Our Programs
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Master of Arts, Counseling Psychology (MA-CP) in
Community Mental Health
CIIS’s Community Mental Health(CMH) program integrates the fundamentals of psychotherapy from a liberation psychology lens with cultural humility and an understanding of the impact of trauma and social systems on the individual. Developed in partnership with public and nonprofit mental health agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area, this program is one of five offered through the CIIS Counseling Psychology department.
CMH prepares students to become licensed psychotherapists with the ability to gain dual licensure (LMFT and/or LPCC). Graduates are prepared to practice counseling in hospitals, clinics, schools, government agencies, community nonprofits, and more. Our faculty have a variety of research interests, including social justice advocacy for Native American Indigenous Communities, intergenerational trauma and resilience, working with immigrant family systems and individuals, addressing systems of power and oppression, human sexuality, feminist theories, and post modernism, social sustainability in the context of intentional community, psychoanalysis, the discourse of capitalism and the California Dream.
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Master of Arts, Counseling Psychology (MA-CP) in
Drama Therapy
The Master’s in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Drama Therapy is a Board of Behavioral Sciences-approved program taught in person. As one of the first two approved Drama Therapy graduate programs in the US, we have long been investigating the dynamic and multifaceted integration of theatre and therapy. The program integrates experiential, theoretical, and clinical courses in a curriculum designed to train students to become skillful, ethical, and culturally attuned drama therapists.
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Master of Arts, Counseling Psychology (MA-CP) in
Expressive Arts Therapy
The Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology with a Concentration in Expressive Arts Therapy is a BBS-approved, 3-year, low-residency degree program for California residents. The pedagogy provides an engaging online, hybrid curriculum that weaves multimodal expressive arts, such as visual and digital arts, music, dance and movement, poetry, spoken word, and drama into all courses.
The Expressive Arts Therapy program trains future leaders in the expressive arts therapy field. Our graduates are prepared for professional careers in private practice, mental health facilities, healthcare organizations, human services agencies, and schools. Our faculty have a variety of research interests, including creativity and spirituality among African Americans, multicultural and social justice counseling, education and supervision, neuro-diverse populations, homeless women, adolescents in residential rehabilitation, and the integration of the arts into spiritual practice.
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Master of Arts, Counseling Psychology (MA-CP) in
Integral Counseling Psychology
The Integral Counseling Psychology program’s vision of psychotherapy combines major spiritual traditions of the East and West and contemporary therapeutic practices. The holistic orientation of this unique counseling program invites students to articulate their personal vision of psychology within modern theoretical approaches.
Our graduates are trained to become licensed psychotherapists who go on to work in private practice, schools, and nonprofit organizations. Our faculty have a variety of research interests, among them ecopsychology, trauma theory, dreams and imagination, mystical practices, work with incarcerated people, LGBTQIA+ and activist communities, psychedelic-assisted therapy, and transpersonal, Jungian, and Gestalt psychologies.
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Master of Arts, Counseling Psychology (MA-CP) in
Integral Counseling Psychology-Hybrid
Integral Counseling Psychology’s hybrid program adapts our department’s holistic, spiritually-oriented, multicultural, and liberatory framework for psychotherapy to meet advances in telehealth and education with immersive and experiential online courses. This program is geared for students who live outside the San Francisco Bay Area or California and need the flexibility of primarily online coursework, with one on-campus intensive or retreat per semester.
Our graduates are trained to become licensed psychotherapists who go on to work in private practice, schools, and nonprofit organizations. Our faculty have a variety of research interests, among them ecopsychology, trauma theory, dreams and imagination, mystical practices, work with incarcerated people, LGBTQIA+ and activist communities, psychedelic-assisted therapy, and transpersonal, Jungian, and Gestalt psychologies.
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Master of Arts, Counseling Psychology (MA-CP) in
Somatic Psychology
Students in the Somatic Psychology program develop an integral approach to counseling psychology that includes evidence-based modalities and a broad understanding of individual and family systems. A range of disciplines are explored, including neuroscience, traumatology, Jungian psychology, and socio-cultural approaches. Clinical skills are emphasized, as well as key academic competencies in research and presentation.
Our graduates are trained as conscientious and culturally-aware experts in approaches to psychotherapeutic embodied cognition. Our faculty have a wide range of research interests, including early childhood mental health, somatic and movement therapy in foster and adoptive care systems, refugees and immigrants, underserved communities, depth psychology, queer theory, neurodiversity, and creative transformation.
There Is Still Time to Apply!
CIIS is ready to help you meet your academic goals and create your dream path. We still have openings in our programs for Fall 2025—limited spots remain. Applications are reviewed every 15th of the month.