WELCOME TO GUIDANCE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING PROGRAM
The Guidance and Psychological Counseling Program at METU Northern Cyprus Campus is designed to develop psychological counselors who are well-qualified through state of the art knowledge in the field. Students completing the program will be prepared to serve in a broad array of career settings available to them upon graduation, in a variety of areas where the skills they acquired are valued.
Built on the foundation of classical tradition, the Northern Cyprus Campus develops the self-assured and competitive psychological counselors of the future. Moreover, the Guidance and Psychological Counseling Program offered at METU Cyprus is the only undergraduate degree program offered by METU in this field. Our contemporary academic program embraces what is current and innovative in the field and blends it with METU expertise, providing students with the opportunity to put the knowledge and skills they gained into practice in the course of their study.
A very broad range of career possibilities exist for graduates of the program. They can work as psychological counselors at public schools or private educational institutions. Career positions can also be found in human resources departments of different types of organizations or at institutions that provide psychological care.
The Counseling Laboratory located on the Campus and practice sessions offered by the program allows students the capability to develop professional skills and competencies in their fields of expertise while pursuing their studies.
We are aware that selecting the right university is not an easy process. Thus, we provided answers to the basic questions that first come to mind while reviewing the options.
What is Guidance and Psychological Counseling?
Why Guidance and Psychological Counseling?
Psychology or Guidance and Psychological Counseling?
Why Guidance and Psychological Counseling at METU Cyprus?
METUans are committed and dedicated individuals who believe in their potential to change the world. By choosing the Guidance and Psychological Counseling Program at METU Cyprus, you can also have innovative, competitive and hands-on education in a field that offers growing career opportunities and, starting from your immediate surroundings, can be actively engaged in efforts to make the world a better place.
We hope to see you at METU Cyprus.
What is Guidance and Psychological Counseling?
The Guidance and Psychological Counseling program provides students with theoretical knowledge and practical training throughout their studies. The aim of the program is to produce psychological counselors who are prepared to address the academic, professional, personal, and social needs of individuals. This program aims to increase students’ awareness of the nature of counseling relationship so that they can develop skills needed to foresee and prevent problems, to explore and enrich their potentials, and to cope with problems.
The program’s curriculum covers courses that are essential foundations for any psychology major such as developmental psychology, physiological psychology, psychology of learning, social psychology, and psychopathology. Students are also empowered with skills and knowledge concerning school-based guidance and psychological counseling, mental health counseling, career counseling, and group counseling leadership. In addition, they attend practical application courses that have been designed to provide opportunities for them to apply their knowledge and skills in settings such as universities, research centers, mental health centers, schools, and other relevant institutions.
Why Guidance and Psychological Counseling?
Modern society poses many risks to human well-being. Besides, individuals need specialist advice and support across a wide range of areas to develop themselves, to explore their potentials and use them to the fullest, and to build effective habits. Guidance and Psychological Counseling has gained more importance over time and has widened its scope as a field of application for psychology. Because self-development and learning are lifelong processes, graduates of this field of study are not only employed at schools as psychological counselors but also employed by a variety of mental health institutions across a wide range of work environments. Guidance and Psychological Counseling is the right option for those who want to get to know themselves better and to help others in different areas by using scientific methods.
Psychology or Guidance and Psychological Counseling?
The difference between the Psychology and Guidance and Psychological Counseling programs can be likened to the difference between the Mathematics and Mathematics Education programs. Psychology is a basic science, whereas Guidance and Psychological Counseling is an applied science just like clinical psychology or industrial psychology. Unlike the Psychology Program, major theories of psychology are followed by practical courses in the Guidance and Psychological Counseling Program. In addition, students are trained to do individual and group counseling. This provides opportunities for them to receive supervision from a faculty mentor as well as obtaining and providing peer-supervision in the course of their study. For this reason, graduates of the Guidance and Psychological Counseling Program are much more experienced than those provided with merely theoretical knowledge, and they are better equipped to work in the field.
Why Guidance and Psychological Counseling at METU Cyprus?
The Guidance and Psychological Counseling Program at METU Cyprus is the only undergraduate degree program offered by METU in this field, and therefore, has been the only option available, since 2011, for those who wish to pursue an undergraduate degree in this field of study at METU. Our program allows for students to benefit from effective interaction in smaller classes and diverse opportunities to attend practical sessions. The Counseling Lab located on campus provides unique settings for realistic applications of knowledge gained from various courses. The two-way mirrored room system in the lab enables instructors to observe and monitor their students’ performance as students participate in practice sessions delivered in the fields of psychological counseling, career counseling, and group counseling, as well as allowing them to provide feedback. Using the advanced recording system installed in the rooms, students can record their practice sessions. Both students and their feedback providers can watch and evaluate these recordings afterwards. By supplementing theoretical education with intensive and rigorous hands-on training, METU Cyprus nurtures graduates with high self-esteem and high ethical standards, who are well-equipped for their fields. What is more, graduates of our program are seen as candidates with a high chance of admission at METU Ankara Guidance and Psychological Counseling master’s degree and doctoral programs because they meet the special condition requirement, which necessitates an undergraduate degree achieved in an English-medium system.