Online PhD in Counseling Education
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Modern life is very stressful. People can easily feel overwhelmed juggling the demands of work and family. That stress might be more manageable, they often think, if only there was someone to talk to – and there is, in the form of a whole class of professionals called counselors. But just who counsels and educates the counselors? An Online PhD in Counseling Education prepares its graduates both to work as counselor educators and to assume administrative leadership positions in clinical, community, nonprofit, academic, and research settings. Since most states require at least a master’s degree in order to become licensed as a professional counselor, an Online PhD Counseling Education must acquaint students with the tenets of adult education. In addition, the best Online Counseling Education PhD programs will ground students thoroughly in psychological, developmental, and behavioral health principles and make available internship and field opportunities that will familiarize students with the real world situations faced by professional counselors.
Online PhD in Counseling Education Requirements
Every PhD program requires prospective students to be ambitious, hard working and dedicated. More specifically, an Online Counseling Education PhD will only be an appropriate choice for students who are naturally empathetic and enjoy working with people. Maintaining therapeutic distance is an important part of a counselor’s job, of course, and candidates pursuing an Online Doctorate in Counseling Education will have a healthy respect for personal boundaries. Students enrolling in Online Doctoral Programs in Counseling Education are often individuals with prior counseling experience who are going back to school to become leaders in their fields. Candidates seeking to enroll in Online PhD programs in Counseling Education have experience as school counselors, vocational and career counselors, mental health counselors, substance abuse counselors, behavioral disorder counselors, and marriage and family counselors. They generally hold master’s degrees in one of the following fields:
- Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy
- Master of Arts in Human Services with a Marriage and Family Therapy emphasis
- Master of Science in Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling
- Master of Science in Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling with an emphasis in Trauma and Crisis
- Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling
- Master of Science in Addiction Counseling
Occasionally professionals in other fields like social work or nursing who use counseling techniques as part of their job will decide to pursue an Online Counseling Education Doctorate as part of a career change. They may hold master’s degrees in one of the following fields:
- Master of Science in Nursing
- Master of Social Work
- Master of Arts in Social Work
- Master of Science in Social Work
Education for Online PhD in Counseling Education
Online PhD Degrees in Counseling Education combine a strong academic foundation of theoretical knowledge with multiple opportunities for practicums, internships, and embedded field experiences. A Counseling Education PhD Online generally takes between two and four years to complete, depending upon the other demands on a student’s time. Online Doctorate Degrees in Counseling Education put heavy emphasis on field experiences intended to provide the research opportunity that students subsequently write up in dissertation form.
Information on Counseling Education Courses
Coursework will include classes like:
- An Overview of Counseling Theories A basic survey class that looks at the many different types of counseling theories and therapies that have been practiced over the years.
- Recent Developments in Counseling Therapies A course that looks at counseling models relevant to contemporary practice.
- Advanced Educational Psychology A class that examines effective learning models for adult professionals.
- Introduction to Statistics An introduction to basic probability models, confidence intervals, linear regression and other techniques a student pursuing a Counseling Education PhD online will need to be familiar with in order to conduct quantitative research.
- Qualitative Methods An overview of social science research techniques, emphasizing historical archival research, textual and visual analysis, ethnography or participant observation, and semi-structured interviewing.
- Counseling Supervision A class on the practical, legal and ethical issues involved in overseeing practice.
Specializations and Concentrations
An online PhD in Counseling Education is a generalist’s degree. But often Online Doctorate Degrees In Counseling Education students select electives and pursue internships that give them a de facto specialization in education, family and child services, behavioral disorders (including substance abuse,) or some other field of particular interest to them.
Careers in Counseling Education
Counseling education is a cross disciplinary field with roots in psychology, social work and education. Online PhD Programs in Counseling Education are not for everyone: candidates must really enjoy working with many different types of people, because that’s exactly what they’ll be doing over the course of their careers – and often those people will not be at their best. Still for the right type of person, online doctoral programs in counseling education will lead to a career that’s highly rewarding – in both the personal and monetary sense of the word.
