counseling psychology phd programs in texas

College of Education    > Department of Psychological, Health, and Learning Sciences    > Counseling Psychology, PhD

Accredited by the American Psychological Association since 1987, the Counseling Psychology doctoral program trains psychologists to become health service psychologists and psychological researchers. Through our challenging curriculum and supportive student environment, it is our goal to develop psychologists who are skilled in the practical practice of psychology, produce graduates who have a solid foundation of psychological science, and produce graduates who display ethical behavior and professionalism.

The program offers the preparation necessary for students to apply for licensure as psychologists in Texas and other states and provinces. Our graduates are employed in settings such as hospitals, colleges and university psychology departments, university and college counseling centers, community agencies, clinics, private practice, and K-12 schools.

For more information, please see http://uh.edu/education/degree-programs/counseling-psyc-phd/ .

Admission Requirements

• See also:  University Admission Requirements    

The College of Education takes into consideration a number of criteria when determining admission, including prior college or university performance, letters of recommendation, standardized test scores, and statement of intent. All applicants must abide by the minimum qualifications for admissions to a master’s or doctoral program.

All graduate applicants (regardless of citizenship status) must demonstrate proficiency in English to obtain admission to the University. For more information, visit  http://www.uh.edu/graduate-school/admissions/international-students/english-proficiency/ .

An applicant is responsible for ensuring that all required materials for the evaluation of admissions are received by the College before the program’s deadline. If the application is not complete by the program’s deadline, it will not be evaluated for the admissions.

Full details of the online application process can be found at  www.uh.edu/graduate-school/admissions/how-to-apply .

Applicant checklist:

• Complete online graduate application including statement of interest, resume/CV, writing sample, letters of recommendation, and application fee payment.
• Official transcripts from all previous college/university work sent to the UH Graduate School.
• an overall undergraduate grade point average of 3.00 or higher (on a 4‐point scale), or
• a master’s or terminal degree.
• International students have additional documentation requirements that can be found at  www.uh.edu/graduate-school/admissions/international-students/ .

Grade Point Average Requirements: Admission requirements for the College of Education require a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.6 for undergraduate coursework or over the last 60 credit hours of coursework. The College requires a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 for graduate coursework. Typical students admitted to the Counseling Psychology doctoral program usually have higher GPAs than the College minimums. The College’s admission committees evaluate all credentials submitted by applicants to determine a student’s ability and potential to succeed in graduate study. In addition, the committee is interested in applicants’ potential to contribute to their program of study and the University community as a whole.

Degree Requirements

Program Total Credit Hours Required: Minimum 102.0 credit hours (Total of 105.0 with Health Minor/Emphasis)

The PhD in Counseling Psychology requires no less than four years of full-time study, a minimum of 102 credit hours, and the completion of all required coursework, candidacy research project, comprehensive examination, practicum, dissertation, and pre-doctoral internship. Beyond the required curriculum, students may pursue additional coursework within the Department of Psychological, Health, and Learning Sciences and the Department of Psychology with the consent of their advisor/faculty related to their individual research interests and career goals. Students who do not complete the optional health emphasis need to take additional 6 credit hours to reach the minimum of 102 minimum required hours. Similarly, students who can waive Master level pre-requisite courses need to take additional credit hours to reach the minimum of 102 minimum required hours. These additional credit hours could include dissertation and/or practicum hours above the minimum required.

Foundational Courses

18.0 Credit Hours

Required Courses

(15 Credit Hours)

• PHLS 6330 - Human Growth-Developmnt Credit Hours: 3.0
• PSYC 6338 - Fndtns of Social Psyc Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 7317 - Cognitive and Affective Bases of Behavior Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 8351 - Hist & Philosophy of Psyc Syst Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 8364 - Professional Practice in Psyc: Ethics, Law, & Professional Issues Credit Hours: 3.0

Select from the Following:

(3.0 Credit Hours)

• PSYC 6308 - Foundations of Neuropsychology Credit Hours: 3.0
• PSYC 7342 - Bio Bases of Behav Credit Hours: 3.0
• PSYC 8397 - Selected Topics in Psychology Credit Hours: 3.0

Selected Topic(s):

• Theories and Research in Social and Personality Psychology

Research Design, Statistics, and Measurement Courses

Minimum 24.0 Credit Hours

(15.0 Credit Hours)

• PHLS 8302 - Research Methods in Psychological and Educational Research Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 8319 - Inferential Statistics in Psychological and Educational Research Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 8322 - Intermediate Statistical Analysis in Psychological and Educational Research Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 8324 - Multivariate Analysis in Psychological and Educational Research Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 8300 - Advanced Educational & Psychological Measurement Credit Hours: 3.0

Candidacy Research

Minimum 3.0 Credit Hours

• PHLS 7398 - Candidacy Research Credit Hours: 3.0

Doctoral Dissertation

Minimum 6.0 Credit Hours

Students must enroll in dissertation credits the term they defend their dissertation proposal. Once students enroll in dissertation credits, they must continuously enroll in dissertation every subsequent Fall and Spring term, until the dissertation is completed (final defense). Summer enrollment in dissertation credits is required only if during the summer months the student conducts the dissertation’s proposal or final defense or actively engages in dissertation work involving the use of university facilities.

• PHLS 8399 - Doctoral Dissertation Credit Hours: 3

Counseling Psychology Specialty Courses

Minimum 54.0 Credit Hours

The Program’s curriculum includes a series of courses developmentally sequenced to help students gain knowledge in the core foundations of psychology as well as in the specialty discipline of Counseling Psychology. Prior to their first term in the Program, students with a master’s degree work with their advisors to determine if they need to complete any master’s level prerequisite courses, based on a review of their degree transcript. All students accepted directly from the bachelor’s degree need to complete the master’s-level pre-requisite courses described below. Even though students do not need to complete all master’s-level prerequisite courses prior to taking doctoral-level courses, students are expected to complete master’s-level coursework prior to enrolling in doctoral-level coursework in the same area.

Master Level Pre-Requisite Courses

12.0 Credit Hours

• PHLS 6325 - Theories of Counseling Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 6335 - Intro To Grp Couns Thry Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 6345 - Atypical Growth & Behavior Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 6391 - Counseling Methods and Techniques Credit Hours: 3

Doctoral-Level Courses

27.0 Credit Hours

• PHLS 7330 - Adv Thrys of Counseling Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 8305 - Supervisn in Counseling Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 8334 - Research Counseling Psychology Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 8337 - Multicul Iss Coun Psych Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 8339 - Sem in Career Coun Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 8341 - Professional Seminar Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 8347 - Assessment of Cognitive Abilities Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 8349 - Advanced Psyc Assessment II Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 8357 - Clinical Interventions in Counseling Psychology Credit Hours: 3.0

Clinical Training

15.0 Credit Hours

Counseling Psychology doctoral students receive clinical training primarily through practicum experiences and a pre-doctoral internship. Students are required to enroll in  PHLS 8393    every term (Fall, Spring, and Summer) they participate in practicum. During the internship year, enrollment in  PHLS 8193    is mandatory during the Fall, Spring, and summer terms.

• PHLS 8393 - Doctoral Practicum in Psy Credit Hours: 3.0 12.0 hours required (minimum of two years) 
• PHLS 8193 - Internship in Psychology Credit Hours: 1.0 2.0 hours required (1.0 credit each semester)

Counseling Psychology: Health Psychology Emphasis/Minor

9.0 Credit Hours

Students may choose to add an optional Health Psychology Emphasis/Minor to their coursework. Eligibility to add this emphasis/minor includes completion of:

• additional nine (9.0) credit hours of health psychology didactic coursework, and
• two (2) practicum courses (i.e., 6.0 credit hours) focused on health psychology.

6.0 Credit Hours

• PHLS 8306 - Health Psychology Research, Prevention, & Interventions Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 8307 - Health Disparities Credit Hours: 3.0

Health Psychology Elective

3.0 Credit Hours

• PHLS 8309 - Gene by Environment (GxE) Determinants of Health Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 8308 - Stress and Drug Abuse: Research & Health Outcomes Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 6322 - Dimensions in Women’s Health Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 7300 - Program Evaluation in Health Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 7306 - Health Disparities Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 7324 - Cancer Education Credit Hours: 3.0
• PHLS 7325 - Cross-Cultural Aspects of Health Credit Hours: 3.0

Practicum Experiences in the area of Health Psychology

Eligibility to add the Health Psychology Emphasis includes the completion of two (2) semesters of practicum in health psychology, in addition to the coursework described above. Please note, no additional practicum courses are required for the Health Psychology Emphasis (i.e., it is only necessary that the student pursuing this option demonstrate completion of two semesters of practicum in a health-related setting among the 12 credit hours of practicum required for the degree). To clarify further, these two semesters are not included in the 12-credit hour requirement for completion of the track, since students are required to complete practicum experiences as part of their doctoral training.

Academic Policies

• University of Houston Academic Policies    
• College Academic Policies    

Counseling Psychology Practicum

Enrollment in several terms of practicum and the year of pre-doctoral internship constitute the formally organized clinical training experiences in the Counseling Psychology Program. Students are typically required to complete a minimum of 2 years of practicum (12.0 Credit Hours of PHLS 8393   ). However, students who enter the program with a master’s degree may choose to complete only 1 year of practicum (6.0 Credit Hours), although many students choose to go beyond this requirement because of the competitiveness of internship.

Annual Review

The program’s faculty conducts an annual review of the student’s progress and provides the student with written feedback regarding this evaluation. With the exception of students whose graduation is imminent, all currently enrolled students (including those who are on internship) are required to participate in the annual review.

Program Completion Time Limits

Students must complete their programs within 10 years of their term of first enrollment. Students who are beyond their 7th year in the program are considered to be making unsatisfactory progress; therefore, as part of the annual review process, students in the seventh year or beyond must provide their advisors and the Director of Training a detailed timeline for completing their remaining work.

Counseling Psychology Pre-Doctoral Internship

The pre-doctoral internship year in counseling psychology represents the capstone clinical experience for students in the Program. During this year, students work full time (2,000 hours) as paid psychology interns in an approved professional setting where they receive regular supervision. Students are required to apply to APA-accredited internship sites as these programs regularly engage in the pre-doctoral training of counseling psychologists and meet all expected standards of training quality.

Department of Psychology

• Counseling Psychology

Counseling Psychology Doctoral Degree

The main goal of our Counseling Psychology Program is to train health service professional psychologists within a scientist-practitioner model that attends to individual and cultural difference and the importance of micro and macro social contexts. The specific aims of our CP program are for students to:

Aim 1: develop a professional identity as a culturally-competent health service counseling psychologist.

Aim 2: demonstrate clinical competencies for ethical interventions and culturally-sensitive evidence based psychological practice.

Aim 3: engage in original and empirical investigations of psychological phenomena and apply current scientific knowledge and methods to professional practice.

Aim 4: be sensitive and responsive to the complexity and intersectional nature of individual and cultural difference, understanding how they affect psychological well-being and clinical practice, and integrating these factors into clinical and research work.

Aim 5: develop knowledge in the foundational areas of general psychology and in counseling psychology theory, research, and practice.

Program Faculty

Click here to see the descriptions of all Counseling Psychology faculty on one page

Values, Principles, and Emphases

The Counseling Psychology Program faculty is committed to the core values, perspectives, and emphases that maintain our uniqueness as a specialty. Please see more information regarding the core values, perspectives, and emphases of Counseling Psychology as a specialty at APA Division 17 Society of Counseling Psychology webpage. We hold a positive developmental perspective that views human problems as occurring within a complex interaction of an individual's native endowments, contextual factors (e.g., culture, environment, relationships), and developmental changes the person experiences across their life. From birth to death, the process of living involves change and, at times, crises. Although personal crises can befall anyone at any time, counseling psychologists realize that economic, legal, educational, and other systems disadvantage some people more than others, increasing risk for psychological distress for the former and possibly creating protective factors for the latter. Thus, although we believe the psychological well-being of individuals depends upon the degree to which they can successfully adapt to the challenges they face, counseling psychologists recognize that the adaptability to, and severity of, challenges often are influenced by societal, environmental, and situational factors that are outside of individuals' direct control.

Counseling Psychology has also been unique in applied psychology because of its strong interest in the preventive aspects of mental health and the greater concern of the Counseling Psychologist with the nonpathological aspects of a client's condition (e.g., Counseling Psychology's emphasis on the client's strengths and the procedures that might be used to help the client recognize and optimize them; its attention to basic interpersonal processes). The faculty of the Counseling Psychology Program at the University of North Texas has maintained these emphases while recognizing that Counseling Psychologists today must also be able to assess, diagnose, and treat individuals who have more severe problems in functioning and/or meet criteria for a variety of psychiatric diagnoses. When working with these individuals, however, we assess how individual and cultural factors, strengths, and developmental issues may affect their presentation, counseling process, etc.

In particular, the Counseling Psychology Program faculty recognizes and values the role that all forms of socio-cultural factors have in shaping our clients and ourselves, our subjective experiences, perceptions, values, and the contexts in which we are embedded. Our educational activities and everyday interactions are enriched by a sense of humility and acceptance of one another; as members of the Counseling Psychology community, we aspire to learn from each other in an atmosphere of positive engagement and mutual respect. The program expects that students will be respectful and supportive of all individuals, including, but not limited to clients, staff, peers, and faculty who are different from themselves in racial, ethnic, and class backgrounds; national origins; religious, spiritual, and political beliefs; physical abilities; ages; gender identities; sexual orientations; and physical appearance, as well as other aspects of identity and cultural differences. At the same time, we understand that growth and development of multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills is a vital and ongoing process for everyone, including all faculty and students, that unfolds over time and through education, training, and self-reflection. Students enter the program with varying cultural experiences and are expected to take on the challenge of examining their own cultural identity and understanding ways in which their cultural context interacts with the experience of clients and others with whom they work. Continuing enhancement of multicultural competence is a necessary and personal journey in our community requiring openness to learning about each other as well as accepting others' individual processes.

The scope of developmental life issues that engage the interest and practice of counseling psychologists leads them to develop research interests of a very broad nature. In addition to developmental studies and studies of a social-psychological nature, counseling psychologists engage in process research, prevention and resilience research, studies of the profession and training, measurement issues, career development, family systems and relationships, performance enhancement, health and wellness outcomes of underserved communities, and the psychology of spirituality. We are fortunate at UNT to have such broad research interests well represented across the research programs of our faculty. The Counseling Psychology Program faculty believes that a strong foundation based on empirically derived knowledge is essential to expand the discipline of psychology, promote valid techniques in applied settings, and foster students' ability to think critically as they apply the perspectives of counseling psychology.

PhD Degree Requirements

The Ph.D. degree in counseling psychology requires a minimum of 99 semester hours beyond the bachelor's degree, including a one-year, full-time paid pre-doctoral internship. Students who are admitted with a master's degree in a closely related field and able to devote themselves full time to their studies may complete the program in five years. Most students take about six years.

General Core Courses

Doctoral students are required to demonstrate competency (grade of B or better) in all course work:

PSYC 5010 Human Development

PSYC 5090 Social Psychology

PSYC 5640 Cognitive and Affective Bases of Behavior

PSYC 5700 Quantitative Methods I (including a lab)

PSYC 5710 Quantitative Methods II (including a lab)

PSYC 6030 Biological Bases of Behavior

Counseling Core Requirements

PSYC 5420 Assessment I (including a lab)

PSYC 5430 Assessment II (including a lab)

PSYC 5470 Vocational Psychology: Developmental Aspects

PSYC 5680 Foundation of Counseling Psychology

PSYC 5690 Legal and Ethical Issues in Professional Practice

PSYC 5780 Psychopathology

PSYC 5900 Special Problems - History and Systems of Psychology

PSYC 6022 Application of Counseling Methods

PSYC 6060 Group Psychotherapy

PSYC 6300 Theory and Application of Multicultural Counseling

PSYC 6620 Supervision

PSYC 6630 Series on Psychotherapy

Counseling Practicum

The applied training experience in Counseling Psychology begins on campus in the first semester. The bulk of applied training occurs at the Psychology Clinic and the University Counseling and Testing Services. The Psychology Clinic practicum team is composed of first, second, and third year students and the supervising psychologist. In the second and third year of the required practicum sequence, students divide their training between the Psychology Clinic and the University Counseling and Testing Services. After successfully completing the required on-campus practica, students are required to do at least two semesters of external practicum at a site of their choosing.

Elective Cluster

Doctoral counseling psychology students are admitted to one of the following 3 elective clusters: child and adolescent therapy , sport psychology , and culture, identity & wellbeing . It is critical to note that although clusters provide students more training opportunities to develop knowledge and competencies in particular areas, they only affect a small portion of the doctoral curriculum. All students in the program are trained by the program's faculty to be a counseling psychologist.

During their first year, doctoral students formulate a thesis research project to complete during their second year. Students are also encouraged to involve themselves in faculty members' research. Second- and third-year counseling psychology students take on increasing responsibility in research projects that will culminate in the student's completion of a dissertation.

A full-time, calendar-year internship is required. Internships are independent of academic training programs. Students bear the responsibility for applying for and gaining acceptance to internships. View the sites where UNT Counseling Psychology students have obtained internships in recent years.

Evaluation of Knowledge and Skills

Throughout training, the counseling program faculty members assess each student's progress. Evaluation focuses on development of general knowledge in the field of psychology and the specialty area of counseling psychology, competence in the delivery of applied services, skill in scientific investigation, and appropriate interpersonal and ethical functioning. Students who do not demonstrate satisfactory and continuous progress in these regards may be terminated from the counseling psychology program.

Financial assistance

The Department of Psychology and the Counseling Psychology Program strive to support our doctoral students. Generally speaking, we are able to provide a financial support package to all of our students for at least 4 years which includes 20-hour assistantships and partial (usually 50% or more) tuition waivers in each long semester. Additionally, competitive scholarships and fellowships are available in the department and from the graduate school on campus.

The Psychology Clinic is used for practicum training. The clinic includes psychotherapy and assessment rooms and rooms with one-way mirrors for live observation of individual and group sessions. The counseling psychology program also uses training resources at the University Counseling and Testing Services. Both practicum sites are equipped with state-of-the-art digital video equipment to facilitate supervision and training.

Student Body and Program Statistics

The rate of attrition from the counseling psychology Ph.D. program has been very low in recent years. At this time the program has a larger percentage of women than men. Our students are diverse in age, geographical locations of home, undergraduate/master training programs, cultural & ethnic backgrounds, and interests. Most facilities on campus, including the Department of Psychology, are accessible to students with disabilities. The Ph.D. program usually admits 8 students annually and has about 45-50 students at any given time. The internship placement rate in the counseling psychology program has been 100% in recent years.

The Doctoral Program in Counseling Psychology at the University of North Texas provides student, education and training outcome data, and financial information in response to directives from the APA Office of Accreditation. The information provided includes data concerning applicants, admitted students, internship acceptance rates, time to program completion, licensure, student attrition rates, and financial costs.

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