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Career Counseling Emphasis

The Career Counseling emphasis in the Counselor Education M.Ed. Program at Penn State is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). The curriculum also reflects training in all career counseling competencies identified by the National Career Development Association. It takes two-years of full-time graduate study, or its equivalent, to complete this 60 credit hour master’s degree.

Learn More about the Career Counseling Emphasis

  • Prepare students to excel as career counselors working in the exciting and vibrant field of career development
  • Prepare students to work in a world of cultural diversity, complex work, and global recession and unemployment
  • Prepare students to provide career counseling services to children, adolescents, and/or adults
  • Provide students with the skills necessary to be an effective professional counselor, with specific expertise in career development across the life span and a specialization in providing career counseling in a specific practice setting (K-12 schools, higher education, community settings, and private practice settings)
  • Prepare students for National Certification as a Professional Counselor
  • Prepare students for Licensure as a Professional Counselor
  • Counseling skills (individual and group), assessment skills (formal and informal), providing developmentally appropriate career interventions to individuals and groups, research/evaluation skills, program promotion, management, and implementation skills, and the skills to use information resources effectively
  • The skills necessary to help others develop a life-career plan, with a focus on the definition of the worker role and how that role interacts with other life roles
  • The incorporation of counseling theory, skills and techniques into experiential learning modes including role-playing and genuine counseling situations through practicum at the Herr Clinic (Link to Dr. Edwin L Herr Clinic Page) and supervised internship at Career Services

Career Counseling Curriculum Guide and Course Schedule

The career counseling emphasis in the Counselor Education M.Ed. Program is a two-year program with a fall semester start date. Students are required to complete 60-credits, including a one (40 hours per week) or two (20 hours per week) semester internship that includes both individual and group supervision.

Master’s students in the Career Counseling emphasis are required to complete the Master’s Paper (CN ED 596) connected to their internship classes. The Master’s Paper is a proposal, including an introduction, literature review, intervention design, and evaluation plan.

Our program follows a cohort model. Students are admitted once a year and begin study in the Fall. They complete Fall and Spring semesters in Year 1, summer session between Year 1 and 2, and complete Fall and Spring semesters in Year 2.

Fall Semester (12 credits & potential elective)
CNED 404 (3) Group Procedures in Guidance and Counseling
CNED 500 (3) Introduction to Counseling and Development
CNED 501 (3) Counseling: Theory and Method
CNED 506 (3) Individual Counseling Skills
Elective

Spring Semester (12 credits & potential elective)
CNED 505 (3) Foundations of Career Development and Counseling Information
CNED 525 (3) Use of Tests in Counseling
CNED 595A (3) Counseling Practicum
CNED or WFED 424 (3) Facilitating Career Development
Elective

Summer Semester (3 credits & potential elective)
CNED 532 (3) Diagnosis
Elective

Fall Semester (12 credits & potential elective)
CNED 555 (3) Career Counseling
CNED 507 (3) Multicultural Issues in Counseling
CNED 526 (3) Research
CNED 595G (3-6) Internship
Elective

Spring Semester (12 credits & potential elective)
CNED 595G (3-6) Internship
CNED 597 (3) Management of the College and University Career Center in the 21st Century
CNED 596 (3) Individual Studies (Master's Paper)
Elective

Electives will be selected in consultation with the Career Counseling emphasis coordinator and are based upon the student's preferred work setting and what would be developmentally beneficial for the student.

Samples of courses within Counselor Education that can serve as electives:

  • CNED 503/504 (3) Organization and Administration of Guidance Services in School Counseling
  • CNED 523 (3) Child Counseling
  • CNED 524 (3) Counseling Adolescents
  • CNED 530 (3) Family Counseling: Theory & Practice
  • CNED 554 (3) Advanced Multicultural Counseling

Samples of courses outside of Counselor Education that can serve as electives:
 

  • ADTED 549 (HI ED 549) Community Junior College and the Technical Institute (2-3)
  • WF ED 450 (US;IL) Cultural Diversity in the Workplace (3)
  • WF ED 471 Training in Industry and Business (3)
  • WF ED 542 Social and Economic Foundations of Workforce Education and Development (3)
  • PSY 597B Work Motivation: Theories, Research, and Organizational Interventions (3)
  • HD FS 425 (US) Work as a Context for Human Development (3)
  • HD FS 445 (PSYCH 416) Development Throughout Adulthood (3)
  • SOC 455 Work and Occupations (3)
  • SOC 456 (WMNST 456) Gender, Occupations, and Professions (3)