Counselling

Overview

Graduates of the M.Ed. Counselling program from Acadia University meet requirements for the Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) designation with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) and the Registered Counselling Therapist – Candidate (RCT-C) designation with the Nova Scotia College of Counselling Therapists (NSCCT).

As a full-time student, you will begin the program in July and generally study for 14 months if you follow the non-thesis route. If you choose to study part-time, you will begin your program on campus in July and follow a cohort program that generally takes three years to complete. Either way, courses are sequenced to provide preparation for the 500-hour practicum. If you enroll as a thesis student, you should expect to spend additional time in the program.

In the Counselling program, you will:

• Prepare to be a leader in the profession through your pursuit of disciplined inquiry; understanding of and respect for human diversity; and your development, use, and evaluation of effective counselling practices.
• Devote yourself to the prevention, remediation, and amelioration of emotional, cognitive, behavioural, and interpersonal difficulties, and the enhancement of human potential and quality of life.
• Build the awareness and skills to work with diverse populations from individual, social, and organizational perspectives. Our program is focused on integrating theory, practice and research.
• Explore a wide variety of counselling approaches including existential, person-centered, cognitive-behavioural, narrative, and family-systems.
• Study a curriculum tailored for accreditation standards and designed to prepare you for a variety of work settings and for provincial registration in Nova Scotia and for national certification.