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Counselor Education Program

Program Information

Our curriculum is designed to meet the needs of working professionals, with evening classes and a pacing that ensures your degree completion in a three-year plan of study. You will be admitted into a “cohort” that takes all of their classes together, and also forms supportive friendships and assists in building strong professional relationships for the future.

The Counselor Education Program is comprised of two “tracks” or specializations, Agency/Marriage and Family Therapy, and School Counseling. Each of these programs meets their respective educational requirements for state licensure. A unique feature of our Agency/Marriage and Family Therapy specialization is that it meets the requirements for both the Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and the Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) licenses.

The program is actively building an addictions counseling specialization which we hope to launch by the spring semester in 2008.

History

The program began in 1979 as a school counselor licensing program approved by the Indiana Department of Education. In 1987 the Indiana University Board of Trustees enlarged this mission by approving a master’s degree in counseling for IPFW. The current program features two specialty areas: Agency/Marriage & Family Therapy and School Counseling.

Accreditation

The IPFW is accredited by The North Central Association for Colleges and Schools. Our program is more specifically evaluated when the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education accredits the IPFW School of Education.

Program Philosophy

The Counselor Education Program at IPFW adheres to the scientist-practitioner model of training. Consistent with this approach is our goal of graduating students who have knowledge of counseling, who are competent in providing professional services, and who have the skills necessary to conduct research. Especially important to the program faculty is the commitment to mental health (vs. pathology) and the value attached to understanding the common developmental themes occurring throughout a person’s life. The diversity characterizing the faculty’s theoretical orientation is an advantage to the program. We provide creative students with a variety of theoretical models as well as different applied settings for gaining training experience.

Students are given strong encouragement to participate in professional organizations and create original projects. Each student will declare an area of specialization: marriage & family therapy or school counseling. By focusing research activities and applied practicum experiences in the student’s area of greatest interest, the three components--knowledge, practice, and research--become integrated.

Not only do faculty work closely with students in conducting projects and presentations at professional meetings, they also arrange direct observation and supervision of practica with clients. In working with clients, students adhere to the ethical standards of the American Counseling Association and the American Association for Marriage & Family Therapy. Mechanisms for student evaluations of practice include progress evaluations by faculty, the students’ portfolios of accomplishments, audio/videotapes, and reports from internship supervisors. The comprehensive examination taken at the end of the program prepares students for similar national certification tests and provides feedback regarding progress in the program. Internship supervisors rate the participants’ clinical skills, and this feedback is available to students.

students

The majority of graduate students hold full-time employment and take classes in the late afternoon and evening. All students typically finish in three years. Enhanced by the combination of two universities (Indiana University and Purdue University), the IPFW curriculum educates students who will be sought by employers nationwide. We are proud of the state and national awards earned by IPFW students and faculty.