Doctor of Counselling overview
Students must consider a Doctor of Philosophy with counselling as their major, as counselling is usually unavailable at the PhD level. Many institutions tend to do this, including Curtin University. These programs are designed to provide research opportunities to students wishing to enrich their respective fields with original research. These courses are consequently more focussed on theory and research into improved methodology than practice. Programs tend to take four years depending on whether studied full time or not.
Employment options
Due to the nature of the degree, students should expect a rather different career path to those from lower level programs. Teaching is a significant example of this; namely, teaching university courses in counselling. Graduates from these courses will have the opportunity to educate future counsellors in the most cutting-edge of theory to enrich their careers.
Graduates can also seek employment as a researcher, funded by universities, governments and NGOs to discover the optimal ways of delivering high quality counselling services. The Australian Counselling Association is an example of this, making it their goal to improve the profession through the submission of new research and journal articles.
Scholarships and funding
Being directed toward a philosophy PhD opens students to scholarships in this field. The HEC-ECU PhD Scholarship allows Pakistani students undergoing a philosophy PhD to gain funding for their efforts, for example. General counselling funding is normally unavailable, but similar scholarships with other specific requirements are well suited to this line of study. Students are advised to browse our variety of these here on Postgrad Australia to find the right one for them.
Prerequisites and selection process
Applicants have several options when considering this line of study. Using the guidelines at Curtin University as an example, applicants should have either:
- A Master Degree (Research),
- A Bachelor Honours Degree (first or second class), or
- A Master Degree (Coursework) completed to a ‘high standard,’ to be defined by course coordinators.
The third option is optimal for students progressing from the Master of Counselling, as a research master degree is not possible in counselling.