Master of Science in Counseling Psychology (MSCP) Requirements

Emphasis
The program has four areas of emphasis: School Counseling, School Counseling with Community Pathway, Mental Health Counseling, and Marriage and Family Counseling.

SCHOOL COUNSELING EMPHASIS (60 CREDIT HOURS)
The School Counseling emphasis is designed to prepare students as counselors within school settings K to 12 for the purpose of promoting and enhancing the learning process relative to helping K to 12 students learn to help themselves in adapting to their various interrelated environments. This emphasis promotes and enhances the learning process within the context of academic development, career development, and personal/social development. This learning process, relative to these three contexts, promotes and enhances growth in such areas as the K to 12 student becoming a self-directed learner, a community contributor, a complex thinker, a quality producer, an effective communicator, and an effective and ethical user of technology.

The vision of the MSCP School Counseling emphasis is to prepare school counselors to be successful in the educational community and, in the process of their educational preparation, to establish and strengthen partnerships with the DOE, independent educational institutions, and interrelated environments supportive of the educational process.

Students will be placed in schools, at both elementary and secondary levels, for the required Practicum and Internships. At least one of these schools will be a Hawai’i Department of Education and public school. The program provides considerable opportunity to observe and practice counseling skills under supervision of both a Hawai’i Teacher Standards Board approved site supervisor and University personnel.

PRAXIS EXAMS
The Hawai’i Teachers Standards Board (HTSB) approved the following options for verifying basic skills and content knowledge for licensure.

Basic skills may be verified by one of the following options:
• Passing Scores on the PRAXIS I, Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST)
• Bachelor’s degree awarded by an accredited institution of higher education

Content knowledge may be verified by successful passing the PRAXIS II Professional School Counselor content exam.
•It is a program requirement that all School Counseling emphasis students must successfully verify meeting the HTSB Basic Skills requirement prior to taking any School Counseling courses.
• It is a program requirement that all School Counseling emphasis students must successfully complete the Praxis II Professional School Counselor Exam and provide official documentation of the passing score, prior to entering Internship A. Students who complete the program requirements for the emphasis in School Counseling will be eligible for the K-12 School Counseling license by the Hawai’i Teacher Standards Board.
• Students will only be eligible to enter Internship A once the Basic Skills and Content Knowledge requirements have been successfully completed and verification submitted to the program office.

For more information about the PRAXIS exams please refer to the following website: www.ets.org/praxis. Please review the PRAXIS exams information on this site. There are links to a variety of information, including Hawai’i state requirements, passing scores, test sites, test dates, registration and fees, codes, etc.

For Praxis test prep, visit this website www.ets.org/praxis/prepare/webinars. Candidates can find information and register here for test prep. Registration usually opens about one week prior to the webinars.

For more information about being licensed as a School Counselor in the State of Hawai’i, please refer to the following website: www.hawaiiteacherstandardsboard.org.

THE EXAMS YOU ARE REQUIRED TO PASS ARE:
PRAXIS I – PPST, or submit an official undergraduate transcript with confirmation of a Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university to the MSCP program office.
PRAXIS II – subject assessment: Professional School Counselor exam.

The student learning outcomes for the School Counseling emphasis are based on the National Board Certified Counselors content requirement for school counseling and the Hawai’i Teacher Standards Board. The School Counseling emphasis is approved by the Hawai’i Teacher Standards Board.

SCHOOL COUNSELING WITH COMMUNITY PATHWAY (66 CREDIT HOURS)

The School Counseling with Community Pathway emphasis is designed to prepare students as counselors within community-based mental health settings and the K-12 school setting for the purpose of promoting and enhancing the learning process relative to helping K-12 students and adults learn to help themselves in adapting to their various interrelated environments.  This emphasis promotes and enhances the learning process within the context of academic development, career development, and personal/social development.  This emphasis opens new career avenues by providing the academic preparation to allow students to pursue licensure as both a mental health counselor and a school counselor.

The vision of the MSCP School Counseling with Community Pathway emphasis is consistent with CUH’s Strategic Plan.  Essentially, the vision is to prepare counselors to be successful in the educational community, mental health settings, or other social service environments.

Students will be placed under the supervision of a licensed School Counseling professional at both elementary and secondary levels and a licensed mental health professional.  The emphasis provides considerable opportunity to observe and practice counseling skills under supervision by both site and University personnel.  Students who complete the requirements for the emphasis in School Counseling with Community Pathway will be eligible for licensure by the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board and have completed the academic requirements for the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) Mental Health license.  School Counseling with Community Pathway emphasis requires 66 course credit hours.

PRAXIS EXAMS
The Hawai’i Teachers Standards Board (HTSB) approved the following options for verifying basic skills and content knowledge for licensure.

Basic skills may be verified by one of the following options:
• Passing Scores on the PRAXIS I, Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST)
• Bachelor’s degree awarded by an accredited institution of higher education

Content knowledge may be verified by successful passing the PRAXIS II Professional School Counselor content exam.
•It is a program requirement that all School Counseling emphasis students must successfully verify meeting the HTSB Basic Skills requirement prior to taking any School Counseling courses.
• It is a program requirement that all School Counseling emphasis students must successfully complete the Praxis II Professional School Counselor Exam and provide official documentation of the passing score, prior to entering Internship A. Students who complete the program requirements for the emphasis in School Counseling will be eligible for the K-12 School Counseling license by the Hawai’i Teacher Standards Board.
• Students will only be eligible to enter Internship A once the Basic Skills and Content Knowledge requirements have been successfully completed and verification submitted to the program office.

For more information about the PRAXIS exams please refer to the following website: www.ets.org/praxis. Please review the PRAXIS exams information on this site. There are links to a variety of information, including Hawai’i state requirements, passing scores, test sites, test dates, registration and fees, codes, etc.

For Praxis test prep, visit this website www.ets.org/praxis/prepare/webinars. Candidates can find information and register here for test prep. Registration usually opens about one week prior to the webinars.

For more information about being licensed as a School Counselor in the State of Hawai’i, please refer to the following website: www.hawaiiteacherstandardsboard.org.

THE EXAMS YOU ARE REQUIRED TO PASS ARE:
PRAXIS I – PPST, or submit an official undergraduate transcript with confirmation of a Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university to the MSCP program office.
PRAXIS II – subject assessment: Professional School Counselor exam.

The student learning outcomes for the School Counseling emphasis are based on the National Board Certified Counselors content requirement for school counseling and the Hawai’i Teacher Standards Board. The School Counseling emphasis is approved by the Hawai’i Teacher Standards Board.

MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING EMPHASIS (60 CREDIT HOURS)
The Mental Health Counseling emphasis is designed to prepare students as counselors in order to help children, adolescents, and adults help themselves in adapting cognitively, emotionally and behaviorally, to various interrelated interpersonal, educational, familial, community, organizational, and societal environments.

The vision of the MSCP Mental Health Counseling emphasis is training mental health counselors to be successful in the community and in the process of training, establish and strengthen partnerships with the various interrelated educational, familial, community, organizational and societal environments.

Students will be placed under the supervision of either a licensed Mental Health Therapist, licensed Clinical Social Worker, licensed Psychologist, licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, licensed Advanced Practice Registered Nurse with a specialty in mental health, or physician with a specialty in Psychiatry for the required practicum and internships.

The Mental Health Counseling emphasis can be individualized by the selection of elective courses suited to individual needs and career goals. The program provides considerable opportunity to observe and practice counseling skills under supervision by both site and University personnel.

The Student Learning Outcomes for the Mental Health Counseling Emphasis are based on the National Board for Certified Counselors content requirement for professional counseling and the State of Hawai’i Licensure Standards for the Mental Health Counselor.

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY COUNSELING EMPHASIS (60 CREDIT HOURS)
The Marriage and Family Counseling emphasis is designed to prepare students in family systems therapy and relational/systemic philosophy through the integration of theory, practice, and research, to provide a foundation for clinical practice in varying community and clinical settings with diverse populations and different client configurations such as with children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families.

The vision of the Marriage and Family Counseling emphasis is training Marriage and Family Counseling counselors to be successful in the community and, in the process of training, establish and strengthen partnerships with the various, interrelated educational, familial, community, organizational, and societal environments.

Students will be placed under the supervision of a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist for the required practicum and internships. The program provides considerable opportunity to observe and practice counseling skills under supervision of both site supervisor and University personnel.

The Student Learning Outcomes for the Marriage and Family Counseling emphasis are based on the standards of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and the State of Hawai’i Licensure Standards for Marriage and Family Therapy.

ASSIGNED ADVISOR
Applicants who are accepted into the MSCP program either as a provisional or classified student are assigned an advisor. The advisor is a designated member of the MSCP full-time faculty or staff.

BENCHMARK COURSES
Introduction to Counseling Skills (PSY 603), Group Processes (PSY 611, and Practicum (PSY 646) are benchmark courses in which the MSCP faculty are able to observe the development of interpersonal skills and competencies of the students. Student must pass these experiential courses to proceed through the MSCP program.

REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPLETION OF THE PROGRAM
The student will receive the degree upon completion of the following:
1. Maintains a grade of “B” or better in all foundation, core, and elective requirements.
2. Passes a core and emphasis-specific multiple-choice comprehensive examination, currently given after the completion of Internship A. All foundation and core courses must be successfully completed prior to taking the comprehensive exam. 3. Successfully completes the Practicum and Internship courses with a minimum of 700 on-site internship hours, as per program specifications.

The expected sequence of courses for all incoming fully classified Degree and Provisional students is as follows: Foundation courses, Core courses (Foundation and Core courses can be mixed), special requirements, Practicum/Internship sequence. Electives may be taken concurrently with Foundation, Core and the Practicum/Internship sequence. Prior to entering Practicum, all students must be fully classified, have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and have successfully completed all foundation course and most of the core courses. Prior to entering Internship, all students must have successfully completed all core courses.

SCHOOL COUNSELING EMPHASIS-VERIFICATION OF BASIC SKILLS
School Counseling emphasis students will only be allowed to register for School Counseling courses after verification of Basic Skills as defined by the Hawai’i Teacher Standards Board (HTSB). Verification options includes (1) passing scores on the PRAXIS I Pre-Professional Skills Test, which includes three tests-Reading, Writing, and Mathematics, or (2) confirmation of a bachelor’s degree from regionally accredited institution of higher education. In addition, School Counseling emphasis students will only be allowed to register for PSY 671 Internship A after verification of Content Knowledge as defined by HTSB. Verification can only be accomplished by submitting a passing score on the PRAXIS II Professional Counselor Exam. For more information about the PRAXIS exams please refer to the following website: www.ets.org/praxis.

Students who successfully complete all of the program requirements, which include verification of Basic Skills and Content Knowledge, will be eligible for the Hawai’i Teacher Standards Board K-12 School Counseling license. For more information about being licensed as a School Counselor in the State of Hawai’i please refer to the following website: www.hawaiiteacherstandardsboard.org.

FOUNDATION COURSES
The Foundation courses set the knowledge base for the core and elective courses. Foundation courses count as part of the program. Students are expected to complete them within the first three terms.

Students entering the program should take the two Foundation courses (Abnormal Psychology and Personality), as well as Ethical and Professional Issues in Counseling, and Introduction to Counseling Skills during the first three terms. After the student has completed these four courses, the student may choose from all other courses contingent upon prerequisites and other stipulations noted in the MSCP policy which requires written approval from the student’s advisor or the Program Director.

Certain graduate courses have specific prerequisites which must be met by Unclassified, Re-specializing, Provisional, and Degree students in the program. (See Core Courses)

CORE COURSES
The Core courses prepare the student for the Practicum/Internship series. The Practicum/Internship series synthesizes the material from the Foundation, Core, and Elective courses with supervised field experience by a Masters or Ph.D level counselor in the community. All degree-seeking students are required to take the MSCP Core Courses.

SPECIAL COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Depending upon the emphasis chosen, students are required take courses specific to their area of interest.

TRANSFER CREDIT
Credits from other colleges or universities are generally not accepted as transfer classes. However, if prior to acceptance, a student entering the MSCP program has completed graduate courses that are not more than five years old at another college or university that are similar to the MSCP core courses, the student may, within the student’s first term of course work, petition to have those courses transferred in. The petition must be accompanied by the syllabus or course description. If the course is accepted, the student must make up the credits (3) with an elective from the MSCP elective courses. No more than two courses will be considered for transfer/substitution.

RE-SPECIALIZATION
Applicants who have a Masters in Counseling Psychology degree from Chaminade University or another accredited university (with clinical training) may apply to acquire an additional area of specialization in Chaminade University’s MSCP program.

Acceptance is determined by the MSCP Program Director. Upon acceptance, student must meet with the Clinical Director of the area of re-specialization.

If accepted, the re-specializing student is required to complete the following:
Any current MSCP core course requirements that were not previously completed, courses specific to the re-specialization emphasis, a 100-hour practicum and the Practicum course (only for those who did not receive previous clinical training or are seeking licensure), a 600-hour supervised internship, and Internship A and Internship B courses, and the emphasis specific Comprehensive Examination.

Re-specializing students for the Marriage and Family Counseling emphasis must also take PSY 646M Practicum – MFT to meet the State of Hawai’i requirement for MFT licensure.

PROBATION
If the “C” or “F” grade is in an Elective course, the student may either repeat the same elective or choose another MSCP elective and pass with a “B” or better.