made independent of graduate student funding. The majority of students find work on campus in offices such as financial aid, community service learning, career services, health and wellness, multicultural center, student advising and learning, office of grant and research development, and new student programs. In addition, students in the program can apply for college and departmental scholarships each year, most of which range up to about $3,000.
Program faculty
- Arreed F. Barabasz, Professor of Counseling Psychology
- Marianne Barabasz, Professor of Counseling Psychology
- Stephanie San Miguel Bauman, Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology
- Jennifer M. Beller, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology
- A. Timothy Church, Professor of Counseling Psychology
- Phyllis Erdman, Professor of Counseling Psychology, Department Chair
- Steve Hirsh, Clinical Professor of School Psychology
- David Holliway, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology
- Susan Jensen, Clinical Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology
- Laurie D. McCubbin, Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology
- Brian McNeill, Professor of Counseling Psychology
- Michael S. Trevisan, Professor of Educational Psychology
Program Students
Our goal is to enroll approximately 5-7 new school counseling students and 5-7 new community counseling students each year at both the Pullman and Tri-Cities campuses. The total number of students in each program is generally around 10-12 at each campus. Small student:faculty ratios facilitate faculty-student interaction and increase the quality of training. Students at the Pullman campus are generally full-time students and take two years to complete their program, whereas students at the Tri-Cities campus are part-time students and generally complete their programs in eight semesters (three fall, three spring, and two summer semesters). Most students come from psychology or education degree backgrounds, but this is not a requirement of the program.
Sample positions held by recent graduates
For the School Counseling program:
- Probation Counselor, Benton Franklin Juvenile Justice Center
- Counselor, Warden Elementary, Warden
- Counselor, Sunnyside School District
- Counselor, Hanford High School, Richland School District
- Principal, McLoughlin Middle School, Pasco School District
- Counselor, Inchelium School (Colville Reservation)
- Program Coordinator, McNair Scholars Program, College of St. Scholastica (Minnesota)
- Ph.D. student in an APA-accredited Counseling Psychology program
- Elementary School Counselor, Highland School District
- Middle School Counselor, Pullman School District
- School Psychologist, Evergreen School District
- Counselor, Livingston Elementary School, Pasco
- Counselor, Enterprise Middle School, West Richland
- Counselor, Kamiakin High School, Kennewick
- Counseling Department Head and Career Counselor, Pasco High School
- Student Development Coordinator, Touchet School District
For the Community Counseling Program:
- Case Manager, Pierce County Human Services, Washington
- Service Learning Coordinator, Washington State University
- Family Wellness Manager, Native American Rehabilitation Association of the Northwest
- Ph.D. student in an APA-accredited Counseling Psychology program
- Individual Private Practice, Kennewick
- Mental Health Specialist, Department of Human Services, Kennewick
- Counselor, Columbia Basin College
- Counselor, Walla Walla Community College
- Associate Director of Student Development, Washington State University-Tri-Cities