Master's Versus Doctoral Training

Many applicants are unsure about whether to enroll in a doctoral program or a master’s program in community counseling or another mental health specialty (such as social work or marriage and family therapy). The decision is usually based on an evaluation of one’s career goals, academic goals, and individual interests and strengths. Master’s-level counselors and doctoral-level psychologists both provide a wide range of mental health interventions. In addition to providing counseling and therapy, however, professional psychologists also generally conduct formal psychological evaluations, engage in more administrative and supervision activities, and are often involved in program evaluation.

Many individuals are primarily interested in providing professional counseling and psychotherapy services to the public, and are not interested in conducting research and program evaluation, pursuing careers in the management and administration of mental health service programs, and conducting formal psychological evaluations. These individuals are often happier pursuing master’s degrees in counseling rather than doctoral degrees in counseling psychology.

Counseling Psychology Ph.D. programs, like ours at Marquette, are usually based on a scientist-practitioner model of training where the clinical aspects of therapy go hand in hand with scholarly activity that contributes to our knowledge of the field including therapy practice, human development, psychopathology, and program evaluation, among others. Not surprisingly, then, Ph.D. programs requires many more hours of coursework in research methods and statistics. Admission requirements for doctoral programs are also generally higher than for master’s programs.

At Marquette, you can apply to either the master’s or the doctoral program. We have students who entered our programs after their bachelor’s degree, after some graduate coursework, after completing a master’s degree, and even after having completed a doctoral degree in another field. We do not have restrictions regarding the academic backgrounds of the applicants to our master’s and doctoral programs, and you do not have to complete a master’s degree in counseling before you can apply to our doctoral program in counseling psychology., you can apply to either the master’s or the doctoral program. We have students who entered our programs after their bachelor’s degree, after some graduate coursework, after completing a master’s degree, and even after having completed a doctoral degree in another field.