Master of Education in Counselling Psychology (Counselling & Psychotherapy Field)
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Master of Education in Counselling Psychology (Counselling & Psychotherapy Field) Overview
Supporting mental well-being through psychotherapy
Our Master of Education in Counselling Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy field, is a course-based professional development program providing the theoretical and practical skill sets for licensing as a registered psychotherapist in a variety of settings.
Students are encouraged to develop their courses and practicum learning experiences to suit their own goals. Examples of the types of goals for which suitable programs of study could be developed include counselling and psychotherapy with adults, college and university students, or older adults; career counselling; counselling with diverse clients; and counselling and psychotherapy in community mental health and family service settings.
Through coursework and an optional practicum component, this program provides you with the basic preparation for certification as a Certified Canadian Counsellor (CCC) with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) as well as a Registered Psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of 遙ぺ整氈窒 (CRPO).
The MEd program is typically offered on a full-time basis with a limited number of part-time spots available.
For detailed information about the program, please consult the .
NOTE: Admission to the Collaborative Specialization in Community Development (CSCD) will be suspended for 2022-23. Furthermore, the future of the CSCD and the core course supporting the collaborative specialization will be reviewed over the next year. An update will be posted at the specialization's in early 2023.
At a Glance
Study Options
Full-time (5 sessions)
Part-time (10 sessions)
Coursework & Examination
Practicum
Funding and Tuition
For current information about tuition fees, funding, and financial support, visit Tuition & Financial Support.
Deadlines
Applications are now closed for a Fall 2024 start.
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Why I Chose Applied Psychology & Human Development
![Nivatha Moothathamby](/home/sites/default/files/styles/inline/public/2022-07/testimonial-nivantha.jpg.webp?itok=oLux3OF9)
Nivatha Moothathamby (Master of Arts 2021)
PhD student in Developmental Psychology and Education
"My journey at OISE has been filled with establishing positive and supportive relationships, learning the nuances of psychology and education, and understanding my role as a scholar and an activist. As a Tamil-Canadian, I come from a community that has faced racial injustices and intergenerational trauma. The Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development has provided me with academic resources and a community to explore and expand on these parts of my identity. Overall, OISEs deep commitment to inclusion, diversity and equity is what drew me to apply. I found my place here."
Master of Education in Counselling Psychology Admission Requirements
General Admission Requirements
Please visit the OISE Admissions website for detailed information about the application process, including general minimum admission requirements and supporting documents.
Program-Specific Information (Minimum Admission Requirements)
- Applicants are admitted under the .
- An appropriate bachelors degree in any major or discipline, with a grade equivalent to a University of Toronto B+ or better in the final year, from a recognized university.
- At least one year of relevant experience.
Required Supporting Documents
All applicants must submit:
- Transcript(s) from each post-secondary institution attended
- Email contact for two referees (one academic and one professional) and two letters of reference*
- A resume/curriculum vitae
- Counselling/Clinical Experiences Table (Blank table can be downloaded from the application status page under the "Application Checklist" once you hit the Continue button on the Review page to proceed to the payment options. Or you can download a blank table here)
- Applicants are asked to respond to the following questions:
- Could you briefly describe your family, life, community, volunteer, or professional experiences that have helped prepare you to work with diverse individuals? (350 words max)
- Please describe specific counselling-related work or volunteer activities that have prepared you for this program. Please explain how these experiences have informed your interest in becoming a helping professional. (750 words max)
Additional Program Information
Coursework
Students must complete 5.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) as follows:
- APD1202H Theories and Techniques of Counselling and Psychotherapy Part I (0.5 FCE).
- APD1203Y+ Practicum I: Interventions in Counselling Psychology and Psychotherapy (1.0 FCE). The practicum placement is the supervised training component of this course.
- APD1214H Critical Multicultural Practice: Diversity Issues in Counselling and Psychotherapy (0.5 FCE; corequisites: APD1202H and APD1302H).
- APD1219H Ethical Issues in Professional Practice and Psychotherapy (0.5 FCE).
- APD1260H Family Therapy (0.5 FCE) or APD1261H Group Work in Counselling and Psychotherapy (0.5 FCE).
- APD1302H Theories and Techniques of Counselling and Psychotherapy Part II (0.5 FCE).
- 1.5 FCEs in electives. Recommended electives: one of
- APD1266H Career Counselling and Development: Transition from School to Work (0.5 FCE),
- APD1267H Emotion-Focused Therapy (0.5 FCE),
- APD1268H Career Counselling and Development: Transitions in Adulthood (0.5 FCE),
- APD1278H Cognitive Therapy (0.5 FCE).
Comprehensive Examination
Upon completion of program course requirements, students must pass a written comprehensive exam of selected topics from the program curriculum and training.
Optional Additional Practicum
Counted as one of the electives. Students may choose to complete a practicum (APD1247H Practicum in Adult Counselling and Psychotherapy) for an additional 250 hours of field placement concurrent with the required course (APD1203Y+ Practicum I: Interventions in Counselling Psychology and Psychotherapy). Arrangements for the practicum placement must be made in consultation with and the approval of the Director of Clinical Training.
Collaborative Specializations provide students with a the opportunity to explore a novel interdisciplinary area or special development that crosses a number of disciplines.
Collaborative Specializations are available with the MEd in Counselling Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy field in the following areas:
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- Prepares students for specialization in the field of aging and/or the field of palliative and supportive care, with an emphasis on viewing aging and palliative issues within the perspective of the life course
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- Focuses on working with community members and groups to effect positive change in the social, economic, organizational, or physical structures of a community
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- For students to engage in questions of gender, ethnicity, race, Aboriginal status, (dis)ability, and class to highlight the importance of exploring their interaction with sexual differences.
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- Provides a rich interdisciplinary environment in which students can grapple with how gender and sexuality are tangled with questions of race, citizenship, embodiment, colonialism, violence, and other pressing concerns.
Admission requirements state that at least one year of relevant experience is required. What is considered relevant experience?
The 1-year minimum is a guideline for the amount of experience we expect. We do not have the resources to approve or recommend a particular position or setting for interested applicants. The admissions committee does not prefer consecutive over periodic experience, nor distinguish between part-time vs. full-time hours
Strong applicants to the MEd program have practical experience in a mental health environment, with adult populations, practicing or exposed to some of the counselling techniques and interventions as taught in the MEd curriculum.
Use your answer to the guided questions to identify where your practical skillsets, counselling exposure and professional development goals fit with the MEd program curriculum, perhaps by naming courses and/or models of therapy. Your resume and professional reference letter should corroborate, and each would detail your locations of practice, client populations served, counselling interventions practiced, and time durations of each. This information will ensure that your professional focus is relevant and it would appear likely that you can be successfully placed in a practicum site within our program.
According to the application requirements for the Master of Education in Counselling Psychology and Psychotherapy program, an academic reference is preferred, along with a professional reference, however, will two professional references be accepted instead of one academic and one professional reference?
Yes. For applicants several years from their undergraduate programs, a strong academic reference may be difficult to obtain. The want is to have one of the practical referees speak to your scholarship too perhaps critical thinking/writing, report writing, literature reviews, presentation skills, and all-around collegiality in addition to what she/he can offer toward your practical skills.
Can you please confirm that this program does not have a research component?
The MEd degree programs do not have a research component. Applicants do not need to identify professors of research interest, but can list courses of interest which they teach.
Does what programs we do for our undergraduate influence our chances of getting into the program?
The MEd Counselling and Psychotherapy program does not require a specific undergraduate major. Any 4 year BA with a B+ or better in the last year is fitted. Applicants will want to demonstrate their academic scholarship with their faculty questions and via their reference letters, such as critical thinking and writing.
Is a successful work experience not related to counselling field not recommended to apply?
Applicants are encouraged to elaborate only on practical exposures relevant to mental health skills building and preparedness for a successful practicum placement.
For students who are in the process of completing their undergraduate degree, does the admissions committee look at just the 3rd year courses since the 4th year grades aren't released? Are there a certain number of courses they take to calculate an admissions average?
For applicants applying during their final year of the undergraduate program, an application GPA is not calculated. If an admissions offer is received in late March/early April, it will be conditional upon submitting proof of graduation and receiving a B+ or better GPA in the last 5 full-year equivalent degree course credits.
For the MEd in CP - Counselling and Psychotherapy what is the minimum numbers of courses you can take as full time student. Are courses offered over the spring and summer months?
Full-time registration in the MEd program is typically 3 courses per semester. This is 6 in the first year, and the remaining 4 in the 2nd year, including the practicum placement. Summer courses are available. These are electives and are optional.
Would it be possible to apply as international student and change the status afterwards if permanent residency is granted after been accepted by the university?
An applicants residency status would not affect the review of their application. When an offer of admission is received, in late March or early April, the applicant may update our OISE registrars office with their residency status at that time.
If I have just begun a volunteer position with a crisis line that I am committed to for one year, (meaning at the time of the application I will only have been in the position for a month), will this still be considered for relevant experience for September program start date.
Yes, the one year practical experience requirement is counted back from when an applicant would begin the program the following September. We encourage applicants to consider when is the best year to apply, when familiar and glowing letters of reference can be secured.
Experiences beginning at the time of application will often not have substantial relationship-building for the referee to elaborate upon.
I am trying to get an idea of what the program looks like and Im not having a lot of luck online. Do you happen to have an example schedule of what courses are offered and what your week would look like ? Also, does the program help to find you a placement and is the 250 hours direct or does that include all direct and indirect hours at placement?
A representative course schedule is not available, but full-time registration is typically 3 courses per semester, which can be scheduled in 2 or 3 days - 9 hours of in-class time per week. The 2nd year includes 4 more courses plus a two day a week practicum placement. The minimum 250 hours is inclusive of indirect and direct client hours - the latter being a minimum of 25%.
Two reference letters are required with your application. Please communicate these items to your practical/professional referee and ask that (s)he comment on the following in your reference letter.
To the extent possible, please comment on the applicants:
- Sensitivity to others
- Awareness of their own impact on others
- Empathy and capacity to provide support to others
- Ability to exercise appropriate judgment
- Appropriateness of interpersonal behaviour
- Ethically appropriate behaviour
In your opinion, how suitable is this applicant for training in counselling?
Program Chair: Dr. Roy Moodley
Program Faculty: Jeffrey Ansloos; J. Roy Gillis; Abby Goldstein; Charles Chen; Roy Moodley; Judy Silver; Lana Stermac; Jeanne Watson; Ellen Gutowski; Greg Hamovitch; Julie Goldenson; Olga Ulanova
Questions? Please email us at oise.aphd@utoronto.ca
Program Coordinator:
Caren Li
kl.li@utoronto.ca
Ready to join one of the worlds top universities?
Take the next step in your academic journey and start your application to graduate studies at OISE.