Master of Arts in Counseling

The Counseling Department (COUN) aims to prepare counselors to skillfully address the whole person, given the individual’s socio-political and cultural context. Faculty members are committed to a holistic, culturally sustaining approach to counseling, synthesizing physical, intellectual, psychological, emotional, interpersonal, socio-cultural, and spiritual processes and emphasizing the systemic interconnection among these dimensions of our lives. Within this framework, the goal of counselor education matches that of counseling: the empowerment of the whole person, the family, the school, and, ultimately, the community. The faculty members prioritize the healthy personal and professional development of counselors-in-training, as well as their cultivation of self-awareness (particularly in regard to the therapeutic relationship and client-counselor differences), knowledge, demonstration of counseling skills, and ability to critically evaluate and integrate information relevant to this profession. Students are provided with the theoretical and research-based knowledge, experiential practice, supervision, and personal attention needed to become competent counselors. Master of Arts and Education Specialist degree students are required to complete practicum and field experience placements in diverse community, school, and/or college/university settings that are appropriate to their career objectives and designed to make them more well-rounded counselors.They are trained in providing both in person and telehealth services to support the development of competencies that they can adapt to meet the needs of the modern world. 

The Counseling Department specializations are designed for people who wish to work in schools, colleges, family service agencies, private practice, or a variety of other counseling settings. Candidates may choose a plan of study leading to an Ed.S. in School Psychology  or a Master of Arts (MA) degree in Counseling with a specialization in one of these programs:

General Counseling 

Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) & Professional Clinical Counseling (PCC) (integrated emphasis)

Pupil Personnel Services Credential in School Counseling (PPS in SC) 

Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA)

With the permission of their advisor, students may complete more than one program by taking additional courses and successfully completing all field placement requirements for the chosen programs. Students may also complete a dual MA degree in Forensic Psychology and Counseling.

 

COUN Mission Statement

The mission of the Counseling Department is to prepare counselors to be competent practitioners and agents for positive personal and social change through advocacy.

 

COUN Vision Statement

The Counseling Department provides a supportive learning environment that encourages students’ personal wellness, cultural awareness, and professional development as counselors. As students seek to learn not only facts but also fundamental principles, they gain insight into their own life experiences and personalities. They embark upon a quest that touches the spirit as well as the intellect, illuminates connectedness as much as individuality, and promotes wonder as much as it instills mastery.

The department enables the development of counselors who affirm and foster the essential goodness, dignity and freedom of all people. Becoming an effective helping professional requires more than learning theories, techniques, and research methods; ultimately, counselors integrate academic knowledge and clinical experience with their own quality of being. They become empathic listeners and potent allies, engage in self-awareness, and develop critical thinking and self reflection skills that will make them effective advocates to address the needs of marginalized populations as well as systemic discrimination. We ask students to be ready to grow, with the struggle and exhilaration that such growth implies. Self-awareness, self-inquiry, self-reflection, self-understanding, self-compassion, curiosity, and cultural humility are essential traits of effective counselors. Students are required to do their own counseling as well their own inner work to examine who and what they are and believe, considering multiple dimensions, from self-constructs and world views to cultural/ethnic, sexual/gender, spiritual/religious, and other identities, beliefs, values, and biases. Students examine their own backgrounds, personal and familial histories to understand how their unique experiences and upbringing have impacted their development. These foundational skills and processes support their overall development as professional counselors and ability to support their clients on their own personal and mental health journeys. 

The department’s faculty members are also engaged in their own personal and professional development, thereby modeling as well as teaching the attitudes and behaviors that they value. Students can expect faculty and staff to care about them, treat them with respect, and attempt to accommodate individual needs. In the heritage of Saint Mary’s College and the Lasallian tradition, students and faculty are expected to be as committed to a high standard of professional ethics and proactive social responsibility as they are to academic excellence. To this end, the Counseling Department offers a synthesis of foundational information in counseling theory, values, history, and research, as well as competency-based counseling skills, within a holistic, humanistic, multicultural, and systemic framework. 

Department Chair and Program Directors

Counseling Department Chair: Suzy Thomas, sthomas@stmarys-ca.edu 

General Counseling and Higher Education & Student Affairs (HESA) Program Director: Deborah Sharpe, Ph.D., ATR-BC, dsharpe@stmarys-ca.edu

Marriage & Family Therapy / Professional Clinical Counseling (MFT/PCC) Program Director: Rafineè Butler Hashi, Ph.D., DHS, LPCC, LMFT, rcb12@stmarys-ca.edu

School Counseling Program Director: Suzy Thomas, Ph.D., LPCC, PPS-SC, sthomas@stmarys-ca.edu

Ed.S in School Psychology Program Director, Stephanie D’costa, Ph.D., LP, PPSP, sd43@stmarys-ca.edu

Forensic Psychology Program Director, Talia Moore, Ed.D., tmm27@stmarys-ca.edu

Program Learning Outcomes

1. Theories: Students begin to demonstrate knowledge of and skills in applying a wide range of developmental and counseling theories relevant to counseling in general and specific to their specialization(s) and are aware of the limitations of these theories when working with diverse or multicultural populations. (ILTG Theme 2: Develop Depth and Breadth of Knowledge)
2. Counseling Skills: Students will articulate the core conditions of a high quality therapeutic relationship, both in-person and via telehealth, and demonstrate proficiency in the key concepts of a wide range of microcounseling skills.
3. Personal Growth and Wellness: Students will identify goals and steps and implement action plans that promote their own personal growth and wellness. (ILTG Theme 3: Looking Inward: Identity Development)
4. Professional Development: Students will identify goals and steps and implement action plans that encourage their professional development relevant to their counseling specialization(s). (ILTG Theme 1: Cultivate Habits of Mind; Theme 3: Looking Inward: Identity Development)
5. Culturally Sustaining and Anti-Racist Counseling: Students will demonstrate self-awareness around their own biases, prejudices, limitations, and assets in working with diverse populations. Students will exhibit knowledge of and skills in counseling clients from a wide range of diversity in all its forms (e.g., gender, culture, ethnicity, race, age, sexual orientation, religion/spirituality, physical/mental abilities, class, and social and economic background), and gain competence in the principles of culturally sustaining, emancipatory, and anti-racist counseling practices. (ILTG Theme 3: Looking Inward: Identity Development)
6. Social Justice and Client Advocacy: Students will actively promote sensitivity to and awareness of social and ethical concerns, specifically related to the consequences of economic and social injustice. Through coursework and field experiences, students will begin to engage in promoting social justice for their clients/students, and work towards addressing systemic oppression. (ILTG Theme 4: Looking Outward: Community and Global Justice)
7. Law and Ethics: Students will demonstrate knowledge of and skills in applying the laws and ethical principles relevant to their counseling specialization(s) and discuss the limitations of ethical codes when working with diverse populations. (ILTG Theme 4: Looking Outward: Community and Global Justice)
8. Research: Students will demonstrate their ability to access, evaluate, and apply culturally relevant research practices that emphasize a collaborative approach specific to their counseling specialization(s), as well as professional and effective written and oral communication skills, including APA formatting. (ILTG Theme 2: Develop Depth and Breadth of Knowledge)
9. Case Management: Students will demonstrate the skills of goal-setting, assessment, and effective intervention with their clients as relevant to their specialization(s), counseling setting, and scope of practice, and learn to adapt their interventions to meet the needs of their diverse clients.
10. Technology Literacy: Students will demonstrate technological and digital literacy skills, use technology in culturally sensitive ways that reflect an understanding of social justice and equity and access implications, engage in ethical practice related to the use of artificial intelligence (AI), and gain skills in virtual and telehealth counseling modalities.