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Psychology, MA

Seattle University's Master of Arts in Psychology (MAP) program offers a solid clinical training and a rich, rigorous foundation for therapeutic practice.

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About this Program

Become a Licensed Therapist with Extensive Clinical Training & Deep, Holistic Academics

Respected throughout the Puget Sound region, Seattle University’s Master of Arts in Psychology (MAP) program brings together research and reflection from across the fields of clinical psychology, philosophy and the humanities to lay a foundation for clinical practice. 

Our master's degree in psychology gives you solid clinical training and a rich, rigorous foundation for therapeutic practice. Instruction emphasizes reflective and experiential work, as well as the study of a wide range of qualitative reflection and research on psychological healing and growth. It includes the study of first-person narratives, existential and phenomenological analyses and an intensive focus on role of relational process in therapeutic work.

You’ll learn to work skillfully with common clinical diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. Your training will help you learn to be fully present with others through experiences of suffering and distress, how to facilitate a process of meaning-making and healing in the lives of others and how to work skillfully across barriers of social and cultural difference.

Empowered Leaders in True Community

The three-year master's in psychology program is a community of socially engaged individuals who stay connected beyond graduation, who support and help each other to grow personally and professionally beyond the academic years.

As a MAP program alumnus, your community will include peers, faculty, mentors, our advisory board and other colleagues around the region. Through dedicated mentorship programs, professional development and continuing education events, conferences and volunteer service networks, you'll have a place in this community throughout your career.

Psychology Master's Degree at a Glance

Learn how this degree from Department of Psychology will contribute to your career goals. Then, explore course requirements and see how impactful a Seattle University degree can be.

Embarking on a graduate degree in psychology opens doors to profound self-discovery and intellectual growth. Your pursuit involves delving into the intricacies of human behavior, cognition, and emotion. As a student, you will immerse yourself in diverse psychological theories, research methodologies, and practical applications. Engaging with esteemed faculty and peers, you’ll cultivate critical thinking and research skills, fostering a holistic approach to addressing psychological challenges. Through coursework and hands-on experiences, you evolve into a perceptive and compassionate professional, ready to make an impact in the realm of mental health and well-being.

Seattle University graduate psychology students are expected to achieve these learning outcomes:

  • Interpret human experience in a way that is informed by the existential phenomenological and hermeneutical tradition and the humanities.
  • Discern the implications of this tradition's valuing of lived experience for psychotherapeutic work and for qualitative research.
  • Approach their clinical work in a way that reflects solid clinical training, ethical reflectiveness and sensitivity to underserved populations in the community
  • Demonstrate a deepened reflectiveness and self-understanding, especially in the context of their psychotherapeutic work.
  • Pursue further graduate studies and/or meet the educational requirements for Washington State licensure as mental health professionals.

What You’ll Learn

Learn about the classes you’ll take as a student here.

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Explore Our Program

Learn about our Master of Arts in Psychology from Professor Steen Halling, one of the program's founders.

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Clinical Internship: Experiential Learning

Students fulfill a substantial clinical internship requirement (600 hours) in their third year in the program—in one of roughly 30 sites in the Puget Sound area. Students gain in-depth clinical experience by interning for roughly 20 hours per week in the role of counselor/therapist for 9 to 12 months. 

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Discover Existential Phenomenological Psychology

The MAP program distinguishes itself by its commitment to deeply engaging humanistic and interdisciplinary perspectives in its model of clinical training. The program draws, particularly, upon the philosophical traditions of existentialism and phenomenology, tapping these as sources of both questions and insights into the richness and diversity of human psychological experience.

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Prepared to Make a Difference

Our MAP program’s extensive internship placement program will prepare you for success as a psychotherapist working in community settings, private practice, hospitals or clinics. 

Whether preparing you to enter the counseling profession as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in the state of Washington or providing a foundation for further graduate studies, Seattle University’s MAP program is designed to support your professional and personal development as a therapist and to empower you to impact the lives of individuals, families and communities.

High-Demand Degree with Many Career Options

Upon completion of the Master of Arts in Psychology degree, most students go on to become Licensed Mental Health Counselors (LMHC) in Washington State, where they work as therapists in community mental health agencies, private or group-based practices and other care settings.

Some graduates continue onward to doctoral studies in clinical psychology, often with research and teaching interests focused on the use of qualitative and phenomenological methods in clinical practice.

Learn More About Our History and Advisory Board

Hear From Our Alumni

Rosie Newman

"I didn't just learn how to do therapy, I learned a way of being - a way of turning towards others - that has provided an essential foundation for my career as a play therapist. Throughout the program, I was immersed in stimulating readings and vibrant class discussions that inspired a complex way of thinking about the human experience."

Master of Arts in Psychology ‘06 LMHC

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Get in Touch

If you have any questions about the program or application, we’re here to help!

Ashley Miller

Senior Admissions Counselor

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