Best Counseling PhD Programs

During the admissions process, you will submit some or all of the following in your application:

• college transcripts
• an online application form
• an application fee
• a personal statement (or perhaps a statement of purpose, essays, or other writing samples)
• letters of recommendation
• resume or CV
• GRE scores
• proof of proficiency in English

Not all programs require GRE scores, but if your desired program does, make sure that your score falls in the acceptable range. If you have not taken the GRE or are unsatisfied with your scores, give yourself an appropriate amount of time to study and take the GRE and have your scores sent to your university before the application deadline.

Additionally, when requesting letters of recommendation, it is polite to ask for them two months before the submission deadline.

Admissions requirements may vary slightly from one program to the next. For instance, some programs require the prior completion of a master's degree; other programs are designed as combined master's and PhD programs, so the educational prerequisite is only a bachelor's degree.

Whether requiring a bachelor's or a master's degree, many programs will expect applicants to have a background in psychology. Sometimes that means the applicant must have a bachelor's or master's degree in counseling, psychology, or a closely related field. Other times, programs will accept a degree in any field but require a certain number of credit hours in psychology. You must either show those prerequisites on your transcript or complete them before beginning the doctoral program.

In a web search for counseling doctorate programs, you should be able to see a program's accreditation status right away. Look for the acronym CACREP: Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs; alternatively, a program may be accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA).

There are six regional accrediting agencies (such as the New England Commission on Higher Education, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, and so on) as well as many faith-based or program-based accrediting agencies. But in an upper-level counseling psychology program, these types of accreditation simply are not enough.

CACREP and APA are nationally recognized accrediting organizations for counseling and psychology professionals, and in order to be recognized as a trustworthy, properly educated counselor, you will want your credentials backed by those organizations. Accreditation is important because it is the only way for employers, clients, and institutions of higher learning to know that your education meets an accepted standard and that you can therefore be trusted in your professional practice.

A doctorate in counseling usually takes 3 to 6 years to complete. This time period must include your coursework as well as clinical hours (sometimes referred to as a practicum or internship) and dissertation hours. The first 2 to 3 years will be almost completely consumed by required coursework and qualifying exams. Then, years 3 to 5 include your internship or clinical hours, continuing coursework, and dissertation preparation. The last year is focused almost entirely on the dissertation itself.

The required coursework for a doctoral degree in counseling psychology averages between 60 and 100 credit hours. Usually, programs on the upper end of that range are combined master's and PhD programs. The PhD alone usually only takes 60 to 72 hours. Often, clinical hours and dissertation writing hours are included in this total, so a program with 90 required credit hours might actually break down into 12 clinical credit hours, 15 dissertation hours, and 63 classroom hours.

The typical number of clinical hours can range from 100 to 600, with more reputable programs requiring more clinical hours.

While you will have the opportunity to choose a concentration that will determine much of your later coursework, you must take a suite of introductory classes in various aspects of counseling theory and practice that may include the following:

• Counseling theories
• Assessment in counseling
• Group therapy
• Marriage and family therapy
• Statistics and research methods
• Multivariate analysis (and/or another data analysis course)
• Human development
• Psychology of aging/gerontology
• Personality theory
• Theories of social psychology
• Emotion and cognition
• Multicultural psychology
• History and systems of psychology
• Educational psychology or educational counseling
• Psychopathology
• Psychopharmacology/pharmacology
• Ethics and law in psychology/counseling
• Practicum/supervised internship (often includes components I, II, III, IV)

Preparing Your Counseling Dissertation

While completing your dissertation is the final step in your journey through the counseling psychology doctoral program, the dissertation is a process that begins in year one. There are five main steps. Below is a sample step-by-step program assuming your doctorate program takes five to six years.*

In year one, you must begin to form relationships with professors, supervisors, and advisors who will make up your dissertation committee. You should formalize your committee within a few months of starting your doctorate.

In year two, you must complete a research portfolio (an introduction, a review of the literature on your desired dissertation topic, and your proposed research methods) and submit it for approval. At this time, you will also take your qualifying exams (both written and oral).

Having passed your qualifying exams, in year three, you should have your dissertation approved and begin conducting your dissertation research according to your proposed methods.

In year four, you should apply for your internship and continue working on your dissertation. At this point, you should have finished your research and should be focused on finalizing the dissertation.

In year five, you will complete your internship. You will submit and defend your dissertation in year four, five, or six (while different programs have different guidelines, year five is the usual expectation).

• Adapted from the University of Kentucky's Counseling Psychology PhD Program of Study 2021, revised 8/31/21.

Because counseling psychology is itself a specialization or concentration within degrees in general psychology at many universities, you will likely have to create your own specialization by choosing electives that align with your interest. Nonetheless, as there are many different methods and areas of counseling, there are just as many possible concentrations within doctoral degree programs in counseling. While all universities offer similar core classes in counseling psychology, universities may offer a wide variety of courses and concentrations beyond the core program, so your choice of a concentration may significantly impact your search and your ultimate choice of programs. You should review the credentials and research interests of the faculty members at various programs to determine whether you'll be able to pursue your own research interest at those programs.

Some broad concentrations in counseling psychology include supervision, teaching, consultation, assessment, forensic mental health counseling (to be distinguished from forensic psychology or criminal psychology), and clinical counseling. Other common specializations within the field of counseling include health counseling, addiction counseling, abuse counseling, marriage and family counseling, psychopathology, school counseling, guidance counseling, and educational psychology, LGBTQ+ issues, trauma and crisis, play therapy, and more.

Trauma and Crisis

A concentration in trauma and crisis aims to prepare future clinical mental health counselors to treat victims, survivors, relief workers, and other observers of violence, war, natural disasters, abuse, bullying, and other traumatic events.

Courses in a trauma and crisis counseling program should include training in the prevention of vicarious trauma (also known as secondary traumatic stress, secondary victimization, or compassion fatigue) in counselors. Counseling students will learn intervention strategies for individual and group counseling to help clients cope with memories in a safe and healthy manner.

Course titles may include: crisis, trauma, and disaster response; community trauma and resilience; vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue; crisis management; research ethics in trauma and disaster response; and others.

Addictions

A concentration in addiction psychology or addiction counseling equips future clinical counselors and addiction researchers with psychotherapeutic techniques for effective addiction intervention. While most programs tend to focus on drug and alcohol addictions, some programs also include courses that explore other addictions, compulsive behaviors, and other addiction-related behaviors.

Course titles should include some of the following: addictive behaviors and substance abuse; addiction intervention; family systems approaches to addiction; theories of addiction and/or history of addiction; clinical applications in addiction counseling; addiction and related/co-occurring disorders; infidelity and sex addictions; practices in addictions and rehabilitation; and advanced counseling skills and techniques.

Counseling Supervision and Education

A supervision and education concentration is intended primarily to enhance leadership and teaching skills. For a counseling professional with a doctoral degree, these are important skills to hone because of the laws regarding licensure and practice in counseling and psychotherapy. A licensed counselor with a bachelor's degree or above is legally qualified to practice the profession, but only under the supervision of a licensed counselor who holds a doctorate. Additionally, counseling students and interns must be supervised and evaluated during their clinical hours. Thus, counselors who hold a doctoral degree are generally called upon to balance their own clinical practice with the supervision of counseling students, interns, and subordinate counselors.

A counseling supervision and education degree is sometimes considered as distinct from a counseling psychology degree. Nonetheless, supervision and education are common concentrations within counseling psychology, as well.

Coursework may include a number of classes that emphasize multicultural discourse and multicultural psychology; professional leadership and advocacy; counselor education and clinical training; instructional design and research methods; program development and assessment; public policy; organizational change; and more.

Although it is not legal in any state to practice professional counseling or psychotherapy without a license (and a license is not granted to anyone with less than a master's degree), there are options in counseling education that can serve as supplements to another degree or as on-ramps to the master's or doctoral degree. You will find programs offering associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees as well as graduate certificates in counseling all over the country.

Counseling Associate Degrees

Associate degrees in counseling are two-year programs, typically falling in the category of psychology degrees with a counseling concentration, and they are usually designed to lead into further study in a four-year bachelor's degree and beyond. You cannot become a licensed counselor with just an associate degree. Nevertheless, it is possible to work in the field of mental health counseling as a behavioral specialist, case manager, addictions counselor, advocate, or another professional job with an associate degree in psychology or counseling.

Many counseling programs at the associate level are specific to addiction counseling. Courses in a general program will give a broad view of case management, social psychology, human sexuality, human development, individual and group counseling, and so on. The addictions specialty devotes much more time into various aspects of addiction psychology, such as how addictions affect men, women, aging populations, and adolescents; the specialization will also deal with intervention and recovery strategies in detail.

Counseling Bachelor's Degrees

A bachelor's degree in counseling or psychology is the minimum educational requirement to obtain a license to practice as a counselor or psychotherapist in any state in the U.S. This four-year degree may fall into the broader category of psychology as an available concentration, or it may be considered a category of its own.

Two popular concentrations at this level are Christian counseling and school counseling. A more general degree, however, will introduce topics such as human development, human sexuality, abnormal psychology (or psychopathology), individual and group counseling, marriage and family counseling, trauma and crisis counseling, addictions and related disorders (including compulsive disorders), counseling theories and techniques, and so on.

Counseling Master's Degrees

Master's degrees are, roughly speaking, the most common type of counseling degrees. A master's degree, which usually takes around 2 to 3 years and about 60 credit hours, gives the student an opportunity to gain clinical experience, do research, and explore a specialization beyond the undergraduate level, yet it requires less intense coursework, research, and writing than the doctoral degree. Usually, a final writing and research project of some kind is required to graduate, but it is far less rigorous than a doctoral dissertation.

It is common to see universities offering combined master's and PhD programs in counseling psychology, allowing students with a bachelor's degree to streamline their graduate experience. Other universities require PhD program applicants to hold a master's degree, so getting a master's in counseling can be a terminal degree or it can serve as a step to a doctoral degree.

Counseling Graduate Certificates

Graduate certificates in counseling are relatively brief programs, usually comprising 5 to 6 courses or roughly 15 to 18 credit hours, intended to enhance effectiveness in a career or supplement an existing degree. They typically take about a year, or two semesters, to complete. Certificates are a great way to earn continuing education hours for professionals who already have a degree and/or a license.

Graduate certificates do not include general education credits, but rather they are short, intense, and designed for a single specialization. As a result, all courses will focus on that specific topic. Popular specializations include couples and family counseling, addiction counseling, and Christian counseling.

While becoming a counselor is a natural career choice for a doctoral graduate in counseling, it is not the only option. Counseling is closely related to psychology, social work, and ministry, so a doctorate in counseling can lead to a wonderful career in those fields as well.

If you intend to establish or join an independent practice as a professional counselor, you will need to earn your counseling license as directed by your state and employer. Different states require different types of licensure, with the most common types being Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), and Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC).

While plenty of people with a doctorate in counseling maintain a clinical practice, it is more common for them to go into counselor supervision and education, administration and leadership, or research and spend less time interacting with clients. Those with master's degrees in counseling are usually the ones who work directly with clients under the supervision of someone with a doctoral degree.

Become a Counseling Supervisor

There are significant inconsistencies across the US in terms of education, experience, and licensing requirements for counseling supervisors. Despite those inconsistencies, they do hold fundamental standards in common.

Education & Licensure

The one thing all states have in common is the minimum education requirement: counseling supervisors must hold a master's degree or higher. However, even there the standards vary, as some states require CACREP accreditation and others do not. When embarking on your journey to become a counseling supervisor, it's best to choose a CACREP-accredited university program. You must complete a bachelor's degree before you can be admitted to a master's or doctoral program; in many cases, completion of the master's degree is prerequisite for admission to a doctoral program.

You must also keep your LPC, LMHC, LPCC, or other licensure current. In Washington state, for example, one of the foremost requirements to become a counseling supervisor is possession of a valid, current license for at least two years.

Experience

States vary in the level of career experience they require for counselor supervisors, from no experience to 5 or more years. Some states also require training specific to counseling supervision, while others do not. To return to the earlier example, counseling supervisors in Washington state must have a minimum of 15 clock hours of training in clinical supervision and a minimum of 25 clock hours of experience in supervision of clinical practice.* They must also have an active credential of at least five years in counseling or a related field.

• Source: Counseling Washington, 'Washington State Approved Supervisor Requirements'.

Salary

Payscale reports that the average annual salary for clinical supervisors is $59,917.

Become a Substance Abuse Counselor

A bachelor's degree is the minimum education required to become a licensed addiction counselor or substance abuse counselor, but there is no need to stop there.

Education & Licensure

Completing a master's or doctorate in counseling will significantly increase your effectiveness in addiction counseling, since you will be able to impart greater insights and information to your clients as a result of your coursework and research in a doctoral program.

The next step is to complete the licensure required by your state, whether LAC (Licensed Addiction Counselor), LPC, LMCH, LPCC, or another type of license.

Certification

After you complete your chosen level of education and licensure, you should consider pursuing one of several available certifications for drug and alcohol addiction counselors, such as the CADC (Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor), available through various organizations across the country, or the Master Addiction Counselor (MAC) certification, available through National Certification Commission for Addiction Professionals (NCC AP).

Salary

According to Payscale, the average annual salary for a licensed addiction counselor is $45,282.

Become a Counseling Professor

One of the most important functions of a counselor with an advanced degree is teaching. The majority of counseling professionals have only a master's degree and are not qualified to train the next generation of counseling students. University faculty members in counseling, whether assistant, associate, or full professors, make a lasting contribution to their field by educating both undergraduate and graduate students in counseling psychology.

Education & Licensure

To become a university professor (as opposed to a community college lecturer), you must complete a doctoral degree. In academia, licensure in counseling is not always required. Licensing is a professional requirement when it comes to clinical practice, as it regulates the counselor-client relationship, but in research and teaching it is not strictly necessary. It is a good idea to have some experience in clinical practice, but unless you are supervising your students' clinical internships, you may not need to possess current licensure or maintain your clinical practice while teaching.

Certification

Professors are evaluated based on their academic contributions, i.e. research and writing. Continued education and certification in your particular area of interest will enhance your pedagogy and inform your research, as well as likely boost your career standing. You may consider becoming a National Certified Counselor (NCC) through the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) by taking the NCC exam and providing documentation of your credentials.

Salary

According to Payscale, the average salary for assistant professors is $69,931 per year; the average salary for associate professors is $78,404 per year; and the average salary for full professors is $89,180 per year.

Once you complete your graduate degree(s), it is absolutely necessary to complete the licensure required by your state, whether it be LPC, LMHC, LCPC, LPCC, or another license if you wish to practice counseling in a clinical setting. You must renew your license regularly as mandated by your state and licensing agency, usually through continuing education and payment of recertification fees.

LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor) is the most common type of counseling licensure and the most recommended. Although state regulations for licensure may vary, in most cases you must complete a 60-hour graduate program in counseling, complete 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience, and pass the National Counseling Examination (NCE) in order to apply for licensure as an LPC.

There are various types of certification for counselors of all kinds. These certifications may be available from state and local organizations as well as through professional associations (see the list below).

As an example, take addiction counseling. As mentioned earlier, the CADC and MAC certifications are both excellent credentials to add to a counseling resume.

The CADC is offered through programs like the California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals (CCAPP). As a professional with an advanced degree, you should seek out the Licensed Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LAADC) certification, which is the highest available. There are also several other levels of CADC certification, but the CADC-II is the only other certification level relevant to someone with a bachelor's degree or higher.

The NCC AP offers much more than the MAC. Certifications include the National Certified Addiction Counselor Level I (NCAC I), National Certified Addiction Counselor Level II (NCAC II), Master Addiction Counselor (MAC), Nicotine Dependence Specialist (NDS), National Certified Adolescent Addictions Counselor (NCAAC), and National Certified Peer Recovery Support Specialist (NCPRSS). NCC AP even has a National Clinical Supervision Endorsement (NCSE).

Joining a professional organization in the field of counseling or in a related field such as psychology can provide you with resources, opportunities, and credentials that will enhance your career. Resources often include scholarships, research grants, access to journals, and workshops. Through a professional association, you may get publication and presentation opportunities, conferences, and other networking opportunities. Finally, having professional memberships on your resume or CV is always a plus.

A few examples of well-known and respected professional organizations in counseling include:

• American Counseling Association (ACA)
• National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC)
• American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA)
• Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)
• International Registry of Counselor Education Programs (IRCEP), an affiliate of CACREP
• American Psychological Association Division 17: Society of Counseling Psychology
• Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC)
• American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC)
• National Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC)
• American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT)
• American School Counselor Association (ASCA)

The cost of a doctorate in counseling is often calculated in terms of credit hours. The cost per credit hour typically ranges from around $230 to $875 per credit hour. Prices do differ drastically between resident and non-resident status. In one program, for instance, a graduate resident pays $233.80 per credit hour while a graduate nonresident pays $879.75.*

It's wise to budget generously for associated fees and books, which can cost hundreds of dollars as well. Student services, lab fees, and other costs typically come in at around $100 to $200, and books vary in cost.

In terms of cost per semester, assuming the recommended course load at a given school, the typical tuition range is about $4,000 to $10,000 per semester. The cost of the doctorate as a whole depends, of course, on the amount of time the student takes to complete the degree, which can vary greatly.

• Source: Oklahoma State University, tuition and fee details page for 2021-2022 academic year, accessed 11/1/21.

One of the most common ways to help with the cost of a counseling doctoral degree is a graduate assistantship or a graduate fellowship.

Graduate assistantships can include teaching assistantships and research or project assistantships. In both cases, the student assists a professor with his or her teaching (including grading papers, classroom and laboratory teaching) and/or research duties, usually for about 20 hours a week. Awards for assistantships may come in the form of tuition remission and/or stipends.

Fellowships are merit-based and do not necessarily require a certain number of work hours, but it is expected that the student capitalize on research opportunities using the stipend or tuition remission awarded.

Federal funding is certainly not to be dismissed. Completing the Federal Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) will help your university's financial aid department determine the proper financial aid package for your needs. The awards may include scholarships and grants as well as federal student loans.

The American Psychological Association is another great place to look for scholarships. Division 17 is the Counseling Psychology arm of the APA. A couple of scholarships pertinent to the counseling psychology community, and for doctorate students particularly, are the William T. Grant Scholars Program Grant, which funds research and mentoring plans for junior researchers, and the Fritz and Linn Kuder Early Career Scientist/Practitioner Award, which awards early career psychologists for "outstanding contributions to the science and practice of counseling psychology."