The aim of the programme is to provide professional counsellor education for competent and thoughtful practice as counsellors in a variety of human services, school, and health care settings or in other professional/occupational fields wherein counselling training is an asset. Upon completion of the programme, graduates will be able to:

• apply knowledge and skills in counselling and become increasingly autonomous and independent in practice;
• reflect on their counselling practice and discover, construct, articulate and evaluate personal philosophy and implicit theories of counselling;
• pursue evidence-based practice through researching on practice to discover new practice-based knowledge and connect such knowledge to practice; and
• practice in a creative manner to respond to cultural variations and diversity.

To be eligible for admission, you must:

• hold a degree of one of the universities in Hong Kong or of any overseas institution recognized for this purpose by the University; or
• have obtained an equivalent qualification, or provide evidence of academic and professional attainments acceptable for this purpose by the University; and
• have preferably two years' working experience in social service, education, health, human services, human resources or related areas.

Applicants whose entrance qualification is obtained from an institution where the medium of instruction is not English should also fulfill the following minimum English proficiency requirement:

• a score of 79 (Internet-based test) in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)^@#; or
• an overall band score of 6.5 in International English Language Testing System (IELTS)^@; or
• a score 450 in the new College English Test (CET-6) of Chinese mainland; or
• other equivalent qualifications.

^@ TOEFL and IELTS scores are considered valid for two years. Applicants are required to provide their English test results obtained within the two years preceding the commencement of the University's application period. 

^# Applicants are required to arrange with the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to send their TOEFL results directly to the University. The TOEFL institution code for CityUHK is 3401.

The programme is designed to provide postgraduate counsellor education covering:

• core concepts, major theories, professional and ethical issues, and contemporary development in the field of counselling;
• basic counselling skills and techniques, and major approaches to counselling;
• personal qualities and professional requirements of a counsellor;
• research skills, and the integration of scientific research and counselling practice; and
• reflexivity and cultural sensitivity in counselling.

Students may choose to exit the programme at the following levels of award:

• Postgraduate Certificate in Counselling (PGCC)
• Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling (PGDC)
• Master of Social Sciences in Counselling (MSSC)

The PGCC award: Complete 12 credit units with credit transfer (if approved) up to a maximum of 3 credit units.

The PGDC award: Complete 24 credit units with credit transfer (if approved) up to a maximum of 6 credit units.

The MSSC award: Complete 30 credit units with credit transfer (if approved) up to a maximum of 9 credit units.

Programme curriculum is made up of (a) core courses; and (b) elective courses forming a “general electives” group, a “research methods” group and an elective group on specialized areas.

To graduate with the MSSC award, students must complete either the Counselling Practicum or the Project (both are two-semester courses) before the completion of the study.

Programme Structure & Courses (cohort 2018 and thereafter)

Programme Core Courses (24 credits)

Programme Electives^~ (6 credits)

^~ All electives are subject to review 

Additional Notes

Remarks:

1. Full-time students have to take SS6805B Project in Semester B and Summer Term at their first year of study, while part-time students may opt for SS6805 Project or SS6806 Counselling Practicum which is a two-semester mode and carries 3 credits each for Semester A & B of their second year of study.
2. Part-time students opting for SS6805 Project should have taken at least 12 credits prior to taking the course and currently enrolling SS5302 as a co-requisite.
3. Full-time students opting for SS6805B Project should have taken 12 credits prior to taking the course and completed SS5302 as pre-requisite.
4. Students should have taken at least 18 credits including SS5800, SS5802 and SS5841, prior to undertaking SS6806 Counselling Practicum.
5. Full time students cannot take SS6806 Counselling Practicum but SS6805B Project during their whole study period. They are eligible to apply for the full member at HKPCA after graduation, but could not pursue the status of Certified Counsellor at HKPCA.
6. Our practicum liaison team will proactively search the practicum sites for part-time students who take the SS6806 Counselling Practicum.

Professional Qualification^* 

The Hong Kong Professional Counselling Association (HKPCA) issued a confirmation letter of programme accreditation on 1st December 2011 certifying that graduates admitted to the MSSC programme in 2004 or after meet the following requirement to acquire the full membership status:

• The programme is at Master level.
• The total number of contact hours in the academic programme aggregates to 320 hours.
• For graduates who have completed either SS6805/SS6805B Project or SS6806 Counselling Practicum.
• For graduates taking the SS6806 Counselling Practicum, a total of 120 hours of client contact hours is accumulated in the programme. They could pursue the professional certification, ‘HKPCA Certified Counsellor’ after fulfilling the required post-master supervised practice.
• The graduates who have taken Counselling Practicum have been recognized by different professional bodies across the U.K., Australia, Canada and so on, due to a high number of Counselling Practicum and Supervision hours in our MSSC programme, such as the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) in the U.K., the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) in Australia, and BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC) in Canada. 
• Also, the 26 individual supervision hours and 36 group supervision hours can be counted to pursue the "HKPCA Certified Counsellor" as well. Therefore, 4 individual supervision hours and 34 group supervision hours only are needed to fulfill after completion of the MSSC programme. 
• The department will assign practicum site for students depend on the students' preferences. Both individual and group supervisors are arranged by the department as well. Hence, it is no need for students to approach the practicum sites and supervisor by themselves. 

^* Subject to update if applicable 

Programme Descriptions
Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences
College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences