Counselor Education & Supervision, PhD

Overview

The Doctor of Philosophy in Counselor Education and Supervision prepares graduates to work as counselor educators, supervisors, researchers, and practitioners in academic and clinical settings with professional excellence and from a contextualized biblical worldview. This advanced degree in counselor education and supervision enables counselors to shift in identity and skill from clinical practitioners to scholar practitioners, learning the philosophy and skills of teaching and supervision while contributing to the field through advocacy, supervision, leadership, research, and educational instruction. Persons graduating with this doctoral degree in counselor education and supervision will be fully equipped to fulfill God’s purposes as ambassadors of the gospel to burgeoning faith-based and secular graduate counseling programs around the world.

The course content for the program is completed online with one initial two-day virtual residency at the start of the program and two five-day residencies after the first and second years. Successful completion of the Competency Exam during the third residency and Clinical Supervision and Consultation course during the second year provides for registration in the Advanced Practicum in Clinical Counseling course. Successful completion of four research courses is required to present research during the third residency, enabling advancement to the dissertation proposal in Proposal Development. During the Advanced Research Methodology course, students will seek a qualified faculty mentor as a chair for their dissertation committee and to assist in proceeding toward Proposal Development. When the faculty mentor deems the dissertation to be ready for defense, the candidate defends his/her dissertation before a committee of at least two faculty readers, either internal or external to the university.

The program is designed to be completed in three years of full-time study.

Objectives

Students will be able to:

1. Research and write at an advanced level of clinical and social science scholarship under the functional authority of Scripture.
2. Provide a scholarly contribution to the field of counseling.
3. Develop future counselors through engagement across teaching, clinical skill development, supervision, leadership, and advocacy.
4. Design educational content for clinical counselor development and training.
5. Contribute responsibly in the context of supervisory relationships and leadership roles while exhibiting CIU’s core value of victorious Christian living.

Admission Requirements

• Hold a licensure-track, 48-hour (minimum) master’s degree in counseling or a significantly related field such as psychology or social work from a regionally accredited institution. Those with less than 48 hours or non-CACREP accredited degrees may have to take additional coursework as a prerequisite to admission or concurrently with their first year in the program.
• Have a minimum of a 3.5 GPA in your graduate level coursework.
• Have at least one year of experience in a mental health field (highly desirable).
• Proficiency in conducting research and writing at the graduate level, demonstrated by completion of a master’s thesis or a major research paper (at least 10,000 words) provided from a prior degree or coordinated during the application process.
• Interview with admissions committee considering academic readiness, academic placement aim, dissertation aim, personal maturity, and career goals. Students with deficiencies in any area must address those deficiencies to the satisfaction of the committee before they are fully admitted to the program.
• Because of the non-residential delivery of the program, students must demonstrate access to adequate and reliable online service.
• Students are required to attend one 2-day virtual residency and two 5-day residencies during the summers in the program with an optional fourth writing intensive residency the final summer of dissertation.

Completion Requirements

• Successful completion of all classes with a grade of B or higher.
• Successful completion of a dissertation proposal prepared under the supervision of a faculty mentor.
• Successful oral defense of a dissertation that is an original work of academic research (at least 80,000 words) before a committee of at least two internal and/or external faculty readers with program director joining the defense when two external readers are present.
• Affirmation of the CIU doctrinal statement.
• Successful completion of all requirements within eight years from matriculation.