psycBCapp

Hi friends. I'm just finishing up my MA in counselling psychology -- all I have left to do is defend my thesis -- and I'm curious about peoples' experiences within the different PhD programs available in Canada for Counselling Psyc. Personally I'm thinking I'll take a few years off, try to publish and work for a bit and then pursue a PhD depending on where my husband and I are at in our lives. I'm currently feeling that McGill or UBC would be a good fit for me regarding my research interests (I'm particularly interested in self-of-the-therapist, therapist training, development and supervision) but I don't want to limit this thread to just my interests. I wanted to make a space where we could hear from students' perspectives what the different programs really specialize in and what types of candidates they really look for. That being said if anyone wanted to discuss further my interests and provide insight that might be helpful to me personally (like am I screwing myself over by taking a break and trying to have a life etc.) I'd be happy to discuss that as well.

Hi all! This is my first time posting so I'm hoping this is the right place to be. I just completed my undergrad with a BA in Psychology with Honours (I'm 26 -- started a little later). My GPA for my last 60 credits is 4.09/4.33, I have been a research assistant with the same professor off an on for the past year (different projects -- just a couple months into our second one that we are presenting at a conference later in May). I'm presenting my own research poster for my honours project at the same conference, but that is essentially the extent of my research experience other than a directed study I did in which I wrote a literature review on identity development and narrative approaches to therapy that I'm hoping to publish. I have been working as a BI since October 2017 and am also as of April gaining experience as a counselling extern at a youth drop-in centre, providing supervised counselling to youth aged 12-26. I have also been volunteering in the field as well as working as a peer tutor since 2016. My main concern is that I'm kind of restricted to schools on the west coast of BC, as my husband runs a company out of the Fraser Valley which is essentially our entire source of income and allows me to focus on school and volunteering. I'm planning on applying to counselling psychology masters programs this fall, hoping to be accepted for Fall 2019. SFU is my first choice but this is partially based on geographical location. I will have to take an additional course in order to be eligible for UBC's counselling psychology program, and I'm waiting to hear back from UVic if certain courses I have taken during my undergrad fulfill some course requirements for acceptance. I'm starting to feel a little hopeless because I'm unsure if I should hope for the best in only applying to SFU, UBC and UVic or if I should be okay with applying to schools like Trinity or Adler, which I've heard mixed things about. Is there anyone here knowledgable on the actual outcomes for those who go through programs like Trinity and Adler versus SFU/UBC? Should I be okay with waiting another year instead and re-applying, despite the fact that I'll be 27 this July and am really just wanting to get going with my masters? Thanks in advance!

Hi there, I know this post is from a while ago, but I'm planning on applying for Fall 2019 to western universities, and am wondering how your application and acceptance process went? Specifically regarding what you found SFU, UBC and UVic primarily looked for in candidates. Thank you!