School Counseling

SchoolCounseling@Denver's mission is to develop the next generation of school counselors into agents of change, embracing a holistic approach to meeting the academic, career and social/emotional needs of students from diverse backgrounds within the P–12 school system and throughout the communities in which they serve.

Learning Objectives

Core faculty — all graduates of CACREP accredited programs — grounds the SchoolCounseling@Denver curriculum in the following learning objectives, adopted from the 2016 Counsel for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP) standards:

• Professional Orientation and Ethical Practice — Students will articulate the elements related to professional identity, including the history and philosophy of the counseling profession, the value of professional organizations, the need for legal and ethical practice, and advocating for the profession as well as clients.
• Social and Cultural Diversity — Students will demonstrate multicultural awareness, knowledge and skills necessary for competency in working with a diverse population.
• Human Growth and Development — Students will demonstrate an understanding of development throughout the lifespan, as well as its impact on normal and abnormal functioning.
• Career Development — Students will utilize career development theory in the development of individualized and developmentally appropriate career development activities and interventions.
• Counseling and Helping Relationships — Students will demonstrate the skills necessary to engage in an effective and therapeutic helping relationship.
• Group Counseling and Group Work — Students will demonstrate competency in preparing and facilitating group counseling.
• Assessment and Treatment Planning — Students will demonstrate the ability to identify effective assessment strategies in order to facilitate treatment planning.
• Research and Program Evaluation — Students will demonstrate an understanding of research methods to inform evidence-based practice.
• School Counseling Focus — Students will demonstrate an understanding of and ability to apply the foundations, contextual dimensions and practice of school counseling as a specialty area.

Certification

The SchoolCounseling@Denver program can lead to licensure as a School Counselor. Please click here for more information on the process of obtaining licensure in the state of Colorado and to see whether this program meets licensure requirements in states other than Colorado.

To explore program outcomes and more, visit the SchoolCounseling@Denver Annual Report.