Webster Vienna | MA in Psychology with Emphasis in Counseling Psychology

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The mission of Webster's MA program in Psychology with an emphasis in Counseling Psychology is to provide its students with the knowledge and skills necessary to become competent in counseling psychology through academic and experiential learning. The program aims at educating future psychologists who have sound knowledge of the theory and practice of counseling psychology, who are competent consumers and creative producers of social science and psychological research, who are competent in counseling practice and who are ethical and sensitive to the cultures, values and worlds of various clients. Viewing research and practice as interdependent and mutually supporting, the MA in Psychology with an emphasis in Counseling Psychology is based on the scientist-practitioner training model.

The program is committed both to preparing counseling psychologists for advanced doctoral studies in psychology and to providing training and experience that prepare students for practice. The goal is to train psychologists who have a sound knowledge of the bases of counseling and psychotherapy. Adopting a multicultural perspective, the program also emphasizes the importance of multicultural competence in both research and practice.

You become a psychologist.
You gain counseling and communication skills that are needed for every profession.
You are ideally prepared for any PhD program.
You have the opportunity to obtain the Propädeutikum certificate by adding the “First Aid Course” and hours of self-reflection with a registered psychotherapist (50 hours of individual self-reflection or 25 hours of a group self-reflection).

The Propädeutikum is the first important step to become a psychotherapist in Austria. If you would like to have more information about the process of getting the Propädeutikum certificate, please contact psych.dept@webster.ac.at.

A bachelor’s degree in psychology from another accredited university with a cumulative GPA of a 3.0 from the applicant's undergraduate degree granting institution.
Completion of course work in the following areas within undergraduate education:
- Introduction to Psychology or Psychology: General
- Statistics
- Research Methods or Experimental Psychology
Recommended completion of coursework in the following areas:
- Social Psychology
- Biological Psychology, Neuropsychology or Physiological Psychology
- Personality Psychology
- Human Development or Developmental Psychology
- Abnormal Psychology or Psychopathology
While completion of coursework in these areas is not an unconditional requirement, participants with completed coursework in these areas (or equivalent) will be given preference in the admissions process. Please contact the Admissions Office should you have questions regarding courses you need to complete prior to starting the master's program.
For students coming from the Austrian higher education system, if your 1st Studienabschnitt in Psychology is completed, there is a possibility to convert the 1st Studienabschnitt to a Bachelor of Science (in Psychology) Degree.
For more information please visit the following sites. Webster University is not liable for the content of the following links.
- Transfer of 1st Studienabschnitt to a Bachelor in Psychology (page 6) (PDF opens in new tab)
- Form needed for the transfer (PDF opens in new tab)

Get more information about tuition fees or contact our Admissions Office.

Students gather around a computer workstation, one points to screen.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the program, students will be able to:

Explain the main approaches to counseling and psychotherapy and the role of the therapeutic relationship.
Describe important theories of human development and examine their significance to counseling psychology.
Discuss the major categories of psychological disorders and use this knowledge to assess and diagnose psychopathology.
Describe the mechanisms of action for a variety of psychopharmacological agents and evaluate the role of psychopharmacology in counseling psychology.
Describe the importance of professional ethics and demonstrate how ethical standards and legal requirements are relevant to the practice of counseling and psychotherapy.
Administer and interpret various widely-used psychological tests.
Construct the appropriate research design, collect data and implement the necessary statistical techniques to answer research questions relevant to counseling psychology which adds to the discipline.
Demonstrate practical counseling skills that can be applied to individuals and groups to address a broad range of issues and settings.
Integrate theory, experience, behavioral observation and analysis to systematically enhance counseling knowledge and skills.
Evaluate the appropriateness of various counseling approaches to different cultures, values and world-views of various clients and choose appropriate approaches.

Program Curriculum

View the complete list of psychology courses including short descriptions.

The 48 credit hours required for the master of arts (MA) degree must include the following courses:

PSYC 5000 Bases of Counseling Psychology (3 credit hours)
PSYC 5100 Approaches to Counseling and Therapy (3 credit hours)
PSYC 5200 Advanced Developmental Psychology (3 credit hours)
PSYC 5300 Psychopathology (3 credit hours)
PSYC 5400 Research Design (3 credit hours)
PSYC 5500 Assessment (3 credit hours)
PSYC 5600 Group Processes and Group Therapy (3 credit hours)
PSYC 5700 Psychopharmacology (3 credit hours)
PSYC 5800 Ethical and Legal Foundations (3 credit hours)
PSYC 5900 Applied Statistics and Research Methods (3 credit hours)
PSYC 6000 Special Topics in Counseling Psychology (3 credit hours)
PSYC 6100 Master’s Thesis (6 credit hours)
PSYC 6200 Practice and Supervision (3 credit hours)
PSYC 6300 Internship (6 credit hours)
Prerequisite: 24 credits must be completed in the program

Graduate psychology students are required to submit a master thesis, which is the culminating project of their studies at Webster Vienna. This page provides additional information, including departmental guidelines, forms, and formatting templates, specifically designed for graduate students in the psychology department.

The Master’s Thesis consists of an individual research project designed by the student and carried out over the duration of at least one semester, under the direction of a thesis faculty advisor. The thesis project allows students to contribute to research in the field and to gain important research experience necessary for entrance into a doctoral program.