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The professional education unit at the University of New Hampshire seeks to prepare practitioners who will become leaders in their own practice settings and within their profession, applying knowledge to improve education for all students and enrich the lives of clients. Immersion in subject matter, research, theory, and field-based experience provides a base for our graduates to make well-reasoned judgments in complex situations, render informed decisions, model exemplary practice, and take initiative for planned change. Students learn to establish caring environments which celebrate individual differences and backgrounds while fostering cooperation and educational improvement. We stress reflective critical inquiry as a mode of study and community-building as a means for promoting change. We value and support both our students' local practice and their broader leadership within the profession.
The University of New Hampshire's Graduate Program in Counseling offers two degrees for graduate study in counseling. Each degree has common core courses as well as specialized learning experiences. Both degree programs require field internships appropriate to the student's professional goals. Curricula are designed to meet state and national educational standards for the preparation of school, human services, and mental health counselors.
The Graduate Program in Counseling is administratively housed within the Department of Education within the College of Liberal Arts, with campuses in both Durham, NH and Manchester, NH. Students may apply to one of the two campuses. The Durham campus offers both a full-time and a part-time degree program. The Manchester campus offers a part-time program designed to meet the needs of the working professional. All part-time courses are offered in the late afternoon or early evening at both campuses.
Program History
The Graduate Program in Counseling (GPC) graduated its first Master of Education (MED) students in 1966, and first Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (Post Master’s) in 1969. The MA in Counseling (48 credits) was introduced in 1977. In order to meet state licensing requirements for Clinical Mental Health Counselors the MA was expanded to 62 credits in 1988. It was also necessary to expand the MED to 48 credits in order to match national standards, and this was accomplished in 2004. As of 2003 there have been almost 1300 degrees granted through our program. An important mission of the university as a land-grant institution is to address the needs of the residents of the state. To meet this responsibility the GPC offers both full-time and part-time programs of study.
The GPC on the Durham campus has a history of offering graduate courses in Manchester that dates to 1967. This 30+ year history led to the development of a UNHM part-time MED program that had its inception in 2003.
Mission of the Graduate Program in Counseling
Our program is psychologically oriented in its preparation of the professional counselor. Therapeutic counseling is reflected in course content, in the supervised internships required for all students, and in core faculty credentials as counseling psychologists. The program is committed to providing a fundamental body of knowledge and competencies in the field of counseling.
The program prepares counselors to function in diverse institutions, agencies and organizations dedicated to the educational, social, vocational and psychological developoment of the person. Graduates are typically involved in team delivery of services and work in collaboration with other human service professionals. Students are encouraged to devolop a fundamental psychotherapeutic approach that can be applied to different client populations. Students may also individualize their program of study to serve the needs of a particular clientele. This can be accomplished through selected readings and projects in required courses, the intership experience, elective courses, and independent study or research projects.
The on-site internship enables students to develop a professional identity and to apply their knowledge to actual counseling relationships. Internships take place in a wide variety of school and agency settings. They include weekly on-site supervision by professional counselors or other credentialed human service practitioners. During the internship experiences, students are enrolled in concurrent internship seminars on campus to review their counseling and address professional issues arising from these experiences.
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**NOTICE**
The Graduate Program in Counseling in the Department of
Education is suspending admissions to the Master of Arts program for the summer and fall of 2009. Notice will be given on this website about any future admissions to this program.PLEASE NOTE THAT ADMISSIONS TO THE MASTER OF EDUCATION (M.ED.) PROGRAM IN COUNSELING LEADING TO CERTIFICATION AS A SCHOOL COUNSELOR, OR PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS IN SOME HELPING PROFESSIONS, IS UNAFFECTED. THE M.ED. PROGRAM IN COUNSELING IS ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS AT BOTH THE DURHAM AND MANCHESTER CAMPUSES.
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Program Goals and Outcomes
♦ Our graduates are knowledgeable of counseling as a field. Our graduates are able to demonstrate depth of knowledge of counseling theory and its professional sophisticated applications as a defined therapeutic process with a beginning, middle, and an end.
♦ Our graduates are able to identify their own values that influence practice. Graduates are employed in a variety of settings that enable these values to be expressed.
♦ Our graduates demonstrate dispositions of increasing self-awareness. They understand when their counseling behavior serves clients and when it serves themselves.
♦ Our graduates are committed to their clients' learning and development. Our graduates recognize the importance of counseling as their primary role function.
♦ Our graduates understand and utilize the research evidence that guides successful practice. Graduates keep current with research developments through journals and workshops which accompany professional memberships.
♦ Our graduates demonstrate their ability to effectively use assessment tools to guide accurate diagnosis and treatment plans. Graduates are able to make judgments about clients based upon best instruments available rather than counselor subjectivity.
♦ Our graduates demonstrate expertise in the preventative and remedial aspects of psychological disorders. In order to be an effective contributor and leader in the counseling profession, graduates are prepared to provide expertise in this area of need.
♦ Our graduates are able to work cooperatively with others. Our graduates are able to be part of a professional team that cares for the needs of persons. As team members they are able to take leadership for effective collaboration among team colleagues.
♦ Our graduates are able to translate theory into practice and develop theory from practice. Graduates report on how each expands and refines the other.
Manchester Campus
The Graduate Program in Counseling offers the Master of Education degree at the University of New Hampshire’s Manchester campus, as well. The UNHM program is for part-time students, who are admitted on a cohort basis each year. Applications are available at the Center for Graduate and Professional Studies, University Center, Manchester, NH 03101. Phone (603) 641-4163
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