About

The program was founded in 1980 and has an excellent reputation in the mental health community. Moreover, it has an international reputation as a center for phenomenological scholarship, a good deal of which results from the collaborative work of faculty, students, and alumni. The program is generally completed as a two-year full-time course of study. The program offers a broad foundation in psychology, philosophy, and psychopathology. Through exploring these in relation to psychotherapy and counseling, students come to appreciate the significance of therapeutic attitude and presence. Most fundamentally, we place a strong emphasis on the relational and ethical dimensions of psychotherapy.

 For course information, please visit the Registrar. MAP course information is available under the College of Arts and Sciences heading.

Program History

Students first entered the master’s program in September 1981, and our first class graduated in June 1983. Over the years our program has established a strong reputation for the education and training of MA level psychotherapists. In addition, faculty and students have worked together to produce a series of qualitative research studies that have been presented at conferences and published in a variety of journals
and books.

Therapeutic Emphasis

Our program investigates the psychotherapeutic attitude and cultivates it both in ourselves and our students. The therapeutic attitude illuminates our relationships to self, others, family and our cultures. This involves an attitude of caring for the multiple expressions of what it means to be human.

The program does not promote a specific technique or school of therapy. However, certain issues are recognized as central: co-creation of meaning and the face-to-face aspect of the relationship are examples.

Students are introduced to basic ideas and skills that are core to therapeutic practice. The goal is to develop skills in the context of an understanding of the meaning and purpose of the therapeutic relationship. In our society, psychotherapy is assumed to happen primarily in consulting rooms, clinics, and hospitals. Thus, the program prepares students to work in these places. However, since “psychotherapy” means, etymologically, “attending to the psyche,” this activity happens in other situations and in many professions. Hence, the program is open to all students whose interests fall under the broadest definition of “psychotherapy.”

Prospective students should note that the process of becoming a therapist requires attending to one’s own experience and encouraging feedback from others (e.g. supervisors) even though doing so may at times be both difficult and painful. Personal therapy is helpful in providing a supportive context in which one can confront emotional obstacles and blind spots. Students whose personal issues persistently interfere with their movement towards an increased capacity to work therapeutically with others may be asked to take a leave of absence or to withdraw from the program.

Our graduate curriculum meets the Washington state law for counselors’ content standards for those wanting to become licensed as mental health counselors.