Course of Study for the ICP Program

The Integral Counseling Psychology program strives to educate students in the dynamics of transference and psychoanalytic theory, and to provide training in the more experiential therapies, such as Gestalt and existential psychotherapy.

The program meets these goals in the following ways:

• Providing beginning students with a variety of learning experiences designed to help them develop the clinical skills necessary to be a psychotherapist.

• Advancing a view that places psychological growth and healing into a larger context of spiritual unfolding. Classes explore the integration of spiritual and psychological approaches to development, personality, and society.

• Offering students the opportunity to participate in the work of the Integral Counseling Centers, the CIIS run community mental health services. At the centers, students at various levels of experience are given an opportunity to apply their counseling skills.

The Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Integral Counseling Psychology requires 60 semester units of work, divided between required courses and electives.

Curriculum

I. Counseling Courses

MCP 5101 Professional Ethics and Family Law (2 units)
MCP 5201 Human Development and the Family (3 units)
MCP 5603 Psychopathology (3 units)
MCP 6102 Alcohol and Chemical Dependency Counseling (1 unit)
MCP 6401 Research Methods (3 units)
MCP 6502 Child Therapy (2 units)
MCP 6546 Community Mental Health (3)

II. Counseling Courses with Emphasis in Integral Counseling Psychology

The following courses have equivalencies in the Community Mental Health, Drama Therapy, Expressive Arts Therapy, and Somatic Psychology concentrations. These equivalent courses cover the same content, but from the
perspective of their own concentrations:

MCPI 5501 Psychodynamics (3 units)
MCPI 5602 The Clinical Relationship (3 units)
MCPI 5604 Group Dynamics (3 units)
MCPI 5605 Family Dynamics and Therapy (3 units)
MCPIL 5605 Family Dynamics and Therapy: Lab (1 unit)
MCPI 5610 Therapeutic Communication (3 units)
MCPI 6601 Marriage and Couples Counseling (3 units)
MCPI 6603 Cross-Cultural Counseling and the Family (3 units)
MCPI 7601 Supervised Clinical Practicum: Individual (minimum three semesters) (2 units) or
MCPI 7602 Supervised Clinical Practicum: Group (can be one of three practicum semesters) (2 units) or
MCPI 7604 Supervised Clinical Practicum: School Setting (two semesters) (3 units) or
MCPI 7612 Supervised Clinical Practicum: Group Child Focus (2 units)

III. Integral Counseling Psychology Concentration Courses

These courses do not have equivalencies in the other concentrations.

ICP 5606 Gestalt Therapy (3 units)
ICP 5621 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (1 unit)
ICP 7702 Integrative Seminar (3 units)
ICP 6501 Transpersonal and Integral Psychotherapy
ICP 6700 Trauma: An Introduction to Treatment
ICP 8606 Integral Psychology (3 units each)

IV. Electives

General Electives
Units can be taken from any CIIS program. ICP offers the following electives:

• Psychosynthesis
• Hakomi
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy/Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• The Art of Listening
• Existential and Spiritual Approaches to Psychotherapy
• Trauma: An Introduction to Treatment
• Inner Realization and the Writings of A.H. Almaas, Founder of Diamond Heart

Residential Intensive

A four-day, residential intensive focused on Group Dynamics is required at the beginning of the ICP Program. Students will take two-thirds of the 3-unit Group Dynamics course on this retreat, and will take the remaining third at CIIS during the first 5 weeks of the regular semester. This will be an opportunity to meet with other students in the incoming cohort and to learn experientially about group dynamics in an intensive setting. It will be held at the Institute of Noetic Sciences retreat center in Petaluma, CA, just north of San Francisco. Further details will follow upon admission to the program. Please see below for a description of this course.

Workshops Required for Graduation

The following additional nonunit workshop requirements must be taken prior to graduation through CIIS Public Programs or another educational institution:

• Spousal Abuse Assessment and Reporting (15 contact hours)

In order to qualify for Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) licensure in the state of California, applicants are required to fulfill the following three requirements, which are not included in the program’s required curriculum for graduation.

These requirements are not required by the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) to be fulfilled prior to graduation but must be fulfilled prior to application for licensure:

• Human Sexuality (10 hours)
• Psychopharmacology (30 hours)
• Child Abuse Assessment and Reporting (7 hours)
• Aging and Long-Term Care (10 contact hours)

Classes and workshops are offered through CIIS Public Programs and other educational institutions to meet these requirements.

Selected Course Descriptions

Classes and workshops are offered through CIIS Public Programs and other educational institutions to meet these requirements.

ICP 5606: Gestalt Therapy (3 units)

Gestalt Therapy will be presented as an adjunct to Existential Philosophy and Therapy, and as a natural reflection of Humanities Psychology. The elements of Gestalt therapy will be demonstrated—i.e., contact boundaries, awareness, figure formation, the Gestalt theory of neurosis, and disturbances at the boundaries. The primary emphasis will be on working in the “here and now” with a process-oriented focus.

ICP 6501: Transpersonal and Integral Psychotherapy (3 units)

An overview of transpersonal psychology with an emphasis upon integral approaches to psychotherapy. Focus upon specific clinical issues in the field, such as spiritual emergency, meditation and psychotherapy, altered states of consciousness, and opening the heart; and psychospiritual methods for working with clients.

ICP 8606: Integral Psychology (3 units)

Sri Aurobindo’s integral yoga and integral philosophy, including Haridas Chaudhuri’s contributions, form the spiritual foundation of the Institute. As an integration of the major schools of Vedanta, Yoga, and Tantra, integral philosophy provides an integrative framework for the many divergent schools of Western psychology as well as a synthesis of Eastern psychological perspectives. Integral psychotherapy is a psychospiritual method of working that is relational, embodied, and transformational.

MCP 6502: Child Therapy (2 units)

Techniques to remedy or prevent problems in children and their families. Case material introduces strategies of intervention.

MCPI 5201: Human Development and the Family (3 units)

Theories and research in life transitions, stages of development, and rites of passage, from prenatal conditions through adult experience to dying.

MCPI 5501: Psychodynamics (3 units)

Presents a history of psychodynamic ideas and their application in clinical settings. Offers a historical perspective beginning with Freudian theory through the development of object relations theory. Covers basic theoretical and clinical concepts, clinical theories about the self and self-development, and the topics of countertransference, transference, and defense. Examines relationships between psychodynamic and other clinical theories.

MCPI 5602: The Clinical Relationship (3 units)

The relationship between therapist and client is one of the central concerns of contemporary theories of therapeutic change. This course explores the relationship between therapist and client from the perspectives of contemporary psychoanalysis, humanism, and self-psychology. Provides various perspectives on transference and countertransference, and how to work with these dynamics in the clinical setting.

MCPI 5604: Group Dynamics: T-Group (3 units)

This course has a specific focus: to improve our interpersonal sensitivity and our interpersonal skills in a way that will serve us as therapists. The goal is to learn how empathy, genuineness, and unconditional positive regard can inform our interpersonal communication. In our speech, we will do our best to learn how to tell the truth in the context of compassion.

Truth and compassion are equally important criteria. In our listening, we will try to reduce our defensiveness—i.e., we will seriously consider feedback that may not fit our self-image and also be willing to explore our contribution to a given interaction.

MCPI 5605: Family Dynamics and Therapy (3 units)

This course explores the various schools of family therapy, including the work of Whitaker, Satir, Bowen, and Minuchin, as well as strategic, narrative, internal family systems, and core focused family therapy. There will be a strong experiential component involving in-depth study of each student’s family of origin through psychodramatic or monodramatic formats or sculpture, as well as through live demonstrations of therapy sessions with students’ family members. In the lab, each student will have an opportunity to practice conducting a role-play family therapy session.

MCPI 5610: Therapeutic Communication (3 units)

This course provides an overview of key concepts and methods in therapeutic communication, integrating psychodynamic, humanistic, and other approaches. Experiential portion includes role-play and simulations. Includes the experiential portion of Therapeutic Communication.

MCPIL 5605: Family Dynamics and Therapy Lab (1 unit)

 

MCPI 6603: Multi-Cultural Counseling and the Family (3 units)

This course provides an overview of cross-cultural counseling through exploration of ethnic, social, and cultural mores and values of representative social groups and special populations.