How Does One Become a Counseling Psychologist?
Counseling psychologists are trained at the doctoral level (usually PhD, but also Psy.D. or Ed.D.) in programs that typically require at least four to five years of graduate study, involving coursework and integrated training experiences in a variety of topical areas and professional skills. These include (a) instruction in the core areas of psychology (biological, cognitive/affective, and social bases of behavior; individual differences; history and systems of psychology); (b) specialized instruction in theories of counseling and personality, vocational psychology, human life span development, psychological assessment and evaluation, psychopathology, measurement and statistics, research design, professional ethics, supervision, and consultation; (c) supervised practica focused on the development of counseling, psychotherapy, assessment, and consultation skills; (d) the equivalent of a one year full-time predoctoral internship in professional psychology; and (e) completion of an origin
