Master of Education - Counselling

University of Northern British Columbia

The Counselling specialization is designed to prepare counsellors to provide professional services and leadership in counselling and psycho-educational programs offered in schools, post-secondary institutions, social service agencies, and community health organizations. Students have the opportunity to choose the type(s) of counselling they wish to focus upon, and to complete periods of supervised clinical practice in practicum settings that are relevant to their interests, based on availability. The specialization includes an integrated core of required courses, elective courses, and a thesis, project or comprehensive examination. Counselling students are required to complete eight required courses, three elective courses, and a comprehensive examination. Application can be made to the Department of Psychology to enter a thesis or project route after completion of at least 12 credit hours of coursework. If approved, the thesis route would consist of eight required courses, one elective, and the thesis, while a project route would consist of eight required courses, two electives, and a project.

The thesis route emphasizes academic study, research, and the successful completion of a thesis. This program route is designed to develop each student's ability to evaluate theory and practice, and conduct research that contributes to the counselling discipline. The thesis route requires the successful completion of a minimum of 40 credit hours of graduate coursework and includes 9 credit hours of supervised research culminating in the completion of a thesis and the successful defence of it in an oral examination.