GSEHD Graduate School of Education and Human Development  

Department of Counseling/Human and Organizational Studies  

Statement of Philosophy

All graduate programs in counseling at The George Washington University are guided by a basic philosophy.

The counseling faculty at The George Washington University affirms its commitment to counseling as an effective, viable means of assisting individuals through normal development and in coping effectively with personal and social problems.  

The Goal:

The goal of the counseling program is to prepare highly knowledgeable and skilled professional practitioners to work in a variety of settings--school, colleges and universities, community and rehabilitation agencies.  

The Practice:

The practice of counseling is based on theory and research information, an understanding of ethical practices, and a set of professional and interpersonal skills.  Concurrent and ongoing exposure to conceptual frameworks and informed practice is the basic curriculum model employed.  It is recognized that an interaction of those two components is essential.

Professional counselors need to be prepared to work in collaboration with other helping professionals, paraprofessionals, personnel, and a variety of self-help groups.  Counseling students are encouraged to make maximum use of existing community resources in assisting those whom they serve.

The Counselor:

In addition, the counselor, regardless of his/her theoretical stance, functions as a change agent.  Effective and positive change is brought about by assisting clients to examine and modify their behavior for more effective living and by assisting clients to cope with, adjust to, or otherwise negotiate the environments affecting their psychosocial well-being.

The Counseling Faculty:

The counseling faculty, while representing a range of views, is in agreement that individual beliefs, theoretical patterns and clinical/counseling skills must be fostered in graduate counseling students.  Faculty members represent an array of models and information that they make available to students to help them clarify their own philosophical, theoretical, and practical positions.

The Atmosphere and Approach:

An open atmosphere is recognized as necessary to allow students to fully explore professional issues.  Closely related to this atmosphere is a view-point emphasizing self-awareness and personal value clarification regarding such issues as the nature of humanity and the meaning of life.

An interdisciplinary approach is espoused to counselors.  All the behavioral and social sciences are considered as important to the understanding of the complexity of human behavior.  Thus the counseling faculty presents information and methodology from a range of disciplines.

The faculty are in agreement that the emphasis of the program must be respecting the uniqueness of the individual.  There must be caution to avoid molding people into the status quo.  Typical stereotypes can lead to expectations that can detract from individual growth.  Personal strengths must be brought into focus.

The faculty encourages applications from a wide variety of personal, social, ethnic, cultural, and educational backgrounds.  They recognize the need to prepare professional counselors, supervisors, administrators and such to serve a diversified and varied population of clients.