灵活的心理咨询艺术硕士建立在社会正义

的 心理咨询硕士(MAC)学位 prepares students to become professional counselors with a strong ethical foundation and social justice orientation. 

项目负责人 梅丽莎·阿尔瓦拉多 这解释了为什么. 爱德华的 program gives its students an edge as they enter a strong and vibrant alumni community of MAC graduates.

专业咨询不同于心理学或社会工作. 学生应该了解专业咨询领域的哪些知识?

专业的咨询方法着眼于整个人, including their family of origin; their culture and identity; and systems they’re part of, 比如他们的职业生涯, 他们的宗教和家庭. We take all of this into consideration as we work with the client to develop goals for growth, 行为改变或改善关系. 我们专注于识别和建立个人的优势.

在圣. 爱德华的, we encourage our MAC students to develop an identity as a professional counselor, which includes participating in industry organizations and educating others about the field. Our students also internalize the professional values articulated in the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics:

•促进整个生命周期的人类发展;
• Honoring diversity and embracing a multicultural approach in support of the worth, 尊严, potential and uniqueness of people within their social and cultural context;
• Promoting social justice; Safeguarding the integrity of the counselor/client relationship; and
•以胜任和道德的方式执业.

这一道德准则是如何与圣. 365比分网电竞 identity as a destination university for a more just world and the location in Austin?

It is not uncommon to see the promotion of social justice in a professional counseling program’s mission statement, 因为这符合这个职业的价值观. 什么是St ?. 爱德华的 different is that social justice and advocacy are aligned with the values of the entire university.

Members of our program have participated in advocacy days at the State Capitol, where we help legislators understand the bills that affect professional counseling and the populations we serve. We advocate for all the people who could benefit from professional counseling but have limited or no access to it.

We also provide low- and no-cost services to the people of Austin through our Community Counseling Clinic, 这是我们自己扩大访问的尝试.

MAC计划如何鼓励对文化多样性的理解?

在整个项目中, students learn how to ask questions to better understand their client and their client’s cultural and social identities – including, 例如, 种族, sexual orientation and religious or spiritual perspectives – as the client defines them.

Our program also helps students recognize their own privileged and marginalized identities and how those identities influence their work with clients. 在我们的课堂上, 我们有关于权力和特权的艰难对话, and students complete assignments that encourage them to look at where they fit into these frameworks.

社区咨询诊所如何让学生为该领域做好准备?

Our clinic serves clients from the Austin community who are seeking low- or no-cost counseling services. In their first semester of field experience – which is called practicum – MAC students see clients in the campus clinic. 这些房间都配备了最先进的录音设备, so the student’s faculty supervisor can watch sessions remotely in real-time or review them with the student later. 学生们还可以回顾自己的课程，看看他们如何改进.

One advantage is that students can see clients who live elsewhere in Texas via remote sessions. 我们认识到，大流行后的远程咨询将继续存在. Our clinic allows students to train for this reality by offering both face-to-face and mental health services.

Do students need to know which specialization they want to pursue when they start the program?

No, it’s ok if they’re not sure whether they want to specialize in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, 哪些课程可以帮助学生成为持牌专业咨询师, 或者婚姻, 夫妇, 及家庭辅导, which prepares students to become a Licensed Marriage and Family 的rapist. Students develop a clearer idea as they near the end of their core courses. 有时他们开始这个项目时希望获得一个许可证, 但随着他们对这个领域的了解越来越多, 他们认为其他专业更适合.

什么是St ?. 爱德华的 different is that social justice and advocacy are aligned with the values of the entire university.

MAC学生如何在奥斯汀建立联系?

我们的许多教授也从事临床工作, 他们带来了不同环境下的经验, 包括社区心理健康, 医院, 学校, 私人执业. We value having faculty with a wide range of experience that informs their teaching and supervision.

Students work at an off-campus site in their second and third semesters of field experience, 我们在奥斯汀与50多家实体合作. Students can intern at 医院, social service agencies, group practices, and school districts. We have a strong reputation in the community that helps open doors for our students and graduates.

什么时候开课??

虽然我们提供一些日间课程，但大多数是在晚上. 这使得有工作的成年人也能接触到这个项目.

自我照顾对专业咨询学生的作用是什么?

人 often want to become counselors because of their own transformative experience with a counselor. Or, 相反, 他们在关键时刻无法获得咨询, 他们想让更多的人能接触到. 然而, it is important for students in this program to have worked through their own issues sufficiently so that they won’t be triggered by content in their courses or clients they see in practicum. 这是自我照顾的一部分, 哪一点对专业咨询师来说非常重要, 我们会在整个节目中讨论这个问题.

什么样的学生适合这个项目?

学生们将在圣. 爱德华的 if their personal values align with our social justice orientation. 的y should have an understanding of oppression and how that has impacted marginalized populations, 或者愿意学习. We want students who are open to feedback and comfortable with some ambiguity, because there is not always a single right answer in professional counseling. We want students who understand self-care and are seeking work-life balance. Students will do well here if they are willing to have hard conversations and develop self-awareness – because this program changes you, 无论是职业上还是个人上.