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Counselling Psychology MA, MEd

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Experience Prerequisite:

Applicants require a minimum of approximately two years (or 400 hours) of volunteer or paid experience working in a helping related position. Any human service work would be acceptable. Typically it is met through crisis line work or applied behavioural education support, as those are the most accessible opportunities for our applicants. Other occupations that apply include, but are not limited to teaching activities, working one-on-one advising or guiding others or working in health care, etc.

Academic Prerequisites:

We consider applicants from diverse academic backgrounds. Our minimum requirement for admissions is a bachelor’s degree from Simon Fraser University or its equivalent with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0/4.33 (B), or a grade point average of at least 3.33/4.33 (B+) based on the last 60 credits of courses.

Applicants must also have completed EDUC 323-3 (Introduction to Counselling Theories) and EDUC 423-4 (Helping Relationships) or equivalent courses as well as four additional prerequisite courses (see Additional Information, below).

Completion of the undergraduate Minor in Counselling and Human Development (or equivalent coursework) is recommended.

Frequently Asked Admission Questions can be found on the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies website.

Prerequisite courses must be completed prior to applying to the program.  Applications must include transcripts that show grades in all prerequisite courses.

Contacts

  • Trina Zindler 
    Admissions & Administrative Enquiries
    couns_adm@sfu.ca
    778-782-8120

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Additional Information about Prerequisites:

All prospective applicants should be aware that courses listed as prerequisites for entry to the Counselling Psychology Master's program may have undergraduate prerequisites.

Applicants are responsible for determining and completing any undergraduate prerequisite courses that may be required by their home institution before completing the courses required to apply to the Counselling Psychology program.

You will need the following:

  • EDUC 323 (or equivalent) which is an undergraduate course in counselling theories
  • EDUC 423 (or equivalent) which is an undergraduate course in counselling skills
  • 1 course in developmental psychology
  • 1 course in research methods
  • 1 course in cognitive psychology or educational psychology
  • 1 course in any 
    • social psychology,
    • multicultural counselling or education,
    • personality theory,
    • psychopathology or 
    • abnormal psychology.  
    • A course in sociology, cultural anthropology, or women’s studies that is relevant to counselling psychology will also satisfy this requirement.

What if you’re not sure if you have courses in the prerequisite areas?

Here is some additional information to assist you in assessing and choosing your undergraduate courses:

  • Counselling Skills Requirement: SFU EDUC 423 (Helping Relationships) or equivalent course.  To be equivalent, the course must cover basic counselling skills and must include an experiential component in which students practice counselling skills, evaluate and reflect on their use of counselling skills, and receive feedback from an instructor on their use of counselling skills (usually through the recording and transcribing mock counselling sessions with classmates).
  • Counselling Theories Requirement: SFU EDUC 323 (Theories of Counselling) or equivalent course.  Any course that is entirely devoted to a survey of theories of counselling and psychotherapy is a suitable equivalent.
  • Developmental Psychology Requirement: Any course that provides an overview of developmental psychology or that is devoted to particular topics in developmental psychology (e.g., cognitive development, social development, developmental psychopathology) or to looking at a particular stage from the perspective of developmental psychology (e.g., infant development, childhood development, adolescent development, adulthood and aging).  SFU EDUC 322 (Social Lives of School Children) and SFU EDUC 464 (Early Childhood Education) are suitable for this requirement.
  • Research Methods Requirement: Any course that covers research methods (quantitative or qualitative) or design in the social sciences (including courses in statistics or data analysis).
  • Cognitive Psychology/Educational Psychology Requirement: Suitable courses include those in learning disabilities, educational psychology, the psychology of memory, cognitive psychology, or learning theory.
  • Other Relevant Course Requirement: At a minimum, all applicants must have courses in counselling skills, counselling theories, research methods, developmental psychology, and cognitive or educational psychology plus one additional relevant course.  The additional course may be drawn from any one of the following areas: social psychology, multicultural counselling or education, personality theory, psychopathology or abnormal psychology.  A course in cultural anthropology, sociology, or women’s studies that is relevant to counselling psychology will also satisfy this requirement.

Programs that meet these prerequisities

Admissions Contacts:

For admissions/administrative enquires, contact Trina Zindler (couns_adm@sfu.ca; 778-782-8120). If Trina is unavailable, contact other staff in the Graduate Programs office.

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