Tradition meets innovation in Counseling Psychology, Ph.D., a collaborative program that is jointly housed in the Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education and the Department of Psychology. This unique partnership offers students a diverse and interdisciplinary learning environment. You will receive rigorous training through a variety of modalities, including general psychology courses, small counseling psychology seminars, research, and applied counseling experiences with intensive personalized supervision.
Counseling Psychology, Ph.D. is recognized as one of the oldest programs in the nation, having been continuously accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA) since 1953.
Ideal candidates possess a blend of academic excellence, a passion for psychological research and practice, and a commitment to multicultural competence and social justice.
Are you ready to become a well-rounded psychologist equipped to make a real-world impact?
Key Features
- Scientist-Practitioner Model: Integrates rigorous research training with advanced clinical practice, preparing students for careers in academia, research, and clinical settings.
- Comprehensive Curriculum: Includes general psychology courses, small-group counseling seminars, research methods, and supervised counseling experiences tailored to individual career goals.
- Proximity to Resources: Located near Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, students benefit from access to major research institutions and cultural diversity.
- Departmental Collaboration: Enjoy a supportive cohort environment, with tailored experiences and funding opportunities.
- Develop skills in conducting independent scholarly research that advances psychological and professional knowledge.
- Establish effective therapeutic relationships and demonstrate competence in delivering psychological services.
- Apply the scientist-practitioner model to integrate empirical research with clinical practice in counseling psychology.
- Demonstrate awareness and proficiency in working with diverse populations, integrating individual and cultural differences into therapeutic approaches.
- Gain multicultural and social justice advocacy tools to be able to provide culturally competent individual therapy, group therapy, and systems-levels interventions to diverse populations.
Information on admissions and application to this program can be found on the University Graduate Admissions website. We admit 3-6 students per year.
Our program is a big commitment. If your answers to the following questions are "yes," then our program may be a good fit for you.
Are you interested in developing your research skills?
Research is a part of everyday life in our program. Students are expected to be active in research throughout their doctoral program, and coursework is designed to encourage students to discover connections between research and practice. Students whose research interests match one or more of our faculty members may find our training program particularly rewarding. Conversely, our program probably would not be a good fit for people who have little interest in conducting research and building their research skills.
Are you most interested in counseling adult populations?
Our courses on counseling and assessment focus on working with clients who are young adults or older. Most of our practicum courses involve working with clients in the University of Maryland Counseling Center, all of whom are university students. For these reasons, our program is not a good choice for people who wish to focus their training on children and adolescents.
Are you more interested in counseling than assessment and testing?
Our training program emphasizes counseling over assessment and testing. We do offer a solid introduction to assessment and testing; however, our two course assessment sequence is designed only to help students achieve basic competence in cognitive, personality, and career assessment. In contrast, our curriculum gives students intensive training in counseling over their first three years of the program; students gain additional counseling experience in externship placements (typically starting in their third year). Students with a strong interest in assessment can seek outside training experiences in psychiatric settings, such as the Veterans Affairs hospitals and state psychiatric hospitals.
Do you resonate with the values and traditions of counseling psychology?
Our curriculum, training model, and research all reflect a strong connection to the main unifying themes of counseling psychology: focus on assets and strengths, person–environment interactions, educational and career development, social justice and diversity, and a focus on intact personalities. As a result, little class time is spent studying severe psychopathology and the medical model of assessment and treatment. Our students with a strong interest in psychopathology can seek outside training experiences in psychiatric settings, such as the Veterans Affairs hospitals and state psychiatric hospitals.
Do you want to be part of a multicultural training environment?
We strive to create an inclusive training environment that promotes multicultural self-awareness, knowledge, skills, and experiences that enable our graduates to develop and share knowledge regarding multicultural issues as well as to provide culturally sensitive services to a variety of individuals in our society and abroad. The process of deepening one’s awareness and understanding of multicultural diversity is inherently challenging. Our program is a good match for students who wish to embrace this challenge.
Are you ready for at least 5 years of graduate training?
Most of our students complete their doctorate in 6 years, though a minority earn their degree in 5 years (< 10% in recent years). Our program fits best for people who enjoy being in school. People who prefer a briefer graduate school experience might be more satisfied in a master's program in counseling or related fields, which are typically designed to be completed in two years. Links to directories of master's programs are available on our FAQ page.
Courses, research and practical elements in this program are carefully selected to give you a well-rounded education, preparing you to excel in your career and make meaningful contributions to your field.
For full details on curriculum and program requirements, view the handbook.
Our distinguished faculty bring expertise in areas such as psychotherapy outcomes, multicultural psychology, vocational psychology and interpersonal relationships.
