Faculty of Social Sciences

Master of Social Sciences in Youth Counselling

The Master of Social Sciences in Youth Counselling is a taught postgraduate programme designed for professionals who would like to work with young people in various settings such as education, social service, religions or various other settings. The length of the programme is one year (full-time) or two years (part-time) including summer term. The programme aims to develop students’ knowledge in understanding, analysing and researching the changing needs of young people and the social cultural contexts within which young people develop; and to equip students with selected youth counselling perspectives, methods and practice skills, with narrative therapy in particular. Upon completion of the programme, students are expected to be able to:

1.	Become self-directed learners, recognizing personal needs, selecting preferred alternatives for themselves;
2.	Become reflexive professionals in youth development, who are able to assess changing social needs, challenge the dominant discourse that is oppressing and disempowering people, particularly the powerless youth and their families;
3.	Have a solid conceptual framework in understanding youth diversity and youth needs;
4.	Analyse the social dynamics and policies which affect the counselling needs of young people;
5.	Acquire knowledge of the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of selected counselling perspectives, and that of narrative therapy in particular;
6.	Apply the selected working approaches and practice skills in counselling with different groups of young people and in different work settings; and
7.	Be “research literate”—to criticize, use and promote research relevant to advancing students’ counselling capacity and professional sensitivity.

The 30-unit programme is designed to be completed in one year by full-time study or two years by part-time study. Only under exceptional circumstances may students seek extension of the period of study.

The structure of the curriculum is as follows:

I)	Youth Counselling Context Courses	6 units
II)	Core Counselling Courses	9 units
III)	Research Courses	3 units
IV)	Practice Courses	12 units
		───────
		30 units