Ph.D. in Counselling and Spirituality

Study of qualitative and hermeneutical methods as these are used in the social sciences and in theological study of spirituality. Comparative study of one or more Christian spiritual traditions and one or more spiritual traditions within other religions and secular culture to increase understanding and practice of spirituality. The course is designed to highlight the role of spirituality in the emotional well-being and adjustment of individuals. This course will treat the question of personal and spiritual growth. The importance of spiritual practices and the overall relationship of spirituality to the counselling process will also be considered.

This course explores meaning-of-life issues often presented by clients in a variety of contexts, including, but not limited to, the quest for increased well-being, existential crises, life transitions, loss and death, end-of-life, and trauma. Qualitative methods of data collection and analysis are critically reviewed to gain insight into the meaning participants give to their lived experience, the meaning they place on events, processes, perceptions and into the ways in which they connect these meanings to the social world around them. A variety of religious, spiritual and secular humanist sources of and responses to existential issues are treated.

The focus of this course is the critical analysis and discussion of the challenges that counsellors face in choosing and applying qualitative and quantitative methods to spirituality. In-depth study of design pitfalls that arise from the complexity and unpredictability of working with human subjects given the multi-cultural complexity of pluralistic societies. Potential topics include sampling issues, measurement issues, and special analytic techniques.

Guest lecturers will select readings and lead seminars related to relevant research topics such as proposal writing, conceptual frameworks, ethics, methods and procedures, and statistical analysis. Students must write an annotated bibliography and prepare a plan for their comprehensive exam. In addition, they must write a paper and do an oral presentation designed to facilitate their work around the thesis proposal. Evaluation by the seminar coordinator.

The internal clinical practicum takes place in the Saint Paul University Counselling and Psychotherapy Centre. The goal of the practicum is to put into practice the theoretical knowledge of Counselling and spirituality. The professor coordinating the doctoral program will specify the goals, objectives and syllabus of practicum along with the clinical supervisors. Minimum number of supervised direct clinical contact hours: 200. Graded P/F.

Clinical practice in an external location that must be approved by the program director. Graded P/F.

The comprehensive examination, which has a written and an oral component, allows students to demonstrate the depth and breadth of knowledge gained from course work, and their ability to integrate concepts, principles and theories, and apply these to Counselling and spirituality. In addition, the comprehensive exam provides students with the opportunity to defend their written work orally. The evaluation of the written and oral exam is on a Satisfactory/Not Satisfactory basis.