Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study

Brochure (click to view PDF)

The Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (CAGS) with concentrations in Psychology and Counseling is designed to enhance and disseminate the science of psychology and the art of the helping professions. The program emphasizes the advanced and applied professional development of post- graduate learners, with direct orientation to the fields of study that support professional development for learners.

The program is innovative in offering rigorous academic processes for both licensure-bound learners enabling them to meet increasingly detailed specifications for credentialing and learners advancing their career goals in non-licensure tracks.  In all cases, program design is directed towards mastery in the field, while maintaining an orientation towards the individual goals and unique needs of learners.  The brief residency model permits wide outreach to adult learners; those who live geographically closer to the Brattleboro Center or who desire more frequent face-to-face contact, may opt for the Weekend Option, while geographically far-flung learners may select the National Option twice annually.  There are opportunities for mentored study, as well as interaction with faculty and the peer learning community in all options.

Objectives
The key goals of the CAGS with concentrations in Psychology and Counseling are to support adult, professional learners in achieving personal and professional goals in their various fields, to engage post-graduate learners in increased awareness of and sensitivity and responsiveness to social issues, particularly as they apply to the chosen career field and to establish a theory-praxis orientation to further advance an ethical and appropriate stance in the field of choice.

In an effort to better meet the needs of those graduate learners requiring education beyond the master’s degree to meet their professional goals. Professionals in any field must consistently upgrade their knowledge to maintain currency. This is true, in unique and important ways, in the fields of counseling and psychology and the program is designed to help professionals, both recent graduates and experienced professionals, maintain their professional edge by offering training to enhance, expand and increase knowledge and praxis in the field.

These certificate programs include licensure track programs of study in both Professional Counseling and Counselor Education and Supervision, as well as non-licensure tracks in Human Development and Wellness and Psychology Education. Within each program are core advanced courses essential to a sound pedagogy in the particular field.  These courses are designed to support learners in staying current with new developments in their chosen field of practice. Integrating the work of academics with the practice of counseling and psychology is at the center of the program’s philosophy and specific orientation in creating the program.