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Psychology, MA

Seattle University's Master of Arts in Psychology (MAP) program offers a solid clinical training and a rich, rigorous foundation for therapeutic practice.

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About this Program

Become a Licensed Therapist through a Three-Year Process of Clinical Training, Formation and Mentorship

Respected throughout the Puget Sound region, Seattle University’s Master of Arts in Psychology (MAP) program brings together research and reflection from across the fields of clinical psychology, philosophy and the humanities to lay a foundation for clinical practice. 

Our master's degree in psychology gives you solid clinical training and a rich, rigorous foundation for therapeutic practice. Instruction emphasizes reflective and experiential work, as well as the study of a wide range of qualitative reflection and research on psychological healing and growth. It includes the study of first-person narratives, existential and phenomenological analyses and an intensive focus on role of relational process in therapeutic work.

You’ll learn to work skillfully with common clinical diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Your training will help you learn to be fully present with others through experiences of suffering and distress, how to facilitate a process of meaning-making and healing in the lives of others and how to work skillfully across barriers of social and cultural difference.

Empowered Leaders in True Community

The three-year master's in psychology program is a community of socially engaged individuals who stay connected beyond graduation, who support and help each other to grow personally and professionally beyond the academic years.

As a MAP program alumnus, your community will include peers, faculty, mentors, our advisory board and other colleagues around the region. Through dedicated mentorship programs, professional development and continuing education events, conferences and volunteer service networks, you'll have a place in this community throughout your career.

Transition to Semester Calendar

Enrollment for Fall 2027 is on a semester calendar. Learn more about the Graduate Programs Move to Semesters.

No Application Fee

We are committed to removing barriers to graduate education by waiving the application fee for all applicants.

Psychology Master's Degree at a Glance

Learn how this degree from Department of Psychology will contribute to your career goals. Then, explore course requirements and see how impactful a Seattle University degree can be.

Embarking on a graduate degree in psychology opens doors to profound self-discovery and intellectual growth. Your pursuit involves delving into the intricacies of human behavior, cognition, and emotion. As a student, you will immerse yourself in diverse psychological theories, research methodologies, and practical applications. Engaging with esteemed faculty and peers, you’ll cultivate critical thinking and research skills, fostering a holistic approach to addressing psychological challenges. Through coursework and hands-on experiences, you evolve into a perceptive and compassionate professional, ready to make an impact in the realm of mental health and well-being.

Seattle University graduate psychology students are expected to achieve these learning outcomes:

  • Interpret human experience in a way that is informed by the existential phenomenological and hermeneutical tradition and the humanities.
  • Discern the implications of this tradition's valuing of lived experience for psychotherapeutic work and for qualitative research.
  • Approach their clinical work in a way that reflects solid clinical training, ethical reflectiveness and sensitivity to underserved populations in the community
  • Demonstrate a deepened reflectiveness and self-understanding, especially in the context of their psychotherapeutic work.
  • Pursue further graduate studies and/or meet the educational requirements for Washington State licensure as mental health professionals.

This curriculum is 52 core credits and 8 elective credits. Below is a sample schedule: 

Semester 1 (10-13 credits)

PSYC 5105: Culture and Psychotherapy (2 credits)

PSYC 5110: Phenomenology of the Face (3 credits)

PSYC 5125: Listening Skills (2 credits)

PSYC 5115: Therapeutic Alliance (2 credits)

Elective (1-3 credits)

Semester 2 (10-13 credits)

PSYC 5140: Ethics and Phenomenology (2 credits)

PSYC 5155: Integrative Clinical Theory (2 credits)

PSYC 5165: Psychopathology: Madness in the World (3 credits) 

PSYC 5375: Race Trauma and Equity (2 credits) 

Elective (1-3 credits)

Semester 3 (10 credits)

PSYC 5330: Hermeneutics (2 credits)

PSYC 5170: Lifespan Development (3 credits)

PSYC 5175: Research Methods (2 credits)

PSYC 5185: Group Process and Therapy (3 credits)

Elective (1-3 credits)

Semester 4 (11-13 credits)

PSYC 5190: Assessment & Diagnosis (3 credits)

PSYC 5180: Career and Vocational Counseling (3 credits)

PSYC 5160: Therapeutic Communication (2 credits)

PSYC 5405: Legal and Professional Ethics (2 credits)

Elective (1-3 credits)

Semester 5 (9-13 credits)

PSYC 5420: Clinical Internship I (3 credits)

PSYC 5220: Clinical Supervision I (2 credits)

PSYC 5210: Program Evaluation (2 credits)

Elective (1-3 credits)

Elective (1-3 credits)

Semester 6 (8-10 credits)

PSYC 5430: Clinical Internship II (3 credits)

PSYC 5230: Clinical Supervision II (2 credits)

PSYC 5990: Integration Paper (1 credits)

PSYC 5910: Professional Development (1 credit)

Elective (1-3 credits)

Elective Courses:

  • PSYC 5385: Play Therapy (2 credits)
  • PSYC 5335: Mindfulness (1 credit)
  • PSYC 5910: Crisis Intervention and Care (1 credit)
  • PSYC 5910: Sexuality and Gender (2 credits)
  • PSYC 5910: Reproductive Mental Health (2 credits)
  • PSYC 5910: Community Consultation and Advocacy (2 credits)
  • PSYC 5345: Addictions Counseling (3 credits)
  • PSYC 5325: Advanced Listening Skills (1 credit)
  • PSYC 5350: Trauma (3 credits)
  • PSYC 5370: Family & Couples Therapy (3 credits)

Please note: This is a sample schedule. Courses timing and codes are subject to change during the transition to the semester system. Course content will remain unchanged.

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Designed for Your Success

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Explore Our Program

Learn about our Master of Arts in Psychology from Professor Steen Halling, one of the program's founders.

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Clinical Internship: Experiential Learning

Students fulfill a substantial clinical internship requirement (600 hours) in their third year in the program—in one of roughly 30 sites in the Puget Sound area. Students gain in-depth clinical experience by interning for roughly 20 hours per week in the role of counselor/therapist for 9 to 12 months. 

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Discover Existential Phenomenological Psychology

The MAP program distinguishes itself by its commitment to deeply engaging humanistic and interdisciplinary perspectives in its model of clinical training. The program draws, particularly, upon the philosophical traditions of existentialism and phenomenology, tapping these as sources of both questions and insights into the richness and diversity of human psychological experience.

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Prepared to Make a Difference

Our MAP program’s extensive internship placement program will prepare you for success as a psychotherapist working in community settings, private practice, hospitals or clinics. 

Whether preparing you to enter the counseling profession as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in the state of Washington or providing a foundation for further graduate studies, Seattle University’s MAP program is designed to support your professional and personal development as a therapist and to empower you to impact the lives of individuals, families and communities.

High-Demand Degree with Many Career Options

Upon completion of the Master of Arts in Psychology degree, most students go on to become Licensed Mental Health Counselors (LMHC) in Washington State, where they work as therapists in community mental health agencies, private or group-based practices and other care settings.

Some graduates continue onward to doctoral studies in clinical psychology, often with research and teaching interests focused on the use of qualitative and phenomenological methods in clinical practice.

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Hear From Our Students & Alumni

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Elyse Vincent, '28 MAP

"Philosophy and the human experience have always been deeply fascinating topics and I love the field of psychology, but I had not yet found a path that reconciled the two. The MAP program is an existential-phenomenological psychology program."

Psychology

Giving Graduate Students a Voice

Rosie Newman, ‘06 MA

"I didn't just learn how to do therapy, I learned a way of being - a way of turning towards others - that has provided an essential foundation for my career as a play therapist. Throughout the program, I was immersed in stimulating readings and vibrant class discussions that inspired a complex way of thinking about the human experience."

Psychology

Get in Touch

If you have any questions about the program or application, we’re here to help!

Troy Sterk

Senior Admissions Counselor

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