Counselling Psychology

This specialized thesis-based degree is designed to help students develop the philosophical, theoretical, research, and practical expertise required to offer effective psychological education and counselling.

The program offers you the opportunity to study diverse topics of particular relevance to counsellors, including interpersonal communication, lifespan human development, family functioning, career assessment and evaluation, and statistics and research design.

The program follows a scientist-practitioner model of training and is delivered on campus only, with a two-year residency required. Training is based on the definition of counselling psychology approved by the Canadian Psychological Association’s board of directors.

Completing this program

• Core Courses: Advanced Clinical Supervision in Applied Psychology and Advanced Practicum in Counselling.
• Candidacy: Students will complete a research proposal and both oral and written candidacy exams.
• Internship: Students will complete a one year full-time or two year half-time supervised internship in a clinical setting.
• Additional Courses: Topics may include research methods, school and applied child psychology, professional skills and issues and more.
• Dissertation: Students will be required to submit and defend an original research dissertation.

University professors, research organizations, not-for-profit, non-governmental and community agencies, post-secondary institutions, hospitals, counsellors, private practice, intercultural communication, culture studies, curricular consultant, public/private education systems, policy and governance.

A PhD in counselling psychology is usually considered a final degree.

1. Collect your documentation

   • Check your program requirements to find out which documents and forms you will need to prepare.
   • See the program's list of required documents for submission details.
   • Prospective doctoral students with funding from the China Scholarship Council: see additional information.

2. Gather references (if required)

   • Contact past professors for potential references. We will invite your referees to complete an online reference form after you submit your application.
   • Some course-based programs do not require references, please see specific admission requirements if you are unsure.

3. Begin your application

   • Create an eID to log in. If you already have an eID, you can begin your online application. 
   • Once you begin, remember to click 'Save & Continue' often to ensure your application is saved.

4. Submit your application

   • Pay your application fee:
     • $125 for Canadians or Permanent residents
     • $145 for International Students
   • Learn about payment options here