Residency Requirement (MPsy-PSY)
Students in the Master of Psychology in Clinical and Counselling (MPsy-PSY) program are required to attend classes in person for two full-time years of study (six consecutive trimesters) or up to five part-time years of study. Leaves of absence (see Continuous Enrollment) do not count toward residency. Residency consists of in-person participation in courses or seminars with face-to-face contact with faculty and other students and 900 hours of Psychology Practicum Placement.
Program Requirements
The Master of Psychology degree program is made up of required and elective academic courses and three capstones: the Comprehensive Exam, a Major Research Project or Thesis, and a Psychology Practicum Placement.
Students are required to meet the requirements for the degree as published when they entered the program.
Registration Process
Enrollment in courses for the Master and Doctor of Psychology degree consists of the following steps:
Review the Course Offerings
Course offerings are available on ADLearn on the ADLER Commons for each program.
Courses are offered on weekends, weekdays, or weeknights, depending on the program. There are three four-month trimesters in the school year: Fall (September – December), Winter (January – April), and Spring (May-August). Courses must be completed within the trimester in which they are offered.
Registration Agreements
Students must complete a Registration Agreement for each year they are enrolled in the program. Students cannot be registered for courses without a completed Registration Agreement.
Required Course Registration
Students are registered in courses 1-2 months before the beginning of the trimester. Students are registered in required courses based on the courses listed on their Registration Agreement.
Elective Registration
Master of Psychology (MPsy-PSY)
Students in the second year of the Master of Psychology program must complete a certain number of elective credits along with their required courses. The Registrar’s Office will post the available elective course offerings prior to the registration period on ADLearn, and will inform students of how to register for their chosen elective credits. Students must register for elective courses within the registration period. Elective courses that do not reach required enrollment numbers may be cancelled, and students will have the option to select an alternative elective course.
Doctor of Psychology
Due to low class size, Doctor of Psychology elective courses are only scheduled when they meet the required class size. Students in the first year of their PsyD program will indicate their elective course choice to the Registrar’s Office, to facilitate planning. If a student wishes to change their elective course choice, they may make a written request to the Registrar’s Office during the registration period for that course. Students may only switch elective courses if the required enrollment numbers for each course are maintained.
Alternative / Part-Time Registration
Note: part-time options are not available for the Doctor of Psychology or Master of Psychology Psychotherapy streams. Students in these programs must complete the full course load along with their cohort.
Each program has a sequence of courses, outlined in the course maps available on ADLearn – ADLER Commons. Students in the Master of Psychology program – Clinical Psychology stream have the option to take fewer courses than a full course load in any given trimester. This is known as “Alternative Registration” when the student is still taking 7 or more credits (but not all of the offered credits), or “Part-time Registration” when the student is taking 6 or fewer credits in a given trimester.
Any students planning on switching to Alternative or Part-time Registration must discuss a registration plan with the Registrar’s Office, prior to the registration period for that trimester.
Students should be aware that Alternative / Part-time Registration will extend their program timeline. Alternative / Part-time students must still complete their program within the specified time limit.
Cancellation
ADLER reserves the right to cancel courses due to: low enrollment, instructor availability, or other extenuating circumstances. Enrolled students will be notified if a course is cancelled.
Program Delivery and Fees
Current Master of Psychology tuition Fees are included in the “Tuition Fees” section of the Academic Calendar and are available on ADLER’s website.
The ADLER Master of Psychology program is an in-person professional degree program offered on-site at 890 Yonge St., Toronto, Ontario.
For all courses delivered in person, in-person attendance is mandatory and governed by the ADLER Course Attendance Policy. Please see the full policy (link) for details.
The ADLER Master of Psychology (Mpsy) program is delivered over three trimesters per year, starting January 1st, May 1st and September 1st. Students are billed for tuition by trimester based on the number of credits they have registered for.
For full-time Master of Psychology students, each trimester consists of 12 credits, and the tuition is $700 per credit. The full-time tuition cost for one trimester is approximately (trimesters are between 11-13 credits) $9,100 plus student fees, which come to $200. Tuition for part-time students is based on the number of credits a student registers for in a given trimester plus student fees (reduced for part-time students). Tuition is due on the first day of the trimester (i.e. for the Winter trimester, that would be January 1st). Once students have registered for their courses, the finance department will issue an invoice for the full amount of the tuition for that trimester. This can be paid online.
The full cost of the ADLER Master of Psychology is $52,500 plus student fees of $1200. International students pay an additional fee of $1000 per trimester. This fee covers additional support available to International students in the program.
Late Fees
A Late Fee (See Psychology Fees) will be charged as an administrative cost for any enrollment after the end of the registration period specified in the Registration Instructions for each trimester.
Prerequisites
Students are responsible for ensuring that they meet the prerequisites for each course. Instructors will poll students at the beginning of each course to ensure that each student meets the prerequisite requirements. If not, the instructor has the right to ask the student to leave.
Students are not to contact instructors regarding the availability of space in a course. The Registrar or registrar’s delegate(s) are the only persons who may register students for courses. If a course is full, students will be placed on a waiting list and contacted if and when space becomes available.
Successful Completion
Master of Psychology (both streams)
The determination of a student’s performance is not limited to course-room assignments. It includes all factors in the student’s academic and clinical progress and professional development toward becoming a reflective scholar-practitioner.
Evaluation of student performance is indicated by letter grades. Please see Grading for the grading schema for ADLER Psychology programs.
To be recommended by the Faculty for the conferral of the Master of Psychology degree, a student must have met all of the following criteria:
- Be in good Academic Standing (see Academic Performance and Conduct)
- Satisfactory completion of all required and elective courses (75 credits)
- A cumulative grade point average of “B” or 3.0 or higher and no more than two grades below “B-“ or lower.
- Minimum level of “pass” for
- MPsy Capstone 1: PSY-699 Master Comprehensive Examination
- MPsy Capstone 2: PSY-699 Practicum Completion
- MPsy Capstone 3: PSY-699 Major Research Project or Thesis
- Full payment of all outstanding tuition and fees.
Length of Program
Master of Psychology students have a maximum of five years to complete all requirements for graduation. Candidates who exceed this time limit must re-apply for a Degree Extension.
If a student believes that extenuating circumstances justify an extension beyond the five years for completion, they may apply to the Dean of Psychology for consideration of this request.
Degre Extensions are normally granted for a minimum of one trimester and a maximum of three trimesters.
Faculty Qualifications
It is the policy of ADLER that instructors hold an academic degree that is one level higher than that of the program in which they teach, with exceptions only in the case of extraordinary qualifications or specific expertise needed, such exceptions never to exceed 20% of faculty members in any degree program.
Most Core Psychology Faculty are members of the College of Psychologists of Ontario or are eligible for registration. A minimum of 80% of Core Faculty hold terminal degrees in psychology. Core Faculty may use the title “Professor of Psychology” and may add a specialization such as “Adlerian Studies” or “Psychoanalysis.”
Seventy percent (70%) of Adjunct Faculty are members of the College of Psychologists of Ontario or are eligible for registration. Up to 30% of Adjunct Faculty and all Visiting Faculty members may include scholars or practitioners from fields related to psychology who have particular expertise of value to students in their preparation for professional practice. Only Registered Psychologists or Psychological Associates with clinical experience may provide supervision or teach the Controlled Act of Diagnosis.
Most faculty members work in the greater Toronto area, and some have cross-appointments with other graduate schools and universities. Visiting faculty members are drawn from other areas of North America and the world.
All faculty members are hired on the basis of their expertise, not only as scholars and academics but also because of their applied clinical or counselling experience. Teaching skills are also required of ADLER faculty members, and instructors are encouraged to improve their classroom skills through workshops and conferences. Training is available to assist faculty members in utilizing the school’s online learning platform, ADLearn, to manage information and activities to support classroom learning. The Dean of the Faculty of Psychology is responsible for recruiting qualified faculty members, as well as providing program administration and liaising with other programs and school administration.
As part of the hiring criteria, faculty must be willing to take an active role in helping students network to find practicum placements and employment. Several ADLER faculty members are also clinical directors of practicum sites.
Faculty of Psychology Courses
Please see the following link for Master of Psychology Courses
Course Descriptions – Master of Psychology
Electives (MPSY)
The elective system for the Master of Psychology Program changed on September 1, 2023. Students who began their degree prior to August 31, 2023, may complete their elective courses under the previous system before August 31, 2024. Please see the end of this section for more information.
Students who began their program after August 31, 2023, should follow the current system of nine credits. This includes the Fall 2023 cohorts and any subsequent cohorts.
The three-credit elective courses for the Fall 2023 cohorts and later will begin in Fall 2024.
For Cohorts beginning after August 31, 2023
Fall 2023 and onward
Students in the Master of Psychology program must complete nine credits of elective courses. Elective courses are generally three credits (36 hours of instruction). Elective courses are offered in several treatment modalities. Each modality has three, three-credit courses to make up a total of nine credits in that area. Generally, there is an introductory course which must be completed first and two additional or more advanced courses. Students can take elective courses from any area but must complete any prerequisite courses before registering.
- Adlerian Integrative Psychotherapy
- This course in this elective area provides theory and application to practice of Adlerian Psychotherapy principles with individuals, adolescents, and families.
- Prerequisite courses
- PSY-554 Comparative Psychotherapy (3 credits, 30 hours)
- Adler Trauma Psychotherapy
- The courses in this elective area provide introductory and more advanced theory and practice in the Adlerian approach to treating traumatized clients, with an emphasis on providing practical information that can be applied in the clinical setting.
- Alfred Adler’s emphasis on social context links trauma psychotherapy to the Adlerian tradition. Trauma psychotherapy strives to interpret and reframe the individual’s response to overwhelming situations, transforming maladaptive coping strategies into socially useful ones and to examine the resiliency of individuals by de-pathologizing them.
- Prerequisite courses
- PSY-515 Social Dimensions (1 Credit, 12 hours, prerequisites: none)
- PSY-513 Safe and Effective Use of Self (2 Credits, 24 hours, prerequisites: none)
- Cognitive-Behavioural Psychotherapy
- This elective course covers the basic theory and introductory level applications of a wide array of cognitive and behavioural techniques used in the treatment of various emotional and anxiety disorders.
- Prerequisite courses
- PSY-510 and PSY-511
- Dialectical-Behavioural Psychotherapy
- Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is an intensive out‐patient therapy originally developed by Marsha Linehan to treat chronically suicidal clients diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. DBT has also been adapted to treat clients with addictions, eating disorders and other complex problems. A primary therapeutic task is to balance acceptance of the client with a focus on change. During this training, participants will learn the theoretical underpinnings of DBT-informed therapy, the group and individual components and DBT skills from each of the four modules.
- Prerequisite courses
- PSY-510 and PSY-511
- Psychological Assessment
- The goal of the courses in this elective area is to provide students with knowledge and skills in psychometric testing in a variety of situations such as schools, clinics, hospitals and private practice settings.
- Prerequisite courses
- PSY-531 Fundamentals of Psychometric Assessment 3 credits
- PSY-532 Assessment of Intellect and Cognition 3 credits
- PSY-533 Assessment of Personality & Psychopathology 3 credits
Electives are taken in trimesters 4, 5 and 6. Generally, all first-year courses must be completed before starting electives. Part-time students may need to take electives on a different schedule and should contact the program manager to ensure they meet all requirements.
Students should familiarize themselves with the course descriptions of the elective courses they are interested in taking in their second year of study. Students register for elective courses during the registration period for their fourth trimester.
For Students who began their degree program before August 31, 2023
Students in the W23 Cohorts and earlier are required to complete six elective credits plus PSY-650 Psychotherapy: CBT. They may use those credits towards the completion of elective certificates in the following areas. Students must take all courses in that area to qualify for the certificate.
- Adlerian Integrative Psychotherapy
- ADI-683 Lifestyle Assessment I (1 credit, 12 hours; prerequisite: PSY-554)
- ADI-684 Lifestyle Assessment II (1 credit, 12 hours; prerequisite: ADI-683)
- ADI-686 Adlerian Parent Education (1 credit, 12 hours; prerequisite: ADI-683, ADI-684)
- ADI-687 Adlerian Psychotherapy: Working with Individuals (1 credit, 12 hours; prerequisite: ADI-686, ADI-683, ADI-684)
- ADI-688 Adlerian Psychotherapy: Working with Couples (1 credit, prerequisite: ADI-686, ADI-683, ADI-684)
- ADI-689 Adlerian Psychotherapy: Working with Families (1 credit; prerequisite: ADI-686, ADI-683, ADI-684)
- Adler Trauma Psychotherapy
- ATR-681 Foundations of Trauma Psychotherapy I (1 credit, 12 hours; prerequisites: PSY-510, PSY-511, PSY-513, PSY-515 or equivalents)
- ATR-685 Foundations of Trauma Psychotherapy II (1 credit, 12 hours; prerequisite: ATR-681)
- ATR-686 Treatment Modalities in Trauma Psychotherapy (1 credit, 12 hours; prerequisites: ATR-681 and ATR-685)
- ATR-682 Intergenerational Trauma (1 credit, 12 hours; prerequisite: ATR-685)
- ATR-683 Trauma Psychotherapy in Couples and Relationships (1 credit, 12 hours; prerequisites: ATR-681 and ATR-685)
- ATR-684 Building Skills in Couple and Relationally Focused Therapy (1 credit, 12 hours; prerequisite: ATR-681, ATR-685 and ATR-683)
- Prerequisite courses
- PSY-515 Social Dimensions (1 Credit, 12 hours, prerequisites: none)
- PSY-513 Safe and Effective Use of Self (2 Credits, 24 hours, prerequisites: none)
- Psychological Assessment
- ASM-686 Academic Assessment and Intervention 2 credits
- ASM-687 Psychopathology of Childhood and Adolescence and Intervention 2 credits
- ASM-689 Assessment of and Intervention for Learning Disabilities 2 credits
- Multi-modality Intervention
- 6 credits from any area
- All prerequisite courses must be completed for any area in which a student wishes to complete electives, including introductory courses.
Students in the pre-Fall 2023 cohorts must complete any elective certificates before August 31, 2024, as the courses in the elective program will change to the Fall 2024 schedule with three-credit courses and the certificate program will no longer be available.
Elective courses from the previous system will be scheduled in the Fall 2023 – Summer 2024 period to ensure that students will be able to complete any certificates already in progress within the one-year timeframe.