Master of Science Degrees in Counseling
Option in Marriage and Family Therapy
This 60-unit program provides preparation for a career as a counselor specializing in marriage and family therapy (including child counseling) in public or private agencies, or in private practice. Completion of this program satisfies the approved degree title requirements for the California Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) license. Students need to be aware that the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) has additional requirements for this license. The MFT program is Accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).
Option in Counseling and Student Services
This 48-unit program program provides preparation for a career in a K-12 or higher education setting as student services professional, which requires knowledge of individual and group dynamics, advising practices in specialized settings and an understanding of the developmental issues associated with students' maturation process. It requires an appreciation of organizational dynamics and a solid foundation in the principles of counseling skills that are appropriate for the use with students from diverse populations and backgrounds. The program is committed to helping student service professionals gain theoretical and practical competency in counseling and advising.
Criminal Justice Counseling Specialist Certificate Program
The Departments of Criminology and Counseling, Special Education and Rehabilitation have established a Certificate of Advanced Study in Criminal Justice Counseling for students who are fully classified in the Master of Science Degree (MS) Program in Counseling (option in Marriage and Family Therapy), Master of Science Rehabilitation Counseling, or Master of Science (MS) Degree program in Criminology. This advanced certificate program is designed to prepare students as criminal justice counseling specialists. These specialists are needed to assist with the expanding prisoner population and juvenile offender population in California and the United States.
Master of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling
The Master of Science Degree Program in Rehabilitation Counseling was initiated during the 1970-71 academic year with the first full slate of courses offered during the Fall of 1971. The program, along with the Bachelors Degree Program in Physical Therapy, was begun as the first two programs in an Allied Health Program, School of Professional Studies which was envisioned to include Occupational Therapy, Medical Technology, and additional health related professions. However, due to the American Occupational Therapy Association’s reluctance to begin another new program in California, plans to develop an Allied Health Program were dropped. The Rehabilitation Counseling Program along with the Physical Therapy Program became two of five programs that made up a newly created Division of Health Professions. The other programs in that Division were Nursing, Communicative Disorders and Health Science.
The Rehabilitation Counseling Program was started with a strong interdisciplinary focus. Of the sixty units required for receipt of the degree, twenty-five were core course units in Rehabilitation Counseling, sixteen were other required units from the Counseling Program, and the remaining nineteen units were electives which could be taken from various departments and programs within the university upon approval by the student’s academic advisor. The philosophical/professional view of the program was based on rehabilitation counselors as professional counselors who were most closely associated with various health professions in delivering vocational rehabilitation services to persons with disabilities. Hence the placement of the program within the University was felt to be most appropriately associated with other academic health professional programs. The program was also viewed as a terminal degree program meaning that upon receipt of the Masters Degree, the graduate was ready to enter the profession of Rehabilitation Counseling rather than needing to acquire a higher degree before beginning one’s practice. Consequently, practical experience through fieldwork and internship placements was important parts of the curriculum.
