If you enjoy the rewards and challenges of working with children, then school psychology may be the career for you. The UHCL School Psychology program focuses on the broad psychological needs of children in school. The role of the school psychologist has been changing.

While traditionally the focus has been on comprehensive diagnostic evaluation of a child’s intellectual, social and emotional development, today’s professional is more broadly involved in the total child-parents-school-community relationship. Thus, direct services are often provided not only to the child, but also to the family, and/or school personnel. There is increasing involvement in agency consultation, multidisciplinary team planning, crisis intervention, group and individual counseling, and behavior management. The UHCL program is designed to reflect these new emphases as well as traditional ones.

Courses cover the following areas:

• Human Growth and Development
• Learning Principles and Applied Behavior Analysis
• Research Design and Statistics
• Psychopathology of Childhood
• Intellectual Assessment and Personality Assessment of the Child
• Biological Bases of Behavior
• Developing Skills for Transcultural Communication
• Basic Psychotherapy Skills
• Therapy Techniques with Children and Adolescents
• Family Therapy
• Programming for Educational Disabilities
• Professional Practice, Law, and Ethics
• School Law
• Professional School Psychology
• Consultation in School Psychology

Practicum and Internship Admission Requirements

1. Completion of a Bachelor’s degree with at least 12 semester credit hours of psychology courses, including introduction to psychology, child psychology, abnormal psychology, and theories of personality.
2. An undergraduate GPA of at least 3.25.
3. A GRE above 900 on the Verbal and Quantitative sections.
4. Completion of the application: Psychology Application Form
5. Formal acceptance into the program. (Admission is on a competitive basis and is not automatic).

Licensure

The practice of psychology is governed by state licensure. Graduates of the UHCL School Psychology program are eligible to sit for the examinations to become a:

• Licensed Psychological Associate (LPA)
• Licensed Specialist in School Psychology (LSSP)
• Nationally Certified School Psychology (NCSP)
• With additional coursework in some cases, graduates are also eligible to sit for the examination to become a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC).

The School Psychology program also accepts individuals who already have a graduate degree and simply need additional preparation for state licensure. In each of these cases a modified program is developed for the student.

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