Overview

The Master of Science in Psychology and Islamic Counseling (MSc PIC) was formulated to give students a firm grasp of counseling theory and practice, and upon successful completion enable them to practice counseling from an islamic perspective.

The program will familiarize students with the two main tools used for Islamic psychological support – namely Islamic Counseling and Islamically Integrated Psychotherapy.

These tools were developed over the last few decades, and are taught using  texts written by their founders, experts in the field, as well as active practitioners of each school of thought. They were then operationalized as assessments and interventions in different scenarios, and exemplified with real-life case studies.

Aside from yearly courses, shorter courses based on various modalities of psychotherapy or counseling complete the curriculum.

Career paths for graduates of this program include: Islamic coach, Islamic counselor, and Islamic Psychologists (to check with each student’s country of residence’s regulation). Such professions can also be run online, and as such could provide graduates with streams of income, even during pandemic restrictions. As it is forecasted by many think-tanks, online counseling is going to remain as a mainstream solution for psychological help even after the COVID-19 pandemic is over, allowing students to have a long-term job opportunity.

Upon completion of the program, the student will be awarded the Master of Science degree in Psychology and Islamic Counseling.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

This Masters degree can be taken as full-time only. Courses are taught throughout the first year, while in the second year, students focus  on their research project, with the guidance of  an assigned supervisor.

PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES 

Upon completion of the program, students would be able to

PLO1   demonstrate a complete and up-to-date understanding of the history of Islamic Psychology

PLO2   Select the appropriate assessment plan for different psychological and counselling Needs

PLO3   Select the appropriate intervention plan for different psychological and counselling Needs

PLO4   demonstrate the ability to switch between psychological theoretical frameworks based on the psychological and counselling needs

PLO5   demonstrate an understanding of continuity inside the psychological and counselling process

PROGRAM ALIGNMENT WITH IOU’s VISION & MISSION

The MSc in Psychology and Islamic Counselling aligns with the vision and mission of IOU by:

• providing facilitated access to quality higher education to all students around the world, particularly in the field of Islamic psychology,

• promoting the Islamic values of peace, harmony, and tolerance, embedded in the curriculum, pedagogical practices and teaching approaches of this program,

• contributing to the establishment and strengthening of knowledge-based communities globally through the teaching and learning activities of the program, and committing to creating diverse, scholarly communities, where students are encouraged to engage in intellectual rigor, high ethical standards and critical evaluation

Semesters