What degree is required?

If you graduated before 1/1/99 =

If you enrolled in a degree program before 1/1/99 you have until 1/1/03 to complete the program.

Educational requirement A

30 semester hours in applicants choice of 13 core areas listed below.

A) Human Growth and Development and Maladaptive Behavior

B) Counseling Theory

C) Counseling Techniques

D) Group Dynamics, Processing and Counseling

E) Appraisal of Individuals

F) Research and Evaluation

G) Professional, Legal and Ethical Responsibilities relating to professional counseling, especially as related to Illinois law

H) Social and Cultural Foundations

I) Lifestyle and Career Development

J) Practicum

K) Counseling Education

L) Counseling Supervision

M) Counseling Administration.

Educational requirement B

The program, must be clearly identified and labeled as offering counseling, rehabilitation counseling, psychology or similar programs. Such a program must specify in institutional catalogues and brochures its intent to educate and train counselors or the institution grants a baccalaureate human services degree,
48 semester hours

The program must be 2 academic years in length and require an individual to complete a minimum of 48 semester hours or equivalent quarter hours with a minimum of one course in each of the following areas described in more detail in Appendix A of this Part.

A) Human Growth and Development

B) Counseling Theory

C) Counseling Techniques

D) Group Dynamics, Processing and Counseling

E) Appraisal of Individuals

F) Research and Evaluation

G) Professional, Legal and Ethical Responsibilities relating to professional counseling, especially as related to Illinois law

H) Social and Cultural Foundations

I) Lifestyle and Career Development

J) Practicum/Internship

K) Substance Abuse

L) Maladaptive Behavior and Psychopathology

M) Family Dynamics.

The program has a one year residence. Residence requires interaction with faculty and other matriculated students. One year's residence is defined as 24 semester hours taken on a full-time or part-time basis at the institution accumulated within the time frame and course of study of the program.

What is an approved program?

IDPR will upon application consider approval of a degree program. Those approved programs graduates will automatically qualify for the academic degree requirement for licensure. See List

Currently approved programs include:

In addition and other Master’s or Doctoral CACREP or CORE approved programs automatically qualify. APA Doctoral programs qualify.

What if I don’t have the correct academic classes?

You can take additional classes to meet deficiencies.

a) Human Growth and Development: Courses in this area cover one or more of the various stages of the human growth cycle and include information about theories of development or about various aspects of development such as personality development, social development, or learning theory. Also included are psychological, sociological, and physiological approaches. Examples of acceptable courses include, but are not limited to, Developmental Psychology, Child Psychology, Child Development, Adolescent Psychology, Adolescent Development, Personality Theory, Learning Theory, Counseling in the Life Span, Medical Aspects of Disability, Developmental Disabilities, Behavioral Analysis in Rehabilitation.

b) Counseling Theory: Courses in this area cover the major theories and techniques of counseling and psychotherapy including, but not limited to, rational-emotive therapy, behavior therapy, client-centered counseling, psychodynamic theory, etc. Examples of acceptable courses include, but are not limited to, Counseling Methods, Theories of Counseling, Introduction to Psychotherapy, Methods of Psychotherapy. These courses should be general theory courses; a course devoted to one type of therapy would be a CounselingTechniques core course.

c) Counseling Techniques: Courses in this area cover the theoretical foundations and professional skill training that enable the helper to understand the client's problems more fully and accurately and to intervene effectively. Examples of acceptable courses include, but are not limited to, Family Counseling, Marital Counseling, Crisis Counseling, Counselor Interviewing Skills, Pre-Practicum in Rehabilitation Counseling, Introduction to Rehabilitation Counseling, Substance Abuse Counseling, Stress Management, etc.

d) Group Dynamics, Processing and Counseling: Courses in this area teach the theories, principles and techniques of doing counseling or psychotherapy with groups of people. Examples of acceptable courses include, but are not limited to, Group Counseling, Group Therapy, Group Dynamics, Group Process, Theories of Group Practice, etc.

e) Appraisal of Individuals: Courses in this area cover assessment of the various attributes of a person, including formal measures such as standardized tests as well as informal measures such as observations, interviews, rating scales. Examples of acceptable courses include, but are not limited to, Individual Appraisal, Individual Inventory, Group Testing, Individual Intelligence Testing, Personality Assessment, Introduction to Psychological Measurement, Tests and Measurements, Measurement for Guidance, etc.

f) Research and Evaluation: Courses in this area cover principles, methods, techniques and tools used in performing research in counseling. Examples of acceptable courses include, but are not limited to, Methods of Research, Statistics, Research Design, Research in Counseling, Research Techniques, etc.

g) Professional, legal and ethical responsibilities, especially as related to Illinois Law: Courses in this area introduce the student to the field of counseling, covering such areas as professionalism, legal issues and responsibilities, and ethics. Examples of acceptable courses include, but are not limited to, Ethics and Legal Issues in Counseling, Ethics and Legal Issues in Psychology, Ethics and Legal Issues in Psychotherapy, Ethics and Legal Issues in Rehabilitation Counseling, etc.

h) Social and Cultural foundations: Courses in this area cover topics such as aging, ethnicity, women's issues, urban and rural societies, population patterns, cultural mores, and differing life patterns. Culture and social class present significant considerations for counselors when the counseling relationship is different due to socialization acquired in distinct cultural, subcultural, racio-cultural or socioeconomic environments. Examples of acceptable courses include, but are not limited to, Multicultural Counseling, Psychology of Women, Counseling the Aged, Counseling with Special Populations, Social Psychology, Cultural Differences in Counseling (or Psychotherapy), Psychosocial Aspects of Disability, Somatopsychology of Disability, Psychological Aspects of Disability, etc.

i) Lifestyle and Career Development: Courses in this area cover the lifelong processes and the influences upon them that lead to work values, occupational choices, creation of a career pattern, decision-making style, integration of roles, self- and career-identity and patterns of work adjustment. This area studies concepts about how career development unfolds. Examples of acceptable courses include, but are not limited to, Career Guidance, Career Counseling, Career Development, Career Information, Educational and Occupational Information, Theories of Vocational Choice, Theories of Vocational Counseling, Work Adjustment and Placement, etc.

j) Practicum: Provides practical experience in counseling for the purpose of developing individual counseling skills and for developing group counseling skills. This course should include a minimum of 100 clock hours on-site, with a minimum of 40 hours of direct client contact. These experiences allow students to perform, on a limited basis, some of the counseling activities that a regularly employed Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor would be expected to perform. This should not be confused with the internship requirement.

k) Internship: An internship should provide direct client experience in both individual counseling and group work, as well as an opportunity for the student to become familiar with a variety of professional activities other than direct service. It should provide an opportunity for a student to perform, under supervision, a variety of activities that a clinical professional counselor would be expected to perform. The internship should include a minimum of 600 clock hours with a minimum of 1 hour per week of individual supervision.

l) Counseling Education: Courses in this area cover an understanding of all aspects of professional functioning including history, roles, organizational structures and credentialing. Examples of acceptable courses include, but are not limited to, The Counseling Profession, Professional Orientation.

m) Counseling Supervision: Courses in this area cover the theory and practice of counselor supervision. Examples of acceptable courses include, but are not limited to, Principles and Practices of Supervision, Seminar in Supervision, Staff Development and Supervision, Organization and Administration of Career Counseling Programs, Administration of Student Personnel Services.

n) Family Dynamics: Courses in this area cover family systems theory and their application, preventive approaches for working with families, specific problems that impede family function. Examples of acceptable courses include, but are not limited to, Introduction to Family Therapy, Societal Trends and Related Treatment Issues, Family Systems Theory, Family Dynamics.

o) Psychopathology and Maladaptive Behavior: Courses in this area cover general principles of etiology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental and emotional disorders and dysfunctional behavior, specific models and methods for assessing mental status, identification of abnormal, deviant or psychopathological behavior and the interpretation of findings in current diagnostic categories. Examples of acceptable courses include, but are not limited to, Abnormal Psychology, Psychopathology, Principles of Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Mental Health Rehabilitation Counseling, Psychosocial Aspects of Disability and Rehabilitation of the Mentally Ill.

p) Substance Abuse: Courses in this area cover chemical, psychological and social treatment aspects of drug use, abuse and dependency, effects on the family; treatment procedures; and provides diagnostic, assessment and intervention skills. Examples of acceptable courses include, but are not limited to, substance abuse counseling, psychology of drug addition.

q) Counseling Administration: Courses in this area cover theories and models of organizational behavior and consultation that includes planning and evaluation of community/higher education programs; theories, models and practice of leadership, organizational management, and program development; methods of and approaches to organizational change, decision making, and conflict resolution. Courses in this area cover, but are not limited to, Counseling Administration, Administrative Practice in Higher Education.