PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision - Qualitative
What Is a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision?
The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Counselor Education and Supervision program at Grand Canyon University offers learners the theoretical and practical background knowledge to teach counseling students and supervise clinical counselors. Before earning a doctorate in counselor education and supervision, learners must conduct psychological research to develop and test new ideas and theories. This research can help you become a practitioner who is capable of supporting counseling students and clinical counselors.
During the counselor education PhD program, learners will have the opportunity to grow in the areas of:
- Counseling
- Teaching
- Counselor supervision
- Leadership and advocacy
- Scholarship
- Statistics and research
GCU’s PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision is offered online, which gives you flexibility to work and complete your doctorate while still living your life outside of school.
Doctoral students will need to complete a required dissertation that will conclude this program. You will begin your dissertation from the start of the program and must also complete a residency and required internship to meet all graduation requirements.
What Is a Qualitative PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision?
Doctoral students pursuing GCU’s qualitative PhD will focus on analyzing how and why people think, believe and behave a certain way, whereas students pursuing GCU’s quantitative PhD will focus on analyzing events by interpreting numeric data. To complete the analysis for a qualitative PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision, students will create a sampling plan, design various research tools, collect data and analyze the data using a systematic approach. Their results will then be presented in a written report.
What Will a Doctorate in Counselor Education Teach You?
This counselor education PhD program was created by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences as a response to how many master’s level counselors were seeking further education. PhD graduates are needed to teach, mentor and supervise those master’s-level students. Graduates of the PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision program may oversee clinical counselors and provide instruction and leadership when necessary.
On the path to supporting other counselors, doctoral learners can improve their own practice and impact the health outcomes of the clients they work with. This learning happens as a result of coursework and research, residency, internship and practicum requirements. The combination of theoretical and hands-on work can help transition counselor education PhD program students into the next stages of their careers.
The College of Humanities and Social Sciences has outlined the six domains that highlight the goals of the PhD in counselor education coursework.
- Counseling
- Examine and integrate ethical and culturally relevant theories of counseling
- Supervision
- Develop a legal, ethical and personally relevant style of clinical supervision
- Teaching
- Design, deliver and evaluate counselor education experiences
- Scholarship and Research
- Conduct independent research
- Leadership and Advocacy
- Lead and advocate based on prevailing social, cultural and political conditions and trends within counseling
- Special Topics
- Evaluate the integration of evidence-based treatments relevant to family systems and group dynamics and processes
PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision Careers
PhD in counselor education graduates may choose to stay in their current practice and apply the research and learning to improve the lives of their clients or choose to advance in a new career such as:
- Faculty member
- Advanced clinician
- Director of school guidance
- Director of counseling agencies
If you are grateful for the counseling education you received, it is possible to give back. Find out how by learning more about the Doctor of Philosophy in Counselor Education and Supervision degree program at GCU.
PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision FAQs
Yes, GCU’s counselor education PhD degree courses are available online, which provides flexibility and convenience for your coursework. In addition, learners will participate in in-person residencies where they will have access to doctoral faculty and peer feedback for their dissertation research. GCU’s online PhD program is designed to be interactive with your peers and your program leadership through open, collaborative forums.
Yes, there is a dissertation requirement for GCU’s counselor education PhD program. Learners start preparing for their dissertation from the beginning of their program with research and practicum courses that teach analytical and communication skills. These are put into practice for the dissertation courses and the dissertation defense at the end of the program.
In order to be admitted for the PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision program, learners must follow GCU’s requirements for graduate and doctoral admissions. This includes having earned a previous doctorate with a GPA of 3.4 from an institutionally accredited school, or a master’s degree from an institutionally accredited school with a GPA of 3.4 or higher. Applicants with a GPA between 3.0 and 3.39 will be accepted with specifications, and those with a GPA below 3.0 will not be accepted.
In addition, all learners admitted to this specific program must either possess a current unencumbered, unrestricted license as an independently licensed, associate-level licensed mental health professional, or a current certification in a Mental Health Specialty and credits in a CACREP approved (or its equivalent) program. Learners must have also graduated from an approved, accredited institution or program. Read through our University Policy Handbook for more details.
If seeking licensure or certification, applicants to the program are responsible for contacting their state department of education for licensure requirements and program approval. In addition, fingerprint/background clearance is required.
Time to Completion and Dissertation Process
To learn more about time to completion and the dissertation process at GCU, visit our doctoral page.
Core Courses
Course Description
This course introduces doctoral learners to the principle elements of research, scholarly writing, and effective argumentation. Learners are made aware of the dispositions and expectations of doctoral researchers as well as the University’s overarching values and beliefs regarding research and the responsibility of scholars to contribute new knowledge to their respective fields of study. Learners begin the process of identifying a researchable dissertation topic and are acquainted with appropriate scholarly resources that support the development of the dissertation.
Course Description
In this course, learners are introduced to the critical reading of scholarly qualitative and quantitative literature at the doctoral level. Learners also explore the concept of synthesizing the scholarly literature to identify problems and problem spaces that emerge to form a researchable topic of study. The application of scholarly argumentation from the extant literature to defend the need for a research study is discussed.
Course Description
Learners in this course explore ethics and morality with targeted focus on the relationship of ethics to morality, values, folkways, norms, cultures, worldview, and theoretical orientation. Learners also explore the differentiation of classroom and advocacy ethics from treatment ethics.
Course Description
In this course, learners employ both traditional and culturally derived theories to explore how their personal worldviews affect and integrate with their theoretical orientations and the manners in which they interact with clientele and structure interventions.
Course Description
This advanced Practicum course provides opportunities for learners to engage in the supervised practical application of previously studied theory. It allows for the demonstration of their counseling/consulting skills under close supervision in a laboratory setting. The nature of the doctoral-level practicum experience is to be determined in consultation with program faculty and/or doctoral committee. Documentation of a minimum requirement of 100 hours of counseling-related activities, which include 40 direct contact hours, is submitted directly to the college’s office of field experience. Practicum/field experience hours: 100. Prerequisites: PCE-801 and PCE-803.
Course Description
In this course, learners are introduced to key components of qualitative and quantitative research designs and the means to critically appraise the application of research designs as observed in the scholarly literature. The University's core research designs are presented. Consideration is given to the initial selection and defense of a research design to address a problem that emerged from the extant literature.
Course Description
This residency allows learners to continue developing their skills as academic researchers. Learners will have hands-on experience applying quantitative and qualitative design principals to develop the foundational elements for their potential dissertation studies. Prerequisite: RES-850, RES-825, RES-831, or RCS-831.
Course Description
This course provides an introduction to the sampling, data collection, and data analysis methods employed in qualitative and quantitative research designs. Learners explore the alignment of sampling, data collection, and data analysis methods to the research topic, research questions, and research design. The course positions learners to select qualitative or quantitative designs for their dissertation studies. Prerequisite: RES-831.
Course Description
This course focuses on theoretical framework and models of clinical supervision. Learners extrapolate concepts from their personal theoretical orientations and expand their understanding of gatekeeping from a clinical supervision perspective.
Course Description
Supervision Internship is intended to allow students to approximate, to the greatest extent possible, the work of counselor supervisors. This post-practicum experience is a temporary position with an emphasis on independent application of skills and knowledge of supervision in the workplace setting. Prerequisites: PCE-806 and PCE-905.
Course Description
This course discusses educational philosophies and models of adult learning as well as authoritative gatekeeping in professional counseling and counselor education programs.
Course Description
Teaching Internship is intended to allow students to approximate, to the greatest extent possible, the work of counselor educators. This post-practicum experience is a temporary position with an emphasis on independent application of skills and knowledge of pedagogy in the workplace setting. Prerequisites: PCE-805 and PCE-905.
Course Description
In this course, learners explore the basic components of GCU qualitative core research designs including descriptive, case study, and phenomenology. The nature of epistemological foundations and the structure of problem statements, purpose statements, research questions, data sources, collection and analysis approaches are discussed in the context of each design.
Course Description
In this course, learners differentiate the epistemological foundations and explore the data trustworthiness, research ethics, and potential for bias in descriptive, case study, and phenomenology research designs. The process of building a rationale for design choice and aligning the research questions, interview questions, problem statement, and purpose statement is addressed. Sources of qualitative data are introduced for each design, and ethical aspects of research are discussed. Prerequisite: RES-841.
Course Description
This course provides counselor educators with the knowledge to be effective in their roles as leaders and advocates. This course addresses the social justice concerns with which counselor educators may become involved while fulfilling the advocacy role.
Course Description
In practice, those serving in the roles of counselor educators must address a wide variety of issues. This course, then, addresses topics of contemporary significance in professional counseling.
Course Description
This Advanced Internship is intended to allow students to approximate, to the greatest extent possible, the work of Counselor Educators. This post-practicum experience is a temporary position with an emphasis on independent application of skills and knowledge in the workplace setting. Prerequisites: PCE-804, PCE-834, and PCE- 905.
Course Description
In this residency, learners orally present and defend an expanded design of their preliminary dissertation research from RSD-851. Emphasis is placed on developing the qualitative dissertation. Prerequisite: RES-843.
Course Description
In this course, learners apply the skills of the practitioner-scholar. They are self-motivated and committed to reflective practice. They actively seek input from other scholars while continuing to design independent research under the guidance of the dissertation committee. Prerequisite: PCE-885.
Course Description
In this course, learners explore qualitative data collection techniques and sources of qualitative data in the context of answering the research questions posed by a study. Consideration is given to the recognition of data saturation and the management of data. Learners continue to work with their respective dissertation chairs to prepare a written statement of data collection, and management activities. Prerequisite: RES-843.
Course Description
In this course, learners apply the skills of the practitioner-scholar. They are self-motivated and committed to reflective practice. They actively seek input from other scholars while continuing to design and/or conduct independent research under the guidance of the dissertation committee. Prerequisite: PCE-955.
Course Description
In this course, learners focus on the interpretation of qualitative data to produce written research findings, results, and implications. Learners continue to work with their respective dissertation chairs and apply information from this course to move ahead in the dissertation process. Prerequisite: RES-873.
Course Description
In this course, learners apply the skills of the practitioner-scholar. They are self-motivated and committed to reflective practice. They actively seek input from other scholars while continuing to design and/or conduct independent research under the guidance of the dissertation committee. Prerequisite: PCE-960.
Pursue a next-generation education with an online degree from Grand Canyon University. Earn your degree with convenience and flexibility with online courses that let you study anytime, anywhere.
Grand Canyon University’s evening programs cater to the demands of working professionals who prefer an in-person learning environment. Our night classes meet just once per week and offer the interaction and discussion of a typical college classroom.
* Please note that this list may contain programs and courses not presently offered, as availability may vary depending on class size, enrollment and other contributing factors. If you are interested in a program or course listed herein please first contact your University Counselor for the most current information regarding availability.
* Please refer to the Academic Catalog for more information. Programs or courses subject to change.