M.A. Psychology

Overview of Program

The M.A. Psychology degree program in the Humanistic Psychology (HP) department offers mature students a foundation of scholarship based in the tradition of existential, humanistic, and transpersonal psychology. The M.A. degree program offers graduate education that helps students expand their outlook beyond the confines of a discrete discipline. 
 
Students may customize their electives in the M.A. program, selecting from a wide range of options to expand their horizons and meet a broad range of future professional opportunities. If students declare one of the four Specializations, their academic requirements will be specific to the focus area(s). Please see the Requirements under each Specialization for details.  Requirement courses are integral in the successful understanding and conceptualization of the program; no more than one substitution can be made in program plans. 

Program Learning Outcomes

1. Critical Thinking: Graduates will demonstrate advanced critical thinking skills, utilizing a humanistic lens to analyze complex psychological phenomena and apply theoretical frameworks to real-world contexts. 
2. Cultural Competence: Graduates will possess cultural competence, displaying an understanding and appreciation of diverse cultures, experiences, and worldviews, and integrating this awareness into their professional practice. 
3. Ethical Awareness: Graduates will exhibit a strong ethical awareness, adhering to ethical guidelines in their research, teaching, and practice, and demonstrating a commitment to the well-being and autonomy of individuals and communities. 
4. Research Proficiency: Graduates will develop proficiency in conducting rigorous research informed by humanistic, existential, transpersonal, and phenomenological perspectives, employing qualitative and quantitative methodologies to advance the field of humanistic psychology. 
5. Social Justice Advocacy: Graduates will engage in social justice advocacy, actively promoting equity, inclusivity, and social change by addressing systemic disparities, advocating for marginalized populations, and contributing to the creation of a just and sustainable society. 
6. Applied Skills: Graduates will possess practical skills and interventions grounded in humanistic psychology, enabling them to facilitate personal growth, foster resilience, and promote well-being in various settings, including research, educational, community, and organizational contexts. 

Specializations

M.A. Psychology Degree with Specialization
 
Any student enrolled in Psychology may opt to declare one of the Specializations offered through the HP department.  Specializations at the Master's level include: ​

• Consciousness, Spirituality, and Integrative Health (CSIH) 
• Creativity, Innovation, & Leadership (CIL)
• Existential and Humanistic Psychology (EHP) 

College, Degree Program, or Specialization Change

Students who wish to change their degree program will be reevaluated by the Department Chair as to the appropriateness of admission to that new program of study. If admitted, those students will be held accountable to the degree program requirements, as specified for the academic year in which such a change of enrollment is granted. For those wanting to change their Specialization, the new Specialization Coordinator/Director will review the student’s objectives for acceptance, and the Department Chair approves the change. In all cases, where possible, current Saybrook completed courses will be considered for application toward the new degree program and/or Specialization. Students who change degree programs will have their transfer credit evaluated again by the Department Chair of the new program. Transfer credit awarded is not guaranteed to apply to the new program. 
 
M.A. in Psychology to Ph.D. in Psychology Pathway 

While in the M.A. in Psychology degree program at Saybrook University, students may decide to apply to continue to the Psychology doctoral program. Once such students have completed the modified admissions process to the doctoral program, they may be accepted on the condition of completion of the M.A. degree requirements (i.e., successful completion of the project and all other degree requirements).  That is, admission into the Ph.D. program does not commence until the M.A. is complete. Such students will be required to adhere to the University catalog that is in place when they matriculate into the Ph.D. program (i.e., after completion of the project), not the catalog in place at the time of their conditional acceptance into the Ph.D. program. In terms of transfer credits for students once they have attained the M.A. in Psychology at Saybrook, a maximum of 30 credit hours may be applied toward the Ph.D. in Psychology.

Career Opportunities

​Graduates of the M.A. Psychology program with specializations in Creativity, Innovation, & Leadership (CIL), Consciousness, Spirituality, and Integrative Health (CSIH), and Existential and Humanistic Psychology (EHP) are well-equipped for a wide range of fulfilling career opportunities. With the CIL specialization, students can pursue careers in leadership and organizational development, working as consultants, trainers, and/or managers in various industries, fostering innovation and creativity within teams and organizations. The CSIH specialization opens doors to careers in holistic health education, guidance, consulting, and mentoring; consciousness and spirituality teaching and research; psionics; and integrative health/wellness centers, and industry, promoting well-being and individuals’ spiritual and conscious growth healthspan and vibrant longevity. Graduates with the EHP specialization can explore careers such as humanistic fields as psychology educators, offering a compassionate and existential approach to professional and personal development. Additionally, these specializations provide a strong foundation for further doctoral studies, enabling students to pursue advanced research or academic positions in their chosen areas of specialization.
 
The M.A. Psychology program helps students develop professional skills from our experiential learning curriculum, empowering them to promote life-enhancing transformative change in individuals and community development programs. Graduates of this program will be positioned to advance their existing careers, begin a new career path, and/or to continue their education in a Ph.D. Psychology program. With a strong foundation in psychology, graduates may find work as researchers, teachers, consultants, mediators, and explore many other career paths. 
 
Our M.A. Psychology program is intended for professionals who wish to pursue non-clinical careers or expand on their existing licenses. This program is not designed to prepare graduates to qualify for clinical licensure or certification.​ 

Program Requirements

Admissions Requirements

​​Degree Requirements: Bachelor’s degree
 
At a minimum, you must have received, or anticipate receiving prior to the start of the semester you are applying into, a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university before applying for a master’s degree at Saybrook. 
 
The minimum expected grade point average (GPA) requirement is 3.0 from the last degree-granting institution, though exceptions may be made. 
  
Transfer Credit

Transfer credits based on equivalent graduate courses taken at another regionally accredited institution in the same or similar discipline where the student received a grade of B or better may be transferred and will reduce the number of course credits required to be completed at Saybrook. Allowable transfer credits must be suitable for transfer to the intended degree as determined by the registrar and the department chair. Transfer course credits do not affect the minimum number of credits required for the degree. 
 
Transfer credit to be applied toward required/general electives (also known as “other electives”)  may include up to 6 transfer credits completed during a graduate degree program from an accredited university, non-degree Saybrook certificate credits, Saybrook CE credits, or other non-degree credits taken at Saybrook University, within the last seven years.​ 

University Learning Experience

Virtual Learning Experience (VLE) - Required, Fall semesters; Community Learning Experience (CLE) - Optional

All new students begin their studies with a Welcome Week. Welcome Week activities, including a degree program orientation, are held online during the week ahead of the start of the fall and spring semesters. Participation is strongly encouraged.

All students are required to attend the Virtual Learning Experience (VLE) during week one in the fall and spring semesters of each academic year. Although students may complete most courses through distance learning, all our degree programs have VLE requirements. VLEs are academic requirements, and their completion is important for your successful academic progress: they allow you to meet with faculty and co-learners in a synchronous, stimulating, and supportive virtual environment. Our VLEs are an important part of your learning experience as they nurture intellectual and relational creativity, enrich the educational environment, and foster faculty and peer interactions. During the VLE, there are courses being launched, workshops, independent learning activities, peer learning opportunities, community events, and other hands-on experiences intended to nurture professional development, skill building, relationships, and transformative change. You can find the specific hour and track requirements on the Academic Commons University Learning Experience Program Requirements Page linked here. https://tcsedsystem.libguides.com/VLE_Requirements

Students are required to attend the VLE throughout their program and are encouraged to attend the Community Learning Experience (in person) in lieu of the VLE in the fall of odd calendar years.

Certain courses may have additional experiential, participation, or attendance requirements beyond those outlined for the program. Students should consult individual course descriptions for details.

Credits/Hours

The program requires a total of 33 earned credits. These credits encompass a rigorous curriculum that includes core courses, specialized coursework in the chosen area of focus, research methodology and analysis, and the completion of a Master’s project. Through a combination of theoretical exploration, experiential learning, and research opportunities, students gain the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary for success in their future careers or further doctoral studies. The credit units and hours invested in the M.A. degree ensure that students receive a comprehensive and well-rounded education, empowering them to make significant contributions to the field of psychology.​

Length of Program

The degree completion time for a full-time student in the M.A. Psychology program following the default course sequence will range from  2 - 3 years; Earned Credits: 33 credits.

Required Courses

M.A. Psychology; No Declared Specialization 
 
The Psychology degree program offers adult learners a foundation of scholarship based in the tradition of existential, humanistic, and transpersonal psychology. Students have the option of pursuing the M.A. Psychology and not declare a Specialization.

Consciousness, Spirituality, and Integrative Health (CSIH) Specialization - 12 credits

Overview

Although not intended as preparation for licensure, studies in CSIH Specialization can be applied to the work of psychologists and other licensed mental health professionals. Studies can also be applied to transpersonal teaching and research, scholar-practitioner writing, health care, healthspan innovation and longevity studies, peace work, pastoral care, spiritual mentoring and guidance, conflict resolution and diplomacy, education, consulting, coaching, and/or organizational work.

Total Degree Requirements with Specialization Option - 33 credits

Creativity, Innovation, and Leadership (CIL) Specialization - 12 credits

Overview

The Creativity, Innovation, and Leadership (CIL) Specialization is designed for students who want to engage creative aspects of their existing worlds through in-depth research and make a meaningful contribution to the fields of creativity and psychology. This Humanistic degree program encourages students to examine vital contemporary questions about creativity and a strong desire to investigate environments supporting different kinds of applications. Students in the CIL Specialization focus their studies on areas they are passionate about and phenomena they are intrigued by to take their careers to the next level or go in a whole new direction. Our specialization seeks to support the joy and optimism that comes with “creativity” in all forms and to explore what is possible.

A complex and fast-changing world demands new, creative approaches to everything from corporate strategies to child development and even household chores (everyday creativity). From schools and universities to big business, the importance of understanding and developing creative concepts that lead directly to innovative solutions has been widely researched and recognized as a necessary proficiency. Our students deeply explore their contributions as thought leaders as the third marker of this specialization. It is critical to note that this is not a traditional executive business leadership program, but rather an engaged, applied opportunity to explore their career trajectories through hands-on projects and research, including the areas of Arts-Based Inquiry and Expressive Art interventions.

Saybrook University offers both M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in psychology with specializations in creativity, innovation, and leadership. Saybrook’s rich tradition of humanistic studies includes its association with former faculty member Rollo May, who wrote the classic “The Courage to Create.” May, along with humanistic psychology pioneers such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, proposed that expression of creativity is key toward self-actualization.

Saybrook’s unique approach to creativity goes well beyond the arts to encompass “everyday creativity,” or the originality of everyday life, which encourages personal and professional growth as well as potential psychological and health benefits. The program is designed to apply to a broad range of creative professional pursuits.

While the engagement of creativity and innovation is increasingly recognized as a vital part of both a healthy psyche and a thriving economy, there are still many unanswered questions that need serious exploration through research and scholarship. General learning goals include understanding the history, research, and practical application of CIL studies. Students enrolled in this Specialization will develop individualized specific learning goals mentored by a faculty member based on their interests, aspirations, and personal passion.

At the conclusion of their studies, students in this specialization will be able to:

1. Demonstrate marketable skills in general creativity and a specific aspect of creativity and innovation subject matter expertise.
2. Work to engage others in efforts to promote life-enhancing improvements.
3. Bring innovation and creativity to their research, work, and personal choices, moving beyond traditional disciplinary and paradigmatic boundaries.
4. Combine critical, empathetic, and creative thinking as thought leaders with self-reflection to develop self-knowledge, self-realization, and expansion of consciousness.
5. Place their work within a humanistic perspective across multiple contexts and acknowledge their biases and unchallenged assumptions.
6. Display a global awareness of strengths and challenges based on humanistic values, including authenticity and compassion.

This specialization is not designed to prepare graduates for licensure, but students interested in licensure may combine this specialization with a degree from the Department of Clinical Psychology.

Our M.A. Psychology program is intended for professionals who wish to pursue non-clinical careers or expand on their existing licenses.

This program is not designed to prepare graduates to qualify for clinical licensure or certification.

Existential and Humanistic Psychology Specialization (EHP) - 12 credits

Overview

Saybrook’s Existential-Humanistic Psychology program looks at the depth of what it means to be fully human, from our internal stirrings through our relationships with others and our engagement with the world. Existential-Humanistic Psychology is a meeting point between psychology and philosophy, creativity, spirituality, ethics, and other disciplines. The program explores the freedom within each one of us balanced with our responsibilities to others. From a diverse perspective, students explore how humanity discovers meaning in our lives, moments of awe, and the creation of wisdom. Students are guided through these questions in scholarship, research, and in real world applications by committed faculty who are recognized and prominent scholars in these traditions.

The Specialization encompasses both the important history and contributions of existential and humanistic psychology as well as contemporary directions in these fields. We maintain Saybrook’s long history and legacy as the leaders in existential and humanistic thought and application. The eminent scholars on the faculty are inspired to support the next generation of leaders.

Though specialization does not prepare you for licensing as a psychologist, many master level licensed professionals attend this specialization to deepen their understanding of Existential & Humanistic practices while are interested in acquiring a Ph.D. in Psychology that support other career goals of teaching, lecturing, writing and more. Other students come from divinity backgrounds, health care, and education setting including teachers and administrators.

From a practice/application standpoint, the EHP approach engages others in the lifelong journey toward self-knowledge and effective action. The course of instruction is designed to direct students’ attention toward the growth-oriented dimension of personality and spiritual exploration. Additionally, we explore transformative possibilities inherent within all people and systems.

Augmenting the usual offerings, which focus on behavior and cognition in psychology, the EHP Specialization presents dynamic theories that define personality as a total gestalt, in the context of a spectrum of states of consciousness beyond traditionally defined models of psychopatholgy and normative functioning. These states can reach into the realm of self-actualization and the transcendent. An emphasis on fostering existential and humanistic principles in practice and research is encouraged and viewed as an essential aspect of serving the highest and best interests of humanity.

Total Degree Requirements with Specialization Option - 33 credits