New psychology graduate program launched at AUC
The American University in Cairo (AUC) announced today the launch of its new International Counseling and Community Psychology (ICCP) graduate program, which is the first of its kind in the region. The program will include an MA in family and child counseling, an MA in family and couples counseling, and an MA in community psychology, as well as graduate diplomas in general family counseling and community psychology.
According to Hani Henry, assistant professor and unit head of the psychology unit, graduates from these programs will be the first practitioners trained in Egypt and the region able to provide a multi-layered range of family and community intervention to assist people struggling with issues affecting mental health, including mental illness and psychological issues. “It will also prepare them to work within communities, schools, governments, and non-governmental organizations to develop, implement and evaluate transformative psychosocial interventions,” he said.
The unique aspect of the program is that it prepares practitioners to use a systematic approach in their intervention. This approach takes into consideration different contexts of the individual such as his or her familial cultural social contexts. “We look into the big picture, not only within the individual, but within society, culture, religion and other sectors that have an effect on the individual,” Henry explained.
“We are in a region where mental health problems affect the individual’s productivity,” he noted, adding that there are many psycho-social stressors such as - poverty, war and poor infrastructure – affecting different members of society and their relationships with one another.
Henry pointed out that the Ministry of Family and Population offered its support for the new program because it meets the needs of Egyptian society. “We will work with the ministry to identify internship sites for AUC students to conduct intervention with families and communities, and indicate prevention programs, in addition to the possibility of enrolling ministry employees in ICCP through scholarships,” he said.
“These programs will place AUC and its graduates at the forefront of advancing global trends towards multi-cultural and systemic psychological practice that promotes culturally relevant family, child, and community interventions in Egypt and the region,” said Elizabeth Coker, associate professor at AUC.
The programs will follow international guidelines for similar degrees at accredited institutions in the United States; seven faculty members in the graduate program have acquired their PhDs from the U. S. in various fields of psychology, including clinical, community and social psychology as well as Family therapy.
ICCP is under the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, and Egyptology which offers Bachelor of Arts major and minor programs and a Master of Arts program in Sociology-Anthropology.
The American University in Cairo (AUC) was founded 90 years ago and is major contributor to the social, political and cultural life of the Arab Region. It is a vital bridge between East and West, linking Egypt and the region to the world through scholarly research, partnerships with academic and research institutions, and study abroad programs. An independent, nonprofit, apolitical, non-sectarian and equal opportunity institution, AUC is fully accredited in Egypt and the United States.
