Learning at LIOS
As you progress in your chosen graduate path (CCO or LOD), you will primarily concentrate on mastering the specific skills that will prepare you for an outstanding career in your chosen field. LIOS’ unique learning experience provides you with opportunities to:
learn collaboration and community-building, as a member of a closely knit, diverse learning group that remains intact for two years;
participate in four- or five-day periods of intensely focused learning, away from everyday distractions and concerns, scheduled so that you can continue to work fulltime or commute from out of town;
question and test models and theories, through one-on-one group work, focused simulations, interactive training designs and presentations, along with feedback from faculty and peers;
progress from one curriculum segment to the next by demonstrating your competency through small group work, experiential situations and skill practice, extensive interaction with faculty, written assess-ments, papers and oral examinations.
Systems Counseling
The counseling program at LIOS prepares you for an outstanding career as a licensed mental health counselor or a licensed marriage and family therapist. Students at LIOS in their internship settings have consistently received high ratings especially for their self-awareness and the capacity to artfully engage in the therapeutic relationship with clients. This focus of developing the self of the therapist, creatively engaging in relationships with clients, and blending systemic counseling theories with solid skills lies at the heart of the counseling program.
The LIOS counseling degree integrates Core Curriculum – developing membership and leadership skills, understanding of self – and the counseling curriculum – a dynamic, experiential-based training program blending theory, hands-on practice and continual feedback. Students who want to dive into the heart of therapy – the relationship between therapist and client in counseling and the relational life of clients outside of counseling – will especially benefit from this training.
Multiple models of counseling theory, with a systemic focus, are taught with an emphasis on developing the specific competencies of the therapist including the art of joining and supporting, challenging and growing, and crafting conversations of possibility and imagination. Segments on diagnosis, medications, mind-body issues, and professional ethics are included.
In addition to the academic program, students will participate in internships during their second year. The 9- to 18-month supervised clinical internship, set up in a variety of community settings, requires a total of 600 hours of internship time. Students are also in ongoing consultation groups with faculty consultants concurrent with thc internship. All the counseling faculty have years of clinical experience and training and have active clinical practices within the Seattle area. Faculty publications include books, chapters in books, and journal articles on counseling theory, marriage and family therapy, the training of therapists, family of origin therapy, and systems consultation.
The SC degree includes two curriculum components: Core and Professional. Focusing on essential leadership training required for all LIOS graduate students, Core studies are emphasized during the first year, though they continue throughout the program. Faculty-to-student ratio is 1:15.
The Professional curriculum consists of track-specific studies, beginning in the first year, with emphasis increasing during the second year of the program. Faculty-to-student ratio is 1:8. Learn more about SC courses (Core and Professional) in the Student Handbook.
The SC graduate program is academically and personally rigorous. Your education at LIOS is designed to build confidence and resiliency by encouraging you to practice your learning inside and outside of class, in the crucible of lived experience.