The Counselling and Clinical Psychology program offers studies leading to the MA and PhD degrees. It is offered by the graduate Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), St. George campus, and the Graduate Department of Psychological Clinical Science at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC).
This graduate program is intended for students seeking to pursue careers in research, teaching, and clinical practice. At the time of application, students will be required to identify a preference for a specific field as well as for a potential supervisor with whom they would work if admitted to the program.
The program has two fields:
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Clinical and Counselling Psychology, offered by OISE;
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Clinical Psychology, offered by UTSC.
The field in Clinical and Counselling Psychology is offered by the OISE Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development. This field is based on a bio-psycho-social model with an emphasis on diversity. It shares an emphasis with the Clinical Psychology field on the assessment and treatment of psychopathology in adults.
This MA program is designed for applicants interested in working as researchers or practitioners in a variety of psychological and educational settings. This program enables students to apply for registration with the College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO) as a Psychological Associate. It also fulfils the course and practicum requirements of students who plan to apply to the PhD program, Clinical and Counselling Psychology field at OISE.
This program is delivered in person, which means that while the program may offer some courses online, a student will take less than one-third of their courses online.
The MA is taken on a full-time or part-time basis. However, students in the part-time option will be required to complete one year of full-time study to fulfil their degree requirements.
For 2024-25 and further extension to the 2025-26 academic year, admissions to the part-time option have been administratively suspended.
Minimum Admission Requirements
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Applicants are admitted under the General Regulations of the School of Graduate Studies. Applicants must also satisfy the Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development's additional admission requirements stated below.
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An appropriate bachelor's degree in psychology or any appropriate bachelor's degree that would contain the psychology requirement equivalent (defined as 6.0 full-course equivalents [FCEs] in psychology, including 0.5 FCE in research methods and 0.5 FCE in statistics. It is expected that students will have completed 1.0 FCE at the third- or fourth-year level in each of three core areas of general psychology:
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biological bases of behaviour (for example, physiological psychology, comparative psychology, neuropsychology, psychopharmacology);
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cognitive/affective bases of behaviour (for example, learning, sensation, perception, cognition, thinking, motivation, emotion); and
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social bases of behaviour (for example, social psychology; cultural, ethnic, and group processes; sex roles; organizational and systems theory).
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Students who are missing courses in these core content areas will be required to complete additional courses during the MA or PhD degrees.
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A standing equivalent to a University of Toronto A– or better in the final year.
Completion Requirements
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Coursework. Students must complete a total of 4.5 FCEs as follows:
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APD1202H Theories and Techniques of Counselling and Psychotherapy — Part I.
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APD1203Y Practicum I: Interventions in Counselling Psychology and Psychotherapy (500 hours of practicum). MA students will attend a minimum of three colloquium presentations during their program, which partially fulfills the course requirements for APD1203Y.
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APD1208Y Cognitive and Personality Theory and Assessment.
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APD1219H Ethical Issues in Professional Practice in Psychology and Psychotherapy.
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APD1228H Couples Counselling or APD1261H Group Work in Counselling and Psychotherapy (or an equivalent course).
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APD1263H Research Methods for Clinical and Counselling Psychology (RM).
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JOI1288H Intermediate Statistics and Research Design (RM).
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Master's thesis.
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Full-time option: Full-time, on-campus study is required from September to April, which represents the Fall and Winter sessions. Normally, 1.5 FCEs are taken in each of the Fall and Winter sessions and a maximum of 1.0 FCE in the Summer session. Under this option, it is expected that all degree requirements will be completed within two years.
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Part-time option (for 2024-25 and further extension to the 2025-26 academic year, admissions to the part-time option have been administratively suspended): For this option, students can register as part-time students at the beginning of their program. However, they will be required to register as full-time students for one year of the program. In this option, students will normally take 1.0 FCE annually during the beginning of their program and 1.5 FCEs in each of the Fall and Winter sessions in their year of full-time study. Once they have begun their last required course, they must register continuously and pay the part-time fees until all degree requirements have been completed. Under this option, it is expected that all degree requirements will be completed within two to three years, up to a maximum of six years.
Program Length: 6 sessions full-time (typical registration sequence: FWS-FWS); 10 sessions part-time
Time Limit: 3 years full-time; 6 years part-time