Degree Requirements: Master's degree
Completion Time: 3-4 years
Earned Credits: 54
Graduates of Saybrook’s Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision program will be prepared to hold full-time faculty positions within counseling programs. As counselor educators they will hold advanced knowledge and skills in teaching, clinical supervision, research, advocacy, and leadership. Graduates of the Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision will be prepared to assume professional roles such as:
- Teaching as a full-time or adjunct faculty in counselor education programs
- Supervising clinical mental health counselors
- Advocating to improve the lives of marginalized individuals and families
- Leading meaningful change within their communities and the counseling profession
- Conducting research through a humanistic lens
At Saybrook, we believe that counseling faculty should be committed to preparing competent mental health professionals who inspire transformational change in individuals, families, and communities toward a just, humane, and sustainable world.
Students in the Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision program will enhance their knowledge of how to support the development of masters-level counseling practitioners. Graduates of Saybrook’s Online Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision program will learn and actively practice supporting counselors-in-training as they learn counseling skills, integrate their “self” as a therapist, develop their professional identity as counselors, sharpen their ethical decision making and understand how to serve diverse clients and the community.
Additionally, the program will examine the role of privilege, marginalization, and how aspects of power impact individual, familial, group, and community experiences.
Saybrook’s Online Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision program will give primary consideration to applicants with a master’s degree in counseling from a CACREP accredited institution and who are licensed professional counselors (LCPC, LPC) or license-eligible. Those not possessing a counseling degree from a CACREP accredited institution, or not currently eligible for licensure, will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Saybrook University is accredited by the Senior Commission of Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), a regional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and by the State of California. More program information can be found in our academic catalog.
Primary Faculty Members
- Jennifer Preston, Ph.D., NCC, LPC; Department Chair & Ph.D. Program Coordinator
- Hridaya Sivalingam, Ph.D., NCC, LCMHC; Practicum and Internship Coordinator
- Dominque Avery, Ph.D., NCC, LPC, LMHC; Program Faculty & MA Program Coordinator
- Kent Becker, Ed.D., LPC, LMFT; Program Faculty
- Jane Warren, Ph.D., LPC, LAT, LMFT; Program faculty
Counseling faculty at Saybrook University are committed to preparing competent mental health professionals and counselor educators who inspire transformational change in individuals, families, and communities toward a just, humane, and sustainable world.
The Counseling Department has adopted a set of professional and personal qualities to be demonstrated by all students and faculty. These qualities are directly linked to the mission and core values of Saybrook University and inform the related program objectives. The program learning outcomes were born directly out of the department core values. All members of the counseling community are expected to embody these qualities inside and outside of courses to the greatest extent possible.
Upon completion of the doctoral program, students will demonstrate the associated learning outcomes.
Learn more about our Ph.D. in Counselor Education & Supervision program and learning outcomes by reviewing our Ph.D. Student Handbook. You can also review our Annual Assessment report here. (please add that to this page).
Annual Program Related Student Outcomes
Ph.D. Counselor Education and Supervision
The Counseling Department anticipates being able to share the following student outcomes, to both meet ongoing CACREP requirements, and to share the success of our graduates.
Number of Graduates: We anticipate our first group of graduates in Fall, 2022
Completion Rate: To date (Spring, 21), we have had 10 enter the program, we have a 90% semester-over-semester continuation rate. Completion rate can be provided starting in Fall, 2022
Credentialing Examinations Pass Rates (reported by NBCC): N/A for Ph.D. CES students
Job Placement Rates: This data will be collected and provided starting after our first set of graduates complete the program.
Residential Orientation
All new students in the PhD CES program begin their studies with a one-time, virtual orientation. The virtual orientation includes a Canvas orientation course shell, and a virtual meeting ahead of the start of the term. ahead of the RC at the start of the Fall and Spring semesters.
Residential Conferences
Activities during the required Residential Conferences (RCs) are designed to expand further on the knowledge from coursework, to develop teaching and supervision skills, and to participate in professional development through workshops, courses, and seminars, as well as formal and informal meetings and discussions with faculty, advisers, and peers. Although students complete most of their coursework online, attendance at RCs during completion of coursework (not including dissertation) is required.
Introduction to Counselor Education
This seminar-style course is designed to facilitate the student’s awareness and knowledge of current issues in the field of Counselor Education. Students will discuss and present current issues in the field, providing a format for debate and discussion. The course will increase the student’s awareness of the areas of social and educational change. This course will have a synchronous meeting component.
Leadership, Advocacy, and Ethics in Counselor Education
This leadership-focused course will focus on current issues in counseling to include the role of ethical and legal consideration in counselor education and supervision. The focus will be on theories, skills, and models of leadership as well as strategies for responding to the community, national, and international crises and disasters. Students will explore current topical and political issues in counseling and how those issues affect the daily work of counselors and the counseling profession. Students must demonstrate the ability to provide leadership or contribute to leadership efforts of professional organizations and/or counseling programs and the ability to advocate for the profession and its clientele.
Instructional Theory & Practice
The instructional theory course prepares students to teach in counselor education programs. Topics covered include learning theories, retention of material, motivation, classroom instructional strategies and techniques, and assessment of learning. This course will provide an overview of the history and development of counselor education with an examination of the theoretical orientation and practice skills necessary to function effectively as a counselor educator. Students will examine their personal philosophy of teaching and learning while demonstrating the ability to design, deliver, and evaluate methods appropriate to course objectives. This course will provide students with an opportunity to co-teach a course, under the supervision of the course faculty member.
“Ph.D. students develop their skills in providing trauma-informed and culturally responsive education and supervision in both the in-person and online environments. The Ph.D. program also incorporates a social justice focus in developing identities of counselor, educator, supervisor, researcher, leader, and advocate.”
—Jennifer Preston, Ph.D., NCC, LPC, Department of Counseling Chair