Program Location
Education Building
Start Term
Fall Semesters
Program Type
Project
Schedule
Full-Time
Credits
60 Credits
Average Duration
2 Years
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Build your skills and knowledge in an array of counselling topics, exploring diverse settings of psychotherapy including educational, vocational, personal, and developmental counselling. With a strong focus on career and vocational theory, individual and group counselling skills, multicultural integration, and diagnosis and assessment procedures, students undergo extensive supervised internships in clinical or educational settings, fostering practical experience crucial for professional growth. Upon completion, graduates qualify for membership into the Ordre des conseillers et conseillères d'orientation du Québec (OCCOQ), paving the way for impactful careers as counsellors, with potential pathways to further academic advancement, including progression to the McGill PhD in Counselling Psychology for those demonstrating a talent for and interest in practical application research.
Full Program Details from the Course Catalogue
Counselling Psychology (Non-Thesis) (M.A.): Project (60 credits)
Offered by: Educational & Counselling Psych (Faculty of Education)
Degree: Master of Arts
Program credit weight: 60
Program Description
This program is designed to produce graduates with introductory academic preparation for research or clinical careers in counselling psychology. Training is provided in the research domain through coursework in data analysis and a research project. Clinical preparation is initiated in the program through coursework in ethics, intervention, assessment, psychological testing, and multicultural issues and through a practicum. Most coursework is taken during the student's first year of studies while beginning work on their research projects. In their second year, students gain practical experience via a practicum in the Department’s Psychoeducational and Counselling Clinic while also completing the majority of their work on the research project. The degree alone does not fulfil the requirements for membership in the Ordre des psychologues du Québec (OPQ).
Required Courses (57 credits)
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EDPC 606 | Theories of Intervention 1. | 3 |
Theories of Intervention 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Phenomenological, cognitive, behavioural and developmental theories that bear on the interventions of counsellors, psychologists, and other practitioners. | ||
| EDPC 609 | Psychological Testing 1. | 3 |
Psychological Testing 1. Terms offered: Winter 2026 History of psychological testing, theoretical aspects of individual and group testing, validity, reliability, and test construction, basic theories of intelligence, and ethical and legal issues in testing. An introduction to tests of cognitive abilities, aptitude, personality, and interests, including the acquisition of basic skills needed to administer and interpret individual tests of cognitive abilities. Students taking courses which access the ECP Assessment Materials Resource Centre are required to pay an access fee as well as the cost of all consumables required per course. The fee is dependent on the number of consumables/protocols used in each class and is refundable during the withdrawal with full refund period. | ||
| EDPC 615 | Assessment and Diagnosis 1. | 3 |
Assessment and Diagnosis 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 An introduction to differential assessment and diagnosis for counsellors in educational and mental health settings. The clinical interview, the assessment process, the DSM-IV, relevant test instruments, diagnostic procedures, and development of treatment plans will be subjects of study. Models of record keeping and referral procedures will be reviewed. | ||
| EDPC 619 | Research Project 1. | 3 |
Research Project 1. Terms offered: Winter 2026 A focused survey of the research literature on a topic chosen in consultation with the research supervisor. | ||
| EDPC 620 | Research Project 2. | 3 |
Research Project 2. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Development of a rationale for a research project supported by the research literature, the articulation of a specific research question(s) related to the rationale, and write up of a method to collect data that will answer the question. | ||
| EDPC 621 | Research Project 3. | 3 |
Research Project 3. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Data collection based on the method proposed in Research Project 2. | ||
| EDPC 625 | Clinic Practicum 1. | 6 |
Clinic Practicum 1. Terms offered: Fall 2025 A first level practicum in basic interviewing and helping skills and their application to a range of problems. Clients are seen in the McGill Psychoeducational and Counselling Clinic. Students taking courses which access the ECP Assessment Materials Resource Centre are required to pay an access fee as well as the cost of all consumables required per course. The fee is dependent on the number of consumables/protocols used in each class and is refundable during the withdrawal with full refund period. | ||
| EDPC 626 | Clinic Practicum 2. | 6 |
Clinic Practicum 2. Terms offered: Winter 2026 A second level practicum in basic interviewing and helping skills and their application to a range of problems. Clients are seen in the McGill Psychoeducational and Counselling Clinic. Students taking courses which access the ECP Assessment Materials Resource Centre are required to pay an access fee as well as the cost of all consumables required per course. The fee is dependent on the number of consumables/protocols used in each class and is refundable during the withdrawal with full refund period. | ||
| EDPC 628 | Research Project 4. | 3 |
Research Project 4. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Data analysis based on data collected in Research Project 3. | ||
| EDPC 629 | Research Project 5. | 3 |
Research Project 5. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Interpretation of data collected in Research Project 3 including its relationship to the literature and its implications. | ||
| EDPC 630 | Research Project 6. | 3 |
Research Project 6. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The development of a written report of the research project in the form of a manuscript suitable for publication. | ||
| EDPC 662 | Career Psychology. | 3 |
Career Psychology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Contemporary career theories, and their relationship to career development, career assessment, career transition and workplace concerns are reviewed. Current issues related to career development across the life span with specific attention given to topics such as values, aptitudes, family, culture and societal contexts will be explored. Students taking courses which access the ECP Assessment Materials Resource Centre are required to pay an access fee as well as the cost of all consumables required per course. The fee is dependent on the number of consumables/protocols used in each class and is refundable during the withdrawal with full refund period. | ||
| EDPC 683 | Practicum in Psychological Testing: Personality Assessment. | 3 |
Practicum in Psychological Testing: Personality Assessment. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Seminar and field practice in the administration and interpretation of tests that assess individual characteristic ways of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and oneself . The course covers the selection and evaluation of personality and vocational instruments, ethical test use, test administration, report writing, and communication of results. | ||
| EDPC 684 | Practicum in Psychological Testing: Cognitive Assessment. | 3 |
Practicum in Psychological Testing: Cognitive Assessment. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Seminar and field practice in the administration and interpretation of instruments that assess cognitive functioning and psychosocial functioning as it relates to cognitive abilities and academic achievements. The course covers the selection and evaluation of instruments, ethical test use, test administration, report writing, and communication of test results. | ||
| EDPE 622 | Multiculturalism and Gender. | 3 |
Multiculturalism and Gender. Terms offered: Winter 2026 Multicultural, multilingual and gender issues as they relate to the practising school and counselling psychologist. Implications and their impact in assessment, research, training, and intervention. | ||
| EDPE 627 | Ethical and Professional Practice of Psychology. | 3 |
Ethical and Professional Practice of Psychology. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Ethics and the professional and governmental structures regulating the practice of psychology in Quebec, Canada, and North America and their relation to the work of psychologists. Required for licensing as a psychologist. | ||
| EDPE 676 | Intermediate Statistics. | 3 |
Intermediate Statistics. Terms offered: Fall 2025 Concepts and procedures of conducting basic descriptive and inferential statistics, including analysis of variance, correlation, and regression models. Provides experience with data-analysis tools. | ||
Complementary Courses (3 credits)
3 credits from the following:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EDPE 682 | Univariate/Multivariate Analysis. | 3 |
Univariate/Multivariate Analysis. Terms offered: Winter 2026 General linear model as a unified data analytic system for estimation and hypothesis testing that subsumes regression, analysis of variance, and analysis of covariance for single dependent variables. Introduction to generalizations involving multiple dependent (criterion) variables. Applications oriented toward education, educational psychology and counselling psychology. Experience with data-analysis tools. | ||
| EDPE 687 | Qualitative Methods in Educational Psychology. | 3 |
Qualitative Methods in Educational Psychology. Terms offered: Winter 2026 The logics of design and selection of phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, case study and mixed design methods with emphasis on data analysis in light of issues of research purpose, epistemology, reliability and validity. | ||
Application Deadlines
- Fall Admission: December 1
