Santa Clara University

History of Counseling Psychology

The current Santa Clara University Division of Counseling Psychology and Education began in 1951 as the Department of Education when the University decided to employ a full-time instructor to offer the necessary professional education courses for a California state teaching credential. Previously, adjunct faculty had offered courses in the history of U.S. schools and in educational psychology to interested students and to prospective teachers. The Department of Education remained a small teacher preparation unit until 1964 when guidelines were established for a credential and Master of Arts in School Counseling. At that time, three full-time faculty became responsible for an expanded fifth-year teacher preparation program and for the newly created Master of Arts degree and credential program in school counseling.

In 1970, the teacher preparation program was expanded to include elementary teacher training. In 1973, the University began offering a master's degree in special education with a credential program in teaching the learning handicapped. In 1977, a group of Santa Clara County superintendents, who had been meeting regularly to recommend various program improvements for the Department of Education, recommended the development of an advanced-degree program in school administration. That program began in 1979 and was followed by an administrative internship program in 1982.

The counseling psychology programs at Santa Clara, also begun in 1964 as a part of the Department of Education, experienced a period of rapid growth in programs, faculty, and enrollments when a decision was made in 1970 to train counselors for the license in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling, a new specialty in counseling psychology. The program continued to expand to meet the many needs of entering students, including a general counseling program. In 1979, an emphasis program in health psychology was begun; in 1990, an emphasis and certificate program in early intervention services was implemented; and in 1995, emphases in career development and correctional psychology were started.

In 1981, the Department of Education became the Division of Counseling Psychology and Education. The Division currently offers six master's degree programs, seven credential programs, and professional enhancement workshops through a continuing professional education program. The Division also designs and implements grant proposals to provide training programs for school administrators, teachers, and paraprofessionals in the field of education.