Counseling Psychology (MSCP)

Prerequisites:

• Have a completed baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university, with an overall undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or above on a 4.0 scale.
  If a student has below a 3.0 GPA, please feel free to apply if you show extreme promise through other achievements. Additional Admissions documents may be requested.
• Successful completion of an undergraduate psychology course with at least a B grade 

Completed application for admission by the posted deadline, including:

• • Online application
  • Admissions Essay (current prompt found in application portal)
  • Curriculum vita or Resume
  • Two letters of recommendation
  • Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended

As part of our admission’s review, Chatham reserves the right to request a background check prior to the offer of admission.

Students will be notified if they are chosen for the required admissions interview.

Admissions Materials can be uploaded in the application or submitted to:
Chatham University
Office of Graduate Admission-Berry Hall
Woodland Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
Email Admissions

International Applicants

PSY617: Psychology of Culture and Identity

The course addresses issues of culture and identity as related to counseling and therapeutic relationships. Sociopolitical, socioeconomic, familial, and psychological aspects of diversity, identity, and culture are explored through readings, seminars, and experiential exercises. Students challenge underlying assumptions and develop effective skills to work with diverse populations in counseling.

PSY629: Human Development across the Life Span

PSY681: Professional Integration Seminar

View Full Curriculum

Social justice ​and multicultural competence are key values of counseling psychology. Our country recently witnessed several prominent incidents reminding us of the work that remains to be done to create a society in which all humans are equally prized. 

In May of 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man was choked to death while in police custody following his arrest on suspicion of forgery.

Simultaneously, the COVID-19 pandemic has raged unchecked through the country, with people of color and disadvantaged socioeconomic status being overly represented in infections and deaths. 

As a faculty and staff, we are diverse along many dimensions, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, privilege, gender, sexual orientation, political perspectives, and age. We are, however, united in our condemnation of oppression and our commitment to work toward equity. We acknowledge the pain of individuals and communities who are suffering. We understand the need for ongoing self-reflection so that we can continue to open our hearts and minds to needed change. We recognize this as a necessary step toward helping others create change in their own lives.

In our profession’s clinical work, we will be called to provide treatment to people from all backgrounds and with widely divergent presenting concerns. Providing competent, ethical, and effective assessment and treatment will require that we check our own assumptions and unconscious biases, to listen intentionally, and to understand perspectives that may or may not differ from our own. We will encounter victims as well as perpetrators of violence. We will be called to help first responders and police officers, and family members of those who may have been mistreated by members of the same.

These incidents are tragic and disheartening, and yet they also serve to remind us of the importance of our work as mental health professionals in a position to enact positive change at the individual, community, and societal levels. Our program’s faculty and students co-created the Antiracism Collective (ARC), the purpose of which is to envision and take action steps to engage in antiracism work at a personal level. Students have created an allyship group dedicated to exploring and dismantling White privilege. We have created space for BIPOC and non-Black POC to share their experiences as students in a predominantly White institution (PWI). Our shared aims are to walk this journey with company.

Finally, we encourage self-care so that we can provide comfort and guidance to those entrusted with our care.