Academic Unit Description

The College of Doctoral Studies (CDS) counseling academic unit currently consists of the counselor education and supervision program. It is our desire that you leave this program and become global citizens, critical thinkers, effective communicators and responsible leaders fully equipped to make a profound difference in the lives and communities in which you work.

Counselor Education and Supervision Mission Statement

The mission of the counselor education and supervision doctor of philosophy (PhD) program aims to prepare current counselors to become counselor educators, advanced practitioners and counseling supervisors. Grand Canyon University’s program offers students a rigorous curriculum designed to strengthen their counseling knowledge and skills through didactic and experiential training in research, scholarship, leadership and advocacy in and out of the classroom. To facilitate these outcomes, faculty and students engage in learning experiences that support them in developing:

• Collaborative relationships with faculty and other professionals in the field of counseling that will enhance their expertise in an area or areas of professional identity and functioning
• Knowledge and skills in designing, conducting and reporting on research and scholarship that makes a significant impact on the field and the lives of others
• Leadership skills in counselor education, supervision, advanced clinical practice, research and scholarship and social justice action

Objectives

Counselor education and supervision program objectives are designed so that learners will:

• Develop their identity as counselor educators
• Develop and demonstrate their teaching pedagogy and be able to demonstrate course design, delivery and evaluation methods appropriate to counselor education learning outcomes
• Study theories of clinical supervision and apply learned skills in professional supervision settings
• Study research methods, design, implementation and analysis of quantitative and qualitative research; critically analyze and evaluate scholarly research, develop and implement research designs and produce scholarly reports that disseminate findings to the profession of counseling
• Study and demonstrate theories of leadership and advocacy and model what service looks like to be a professional counselor
• Demonstrate a sense of multicultural awareness and continue to gain cultural competence appropriate in all areas of counseling, education and supervision

CES Mission Statement

The Doctor of Philosophy in Counselor Education and Supervision program at Grand Canyon University is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of counselor educators, scholars, advanced counseling practitioners, and supervisors. The program prepares culturally responsive and ethically grounded leaders equipped to advocate globally and across diverse professional settings through the integration of faith, scholarly inquiry, and experiential learning. The Counselor Education and Supervision program’s innovative learning environment aims to enrich doctoral learners, clients, and their communities, so they may flourish.

CES Program Objectives

Program Objective One: The Counselor Education and Supervision program provides learning opportunities for doctoral learners to develop and apply the knowledge, skills, and dispositional values to become competent, ethical, and culturally responsive counselor educators, scholars, advanced counseling practitioners, and supervisors.

Learning Outcomes for Doctoral Learners:

• Counseling: Advance counseling techniques while employing culturally sustaining interventions from multiple theoretical perspectives informed by scholarly examination.
• Supervision: Establish supervision practices grounded in theoretical frameworks, supervision models, and evidence-informed research that support supervisee development and assess fitness for the profession across diverse populations and multiple settings.
• Teaching: Apply adult learning theories to enhance instructional design and delivery utilizing differentiated instruction, innovative technology, and ongoing assessment of student learning and development.
• Research & Scholarship: Identify, evaluate, and utilize relevant and culturally sustaining research methods and models and methods of instrument design to inform scholarly inquiry and program evaluation.
• Leadership and Advocacy: Acquire theories, models and skills of leadership to become ethical leaders and advocates to effectually foster client welfare in diverse populations.

Program Objective Two: The Counselor Education and Supervision program will recruit, enroll, retain, and matriculate qualified applicants that reflect the demographic of the multicultural settings and pluralistic societies in which they will serve.

Program Objective Three: Graduates of the Counselor Education and Supervision program will complete curricular requisites in preparation to obtain employment in the counselor education professional settings of their choice.