University of Missouri-Columbia
Counseling Psychology
The APA-accredited counseling psychology program is a recognized national leader in the training of counseling psychologists. Over the past 25 years, MU's counseling program has been the #1 institutional contributor to the 2 leading empirical journals in counseling psychology (Journal of Counseling Psychology and Journal of Counseling and Development). In addition, faculty members have been officers in many national and state professional organizations. The faculty models excellent educational practices, as well as works very closely mentoring their graduate students. Students in the program present over 30 papers at national conventions every year. Students have a variety of practice experiences to choose from while in the counseling psychology program; most take practicum at the University Counseling Center and/or the University Cancer Center. In addition, students can take practica at local community mental health agencies, inpatient psychiatric hospitals, outpatient day treatment programs, and prisons, to name just a few. The program recently received the 2000 Suinn Minority Achievement Award for outstanding recruitment and retention of racial and ethnic minority graduate students. Approximately 40 percent of the doctoral students are racial/ethnic minorities or international students. Graduates of MU's counseling psychology program are leaders in the field and hold important academic positions in counseling psychology programs nationally and internationally. The students in the Master's program select one of the following subspecialty tracks within the counseling psychology program: Community/Agency Counseling, Sport and Exercise Psychology, Career Counseling and Development, Student Affairs, Rehabilitation Counseling, and School Counseling.
Educational Psychology
The educational psychology program incorporates the disciplines of test and measurement (with emphasis on psychometrics) cognitive science, human development, learning and instruction, assessment of mental abilities (including tests and measurement), and program evaluation. An integral part the program's academic work is research design and statistical methodology. The program offers students the opportunity to gain academic knowledge and practical experience in the broadest possible range of inquiry within the field, building to the doctoral degree. Students select one of two emphasis areas: learning and cognition, or measurement and statistics. Working from within one's emphasis area, a student receives training in the relevant content areas, with special direction toward conducting psychological research in a K-12 school setting as well as in post-secondary institutions.
School Psychology
The school psychology program is an APA-accredited professional psychology-training program following the public scientist-practitioner model. The primary purpose of the school psychology program is to promote the integration and application of principles of psychology, health, and education in relation to the characteristics and problems of children, youth, and their families. The program emphasizes mastery of theory and research in human development, learning, personality, cognition, and behavior, as well as in the social, family, and organizational contexts within which they occur. The program also stresses professional competencies in the following areas: consultation, assessment and diagnosis, intervention procedures (including counseling and behavior therapy), and research/evaluation. Faculty in this program have interests in Curriculum Based Assessment, Multidimensional Scaling Applications, Measurement of Thinking Skills, Psychoeducational Assessment, Intervention Strategies, Child and Adolescent Development and Psychopathology, Aggression and Conduct Disorders, Public Health and Prevention, School Health, and Performance Assessment.
