Graduate Catalog
Psychological and Cultural Studies
Psychological and Cultural Studies are intended for students who desire graduate study but are not pursuing professional licensure as counselors. Degree candidates explore the academic discipline of psychology as it is applied through counseling and intercultural communication. This program presents an opportunity for creative individualized study. These degrees are designed for students already enrolled in a Counseling Psychology degree program who choose not to, or are otherwise unable to, complete clinical training requirements (e.g., practicum or internship) and therefore will not seek licensure based on this degree. Students may apply to transfer to this degree program by following the process outlined on the Degree Program Change Request form, available on the Counseling Psychology website at http://www.lclark.edu/graduate/departments/counseling_psychology/resources/forms_and_handbooks/
Master of Arts in Psychological and Cultural Studies
The Master of Arts in Psychological and Cultural Studies degree is an opportunity to pursue graduate studies in psychology while drawing from a broad array of scholarly traditions and professional practices. This degree is designed for students already enrolled in a Counseling Psychology degree program who choose not to, or are otherwise unable to, complete clinical training requirements (e.g., practicum or internship) and therefore will not seek licensure based on this degree. Students may only enter this program by applying to transfer from another Counseling Psychology program; applications should follow the process outlined on the Degree Program Change Request form. Students in the master of arts program seek instead to focus their graduate studies within the framework of a degree that supports creative and highly individualized study.
For this 44-semester-hour degree, department faculty have identified 10 courses in our curriculum that are fundamental to understanding the philosophy, history, and systems of contemporary psychology, mental health, and counseling. The remaining 16 credits are electives and may be drawn from curricula across Lewis & Clark's graduate and law schools or used for independent, directed studies.
Degree Requirements
A minimum of 44 semester hours, distributed as follows:
Required Degree Courses
| CPSY 503 | Introduction to Professional Counseling | 2 |
| CPSY 504 | Family Therapy: Theory and Practice | 3 |
| CPSY 506 | Life Span Development | 2 |
| CPSY 510 | Ethical and Legal Issues in Professional Counseling | 2 |
| CPSY 513 | Theory and Philosophy of Counseling | 3 |
| CPSY 514 | Group Counseling With Children and Adolescents | 3 |
| or CPSY 515 | Group Counseling With Adults | |
| CPSY 520 | Career Counseling | 2 |
| CPSY 532 | Introduction to Assessment | 2 |
| CPSY 535 | Research Methods in Counseling | 3 |
| CPSY 550 | Diversity and Social Justice | 3 |
Graduate Core Requirement
A minimum of 2 semester hours of Core Program coursework and one Core convocation
Elective Courses
Remaining credits may be used for elective courses
Master of Science in Psychological and Cultural Studies
Students admitted to the Master of Arts in Psychological and Cultural Studies program may choose to seek an M.S. degree. This option, which is often of interest to students planning to pursue a doctoral degree in psychology, is available only upon formal application to the M.S. program. Students wishing to pursue this degree apply after completing the requirements listed below.
Requirements for Application
Application to the M.S. requires prior admission to the Master of Arts in Psychological and Cultural Studies program.
In addition to prior admission, application to the master of science requires the following:
- A demonstrated capacity for initiative and independent research
- Completion of CPSY 530 (this should be taken in place of CPSY 535) with a grade of B or better
- Completion of CPSY 531
- Completion of a thesis proposal, including a timeline for completing the project, agreement by a faculty member to serve as chair of a thesis committee, and designation of a three-person faculty committee
- Formal approval of a thesis proposal by a thesis committee
Degree Requirements
A minimum of 44 semester hours, distributed as follows:
Students must meet all regular requirements for a Master of Arts in Psychological and Cultural Studies (except CPSY 535)
| CPSY 594 | Proposal Writing | 1 |
| CPSY 595 | Master's Thesis Research (satisfactory completion of a thesis—a minimum of 2 semester hours and maximum of 9 semester hours is required) | 2 |
Master of Arts Courses
CPSY 503 Introduction to Professional Counseling
Content: Basic theoretical assumptions of the counseling
profession, with an overview of its historical
roots, social and cultural contexts, types of
practice, ethical principles, and professional
orientation.
Prerequisites: None.
Corequisites: CPSY 513.
Credits: 2 semester hours.
CPSY 504 Family Therapy: Theory and Practice
Content: Overview of the fundamental assumptions and ideas
of general systems theory and the basic premises
of theoretical orientations within family therapy.
Participants explore the application of course
material to their work setting or training track.
Prerequisites: For students in the Professional Mental Health Community
Counseling or Professional Mental Health
Counseling-Addictions programs, CPSY 502 or 503, CPSY 506,
CPSY 509 or 511, CPSY 513, CPSY 550, CPSY 530 or CPSY 535.
For students in other programs, none.
Credits: 3 semester hours.
CPSY 506 Life Span Development
Content: Exploration of life span development through the
lenses of social, cultural, cognitive, biological,
and learning theories and research. Emphasis is on
gaining better conceptual understanding of healthy
development and better practical understanding of
how to help children, adolescents, and adults
address the developmental challenges they face
across the life span. Particular focus placed on
understanding our own developmental processes as
well as the role of cultural difference and
commonality in the developmental process.
Prerequisites: For Professional Mental Health Counseling and Professional
Mental Health Counseling--Addictions students, CPSY 502 or
CPSY 503, CPSY 513.
Credits: 2 semester hours.
CPSY 510 Ethical and Legal Issues in Professional Counseling
Content: Consideration of the applicable ethical and legal
issues for mental health and school settings.
Students develop skills in writing reports,
assessments, and treatment plans.
Prerequisites: CPSY 503, CPSY 506, CPSY 509, CPSY 513, CPSY 530 or 535,
CPSY 550.
Corequisites: CPSY 522, CPSY 534.
Credits: 2 semester hours.
CPSY 513 Theory and Philosophy of Counseling
Content: Overview of counseling theories such as
psychoanalytic, Adlerian, client-centered,
cognitive-behavioral, multi-modal, Gestalt,
feminist, existential, solution-focused, and brief
therapy, as well as integrative approaches.
Examines a wide range of theoretical perspectives
and advocates professional knowledge of best
practices. Students acquire knowledge of various
counseling theories and critique their relevance
to diverse populations and clinical situations.
Students clarify their personal assumptions and
learn how to explain their own theoretical stance.
Issues of diversity and client matching are
addressed throughout.
Prerequisites: None.
Corequisites: CPSY-503 or CPSY 569.
Credits: 3 semester hours.
CPSY 514 Group Counseling With Children and Adolescents
Content: Instruction and practice in developing group
treatments for children and adolescents in
clinical and school settings. Students gain
practice as group leaders in addressing issues
related to group dynamics, cultural diversity,
potential problems encountered when running
groups, and generalization and maintenance of
behavioral change. Students also gain experience
constructing curricula for specific issues such as
divorce, substance use, grief, and social skills.
Prerequisites: For students in the Professional Mental Health Counseling
or Professional Mental Health Counseling-Addictions
programs, CPSY 502 or CPSY 503, CPSY 506, CPSY 509 or CPSY
511, CPSY 513, CPSY 522, CPSY 530 or CPSY 535, CPSY 534,
CPSY 550. For students in Marriage, Couple, and Family
Therapy programs, CPSY 504, CPSY 506, CPSY 526; for
students in the School Psychology program, CPSY 507.
Restrictions: Consent of Counseling Psychology department required.
Credits: 3 semester hours.
CPSY 515 Group Counseling With Adults
Content: Introduction to the major schools of thought
regarding group therapy and the common factors
associated with positive outcomes. Covers group
dynamics, obstacles to success in group therapy,
and the stages of group process. Role-playing,
outside group membership, and demonstrations
illustrate principles of effective group
leadership.
Prerequisites: For Professional Mental Health Counseling and Professional
Mental Health Counseling--Addictions students, CPSY 502 or
CPSY 503, CPSY 506, CPSY 509 or CPSY 511, CPSY 513, CPSY
522, CPSY 530 or 535, CPSY 534, CPSY 550. For Marriage,
Couple, and Family Therapy students, CPSY 504, CPSY 506,
CPSY 526.
Credits: 3 semester hours.
CPSY 520 Career Counseling
Content: Career development theories; current career
trends, concerns, and programs/interventions for
diverse client populations; career counseling
strategies, tools, and resources (including
Web-based resources); facilitation of client
awareness, choice, and action with respect to
career-related issues; integration of career
counseling with mental health and addictions
treatment. Emphasis is on developing a broad view
of career as lifestyle, the mutual impact of
career and culture, and the practical application
of theory and information in a professional
counseling context.
Prerequisites: None.
Credits: 2-3 semester hours.
CPSY 532 Introduction to Assessment
Content: Principles of psychological assessment as employed
in school, clinical, and applied settings.
Addresses psychometric concepts such as validity,
reliability, norms, and score interpretation.
Surveys intelligence, personality, career,
interest, aptitude, and achievement tests and
reviews alternative methods of assessing
competence and person-situation interactions.
Contemporary issues such as the validity of
instruments for diverse populations and the impact
of technology on assessment are discussed.
Prerequisites: CPSY 502 or CPSY 503, CPSY 506, CPSY 509 or CPSY 511, CPSY
513, CPSY 530 or 535, CPSY 534, CPSY 550.
Corequisites: CPSY 522, CPSY 514 or CPSY 515.
Credits: 2 semester hours.
CPSY 535 Research Methods in Counseling
Content: Foundations of psychological research. Students
are introduced to qualitative and quantitative
research processes and basic concepts. Topics
include (1) elements of the research process; (2)
types of designs, program evaluation; (3) ethical
considerations of research: informed consent,
research with diverse and vulnerable populations,
research with children, human subjects review; (4)
basic measurement concepts: validity, reliability,
norms, score interpretation; and (5) basic
statistical concepts: frequency distributions,
central tendency, measures of variability,
correlation, normal curve, hypothesis testing,
significance tests. Students read and evaluate
examples of published research. Reviews Web-based
resources for conducting research.
Prerequisites: None.
Credits: 3 semester hours.
CPSY 550 Diversity and Social Justice
Content: Development of diversity awareness and knowledge
including systems of power and privilege.
Introduction to methods/skills for working with
clients who are diverse in culture, race,
ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, or
physical or mental ability. Focus is on helping
students become capable therapists in varied
environments, including becoming aware of their
own beliefs, biases, and prejudices.
Prerequisites: Professional Mental Health Counseling and Professional
Mental Health Counseling-Addictions students, CPSY 502 or
CPSY 503, CPSY 513.
Credits: 3 semester hours.
Master of Science Courses
CPSY 530 Research Methods and Statistics I
Content: Introduction to research methods with an emphasis
on design, sampling, measurement issues, and
introductory data analysis. Topics include (1)
research design: elements of the research process,
types of designs, program evaluation; (2) ethical
considerations of research: informed consent,
research with diverse and vulnerable populations,
research with children, human subjects review; (3)
basic measurement concepts: validity, reliability,
norms, score interpretation; (4) basic statistical
concepts: frequency distributions, central
tendency, measures of variability, correlation.
Reviews Web-based resources for conducting
research. Note: Taught during the fall semester
only, as the first course of a two-semester
sequence. Students who wish to pursue the
thesis-option M.S. program are advised to take
this sequence as early as possible in their course
of study.
Prerequisites: None.
Credits: 3 semester hours.
CPSY 531 Research Methods and Statistics II
Content: Research design and data analysis, inferential
statistics. Simple and complex designs, normal
distribution, z-test, t-test, analysis of
variance, statistical power, simple regression.
Overview of nonparametric and multivariate
analysis. Note: Taught in spring semester only, as
the second course of a two-semester sequence.
Students who wish to pursue the thesis-option M.S.
program are advised to take this sequence as early
as possible in their course of study.
Prerequisites: CPSY-530.
Credits: 3 semester hours.
CPSY 594 Proposal Writing
Content: Direct instruction and support for the process of
preparing a thesis and/or other research or grant
proposals. Includes both a colloquium and
individual consultations with a thesis chair (or,
if not writing a thesis, another faculty member).
The colloquium will focus on the refinement of
research questions, the specifics of research
design, and the Human Subjects in Research
application process. Consultations with thesis
committee chair or other faculty member will focus
on the development of a manuscript that clearly
details the purpose of the research, summarizes
relevant literature, and identifies the proposed
design and methodology for the research project.
Prerequisites: CPSY 530 and CPSY 531, or consent of instructor.
.
Restrictions: Permission of thesis coordinator.
Credits: 1 semester hour.
CPSY 595 Master's Thesis Research
Content: Completion of thesis research project under the
direction of the chair of the candidate's thesis
committee. Three semester hours, which can be
taken in 1-semester hour increments, are required
for degree. Grades are deferred until the
candidate has successfully defended his or her
thesis.
Prerequisites: Consent of thesis committee chair.
Restrictions: Consent of thesis committee chair.
Credits: 1-9 semester hours.
Graduate Departments and Programs of Study