History, Philosophy, and Goals

The doctoral program in Counseling Psychology at New York University is offered through the Department of Applied Psychology in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

In 1971 the program was registered with the New York State Department of Education for the professional preparation of psychologists. Since that time Graduates of the Counseling Psychology Program have been considered fully qualified psychologists with specialized training in counseling and eligible for licensure by the State. Since 1981 the program has been fully approved by the American Psychological Association, Commission on Accreditation, 750 First Street, NE, Washington DC, 20002-4242 (202-336-5979). Finally, in 1989 the Department of Counselor Education and the Department of Educational Psychology were merged into the current Department of Applied Psychology.

The major philosophical principles underlying the doctoral program in Counseling Psychology at New York University are:

1. a focus on a developmental understanding of clients;
2. a commitment to a health model of intervention;
3. an appreciation of the gendered, cultural, class, and institutional context of people's lives as these affect both clients and counselors.

We consider these principles as central to our definition of Counseling Psychology.

More specifically, the goals of our program are to educate counseling psychologists who:

• are knowledgeable regarding current theory, research, and practice in psychology;
• have a personally integrated theory of counseling;
• are committed to life-long learning;
• have attained the knowledge and skills to work effectively with clients from diverse backgrounds particularly in an urban setting;
• are able to do self-directed research;
• have a personally relevant identity as a psychologist and as a counseling psychologist;
• are prepared to function as multi-faceted and multi-skilled professionals in a wide range of roles as professional psychologists;
• have grown and developed as human beings in our program with a stronger and clearer sense of self and others;
• have developed the sensitivity and ability to uphold the highest standards of ethical behavior across all domains of professional practice.