University of Hawai‘i Board of Regents approves change of status for UH Hilo Master of Arts program in counseling psychology from provisional to establishe
University of HawaiʻiHONOLULU — Today at its monthly meeting, held at the UH Mānoa campus, the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents approved the status change for the UH Hilo Master of Arts program in counseling psychology from provisional to established. The program is the only one in the UH System that trains mental health counselors at the master‘s degree level.
"We are pleased to be able to offer the master‘s program as an opportunity for many students to continue their studies in the field of psychology," said UH Hilo Chancellor Rose Tseng. "The undergraduate program in the Department of Psychology at UH Hilo has the largest number of majors, with 339 as of spring 2009, so clearly this is an area for which there will be a strong demand."
The master‘s program was established in 2005 and admitted its first cohort of students in fall 2005, since then over two dozen have graduated. Graduates of the program have been able to find positions suited to their training such as those available in Child and Family Services, Hawaiʻi Department of Education and other schools as therapists, counselors or education specialists.
The mission of the program is to provide multicultural, student-centered, graduate training in counseling psychology. The program trains students to become knowledgeable, skillful, ethical counselors who will be able to help people in need of professional counseling services.
As a psychological specialty, counseling psychology aims at facilitating personal and interpersonal functioning across the life span with a focus on emotional, social, vocational, educational, health-related, developmental, and organizational concerns. The specialty encompasses a broad range of practices that help people improve their well-being, alleviate distress and maladjustment, resolve crises, and increase their ability to live more highly functioning lives.
The status change is effective immediately.