The courses in the program are designed to meet the requirements for licensure as a Registered Psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario [College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (crpo.ca)]. Learners from other provinces are responsible for checking their provincial regulatory body for licensure requirements and to ensure that the program’s curriculum meets the requirements.

In Ontario, Registered Psychotherapist is a regulated health profession that is regulated by the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario. A Registered Psychotherapist often engages in the treatment of cognitive, emotional and behavioural problems using psychotherapeutic means.

The professional designation of “Psychotherapist” is a controlled term in Ontario. Following completion of the program, students would be required to register with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO). For more information, please visit the CRPO website. Completion of the Psychotherapy Program does not guarantee registration with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario, or any regulatory body.

Given that the program has recently launched, we have not yet had the opportunity to apply for recognition by the CRPO. At this time, the program is not a recognized program under the CRPO, and as a result, graduating students would be required to submit additional documentation when applying to the CRPO for registration. Please refer to the CRPO website for additional information.

Psychotherapists can work in a range of settings including in private practice, community mental health services, hospitals, voluntary agencies and educational settings.

Yes, all students will be required to complete two psychotherapy practicum, supervised by a Registered Psychotherapist. The program will assist students to find practicum placements, however a placement is not guaranteed.

In addition, students will receive experiential training in their class-based courses. For example, students will engage in role plays of clinical skills, review audio recordings of therapy tapes and receive feedback, as well as practice delivering various treatment protocols.

The MSc in Psychotherapy program is five consecutive terms or 20 months. The program will continue over the summer term. Please refer to the program timeline for a description of what courses are involved during each term.

New cohorts of students begin in the program each September.

Currently, the program is only offered for full-time enrollment. Please visit the School of Graduate Studies Academic Calendar which outlines the requirements for full-time students, including the number of hours that a student can work outside of the program: SGS Academic Calendar

The classroom-based courses will be held at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton – West 5th Campus in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences (100 West 5th Street, Hamilton, ON, L9C 0E3) and on the main campus of McMaster University.

Due to the intensive nature of the program and the clinical practicums, students will need to be prepared to work/study for long hours.

In addition, given that not all of the clinical practica will be at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, students will need to be prepared for the possibility that they will have to travel to practicum placements in the community.

The program offers limited scholarships for students based on merit.

Given that this program does not include a thesis, it is unlikely that this program would meet the requirements needed for admission to a PhD program.

We are not able to pre-assess applications. When we receive your application, we would review your transcript to ensure that the courses you have taken would meet the requirements of the honours bachelor in psychology, social sciences or health sciences.  Our committee wants to see that you have working knowledge of psychology-related topics so they will be reviewing your transcripts carefully to see what courses you have completed.

Absolutely!  As stated in the School of Graduate Studies Calendar, some potential applicants may not satisfy the admission requirements for a 4-year honours undergraduate degree with a B+ average in the final year. In this case, work experience and/or completed course work beyond the Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Social Sciences or Health Sciences, may have some bearing on the applicant’s ability to complete a graduate program.

In addition to the standard admissions requirements (i.e., Curriculum Vitae, Personal Statement and Official transcripts from every degree-granting institution attended), admission to graduate studies for a student with related work experience will be based on the following criteria:

1. At least 2 professional references (i.e., employer who can provide a professional reference). (One reference can come from an academic reference).
2. 4-year undergraduate degree in Psychology, Social Sciences or Health Sciences, or equivalent, completed more than 4 years ago, and any other course work taken since that time.
3. A section of the personal statement that outlines how the work experience is relevant to the MSc in Psychotherapy Program.

Due to the high volume of applications that we receive we are unable to pre-assess your application prior to submission. Please carefully review our admission requirements below and make sure that your experiences fit within the admission criteria:

1. Honours Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Social Sciences or Health Sciences from a recognized university with at least a B+ average (equivalent to a McMaster 8.5 GPA out of 12) in the final year of study. This requirement is consistent with the Faculty of Graduate Studies’ admissions requirements.
2. For applicants whose first language is not English and who did not attend an English-speaking University for their undergraduate degree, a test of English language proficiency is required. Minimal scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) are: written score (600) or computer (250), or internet-based test (iBT = 92; reading = 22, speaking = 24, listening = 24 and writing = 22).
3. Applicants will also be asked to submit the following documents with their application:
   1. Curriculum Vitae – Please include relevant education, work and volunteer experiences
   2. Personal statement – **Criteria for the personal statement will be released before the application portal opens on September 1.**
   3. Two letters of reference – At least one from academic referee (i.e., professors or research supervisors). One letter may be from a professional referee (i.e., employer who can provide a professional reference). Academic references are preferred.
   4. Transcripts from every degree-granting institution attended (please upload an unofficial copy of your transcripts with your online application).

Please note when you are applying to our program, you are not required to send in any hard copies/original official documents to the Psychotherapy Program Office as part of your application. You will scan and include the unofficial versions in your application. The hard copies/original official documents will only be required by our office if an offer is extended.

The admissions committee will review every application to the program to ensure that prospective students have the necessary academic background, proficiency in English, and relevant volunteer and work experience to enroll in the Psychotherapy Program. Those students who are short-listed based on the review of their application will be offered an interview. Interviews may be conducted in person or via video conferencing software.

We accept both TOEFL and IELTS.

For TOEFL minimal scores are written score (600) or computer (250), or internet-based test (iBT = 92; reading = 22, speaking = 24, listening = 24 and writing = 22).

For IELTS – minimum overall score of 6.5 with the lowest score in any category of 6.5

Our Admission Committee wants to see that you have a keen and genuine interest in psychology as well as a good foundation in psychology-related knowledge so they will be reviewing your transcripts carefully to see what courses you’ve completed.

If you are unsure if your degree is equivalent to a 4-year honours Bachelor degree, you can check using the World Education Services Degree Equivalency tool.  Once you confirm that your degree meets our requirement, I would recommend that you include a copy of this document with your application.

The course will not accept late applications. All application documents (including transcripts) are required to be submitted by the application deadline. Material received following the deadline will not be included.

You do not need to submit official copies of your transcripts with your application, we will accept unofficial copies. Please note that your unofficial transcripts must clearly state the University name, include the grading scale, as well as show your full name.

We only require your official transcripts once an offer of admission has been extended to you, at which point you will receive further instructions from our office about how to send in your official transcript.

You do not need to mail us hard copies of your documents as part of your application. Scanned documents are used for the assessment of your application.

When you log into your application, if you click on eReferences, you should be able to click on your reference name and you will be able to send them a reminder which will send them a new link.

Your referees will be automatically notified by email when you add their contact information in your student summary and submit your application. If your referee does not receive an email with a link to complete, please ask them to check their junk/spam folders.

Your referees should be able to speak to your abilities as well as what qualities you would bring to the program.

People who can speak to your prior academic experience (e.g., course work, volunteer experiences, psychology-related work experience) will likely be a good option for a reference as they will be able to highlight your strengths and abilities related to this program. As a result, academic references are preferred. If you do not have two academic references, you can also ask a professional reference if this individual can speak to your psychology-related abilities (e.g., from a volunteer experience with a community mental health agency).

After you submit your application, please make sure that you keep an eye on your emails in case our team has any questions about the material that you have submitted. Should your application be selected to proceed to the interview round you can expect to hear back from our office in late January.

The application fee is non refundable.

Tuition for our program can be found at https://registrar.mcmaster.ca/fees/graduate/. The fees are subject to change.

For domestic students – students can expect to pay $3,780 per academic term plus supplemental fees.

For international students – students can expect to pay $14,256 per academic term plus supplemental fees.

Our program does not currently offer entrance scholarships.  I would suggest that you look on the School of Graduate Studies website to see if there are any scholarships available that you may be eligible for.

Should our Department receive an OGS allocation from the University, our Department will do an internal competition at the end of your first year in the program.