The master’s degree in Community Counseling is no longer accepting applications for admission, with closure of the program planned following Spring 2017.
Masters of Arts in Education degree with emphases in community counseling
Contact information
At this time there is a moratorium for applications to the counseling psychology programs. For general information, e-mail gradstudies@wsu.edu or call 509-335-9195.
Licensure Information
Effective Fall 2012, the master’s in Community Counseling increased from a 48 credit hour program to a 60 credit hour program. Although the 48 credit hour program meets licensure requirements for a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the state of Washington, we believe the additional hours provide flexibility for students considering licensure in states that require 60 credits, for example our neighboring state of Idaho.
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 Community Counseling program is only available on the Pullman campus. Most students are enrolled full-time. The curriculum 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 take additional coursework in individual appraisal, diagnosis and psychopathology, and two semesters of internship in community mental health settings. Additional courses are available on an elective basis, including courses hypnosis, counselor supervision and cross-cultural research.
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 faculty
- Olusola Adesope
- Arreed F. Barabasz
- Marianne Barabasz
- Phyllis Erdman
- Brian French
- Hsin-Ya Liao
- Brian McNeill
- Jeanne Steffen
Handbook and forms
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, and hypnosis and attentional processes. Please refer to the respective links below for more detail on each of these areas of emphasis:
Other program strengths include:
- 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 for a list of current internship sites.
- The ability of the program to serve both full-time graduate students on the Pullman campus.
- A program completion rate that approaches 83%.
- Cited in 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.
- 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.
- Library facilities consistent with a major research university,
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 late February or early March. We appreciate receiving confirmation of admitted applicants’ decisions to enroll as soon as possible.
Average GPAs and GRE scores for students admitted within the last three years into the program:
Undergraduate GPA
Mean: 3.64
Median: 3.64
| GRE Verbal | GRE Quantitative | GRE Writing |
| Mean: 152 | Mean: 147 | Mean: 3.8 |
| Median: 151 | Median: 145 | Median: 3.5 |
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 Students
Our goal is to enroll approximately 10-12 new community counseling students each year. Small student:faculty ratios facilitate faculty-student interaction and increase the quality of training. Students are generally full-time students and take two years to complete their program.Most students come from psychology or education degree backgrounds, but this is not a requirement of the program.
Sample positions held by recent graduates
- 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
- Case Manager, Pierce County Human Services, Washington
- Service Learning Coordinator, Washington State University