University of the West offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in psychology. Located in Rosemead, a part of the beautiful San Gabriel Valley and about 10 minutes by car from downtown Los Angeles, the University of the West campus is a quiet oasis of learning and culture.

The psychology program at University of the West is a unique program with a fascinating curriculum developed specifically for students’ short- and long-term goals.

The undergraduate program prepares successful alums to be competitive graduate school candidates, primarily in the fields of research psychology, applied counseling psychology, clinical psychology, school psychology and social work. Graduates are also prepared to work in successfully in a wide variety of cultural environments.

The counseling program at University of the West prepares psychology professionals to be successful in a wide variety of applied counseling and consultation settings. The program also meets the pre-requirements for the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) license.

The MFT track of the graduate-level program is based on regulations provided by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences and on guidelines suggested by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. Coursework is designed to prepare the student for the California MFT license examinations. More information about the MFT license can be found at http://www.bbs.ca.gov.

Unique to University of the West is a Multicultural Generalist focus, as well as a one-of-a-kind Buddhist Psychology track. In such a globally connected world, it has become imperative to train psychology professionals who are proficient in working with a wide variety of cultural identities. For this reason, the Multicultural Generalist focus explores both the Western and Eastern contributions to psychology.

The Buddhist psychology track holds the same multicultural emphasis, but with the additional inclusion of Buddhist wisdom. Buddhist concepts and practices have been successfully used in counseling settings. For example, the concept of mindfulness and meditation has been widely integrated into contemporary Western psychology practices. Students following this track will gain additional expertise in these areas.

University of the West is currently building cohorts for the undergraduate and graduate degree programs in psychology, with the goal of matriculating both cohorts in the Fall 2009 semester. Applications will be accepted for either program as late as June 2009, however for scholarship and financial aid reasons interested students should apply as soon as possible.