Overview
A Psychology or Counseling Degree from ITP is the Result of a Rigorous, Wide-Ranging Study of the Human Condition
ITP offers five degrees in its residential program, including two PhD degrees (clinical psychology and transpersonal psychology) and three Master of Arts degrees (transpersonal psychology, women's spirituality, and counseling psychology).
The psychology program emphasizes academic studies in concert with professional training, and promotes personal transformation through a disciplined study of six core areas: intellectual, spiritual, physical, emotional, community, and creative expression. The psychology degree places primary emphasis on transpersonal theory and the integration of those values into the students' lives.
The PhD curriculum and the master's curriculum both offer "whole-person" education situated in a unique and supportive community. The psychology program at the PhD level allows students to choose a particular specialization, which will be the core of their psychology degree.
The ITP Master's Degree in Counseling was developed for students who want a professional career in counseling and psychotherapy. The counseling degree fulfills all the academic requirements that enable graduates to sit for the California state examination for a Marriage and Family Therapy license. With both foundational course work in transpersonal psychology and specialized studies in counseling, interpersonal theory, and communication skills, graduates of the counseling program are fully prepared for a fulfilling, challenging career. The counseling degree requirements include a one-year practicum assignment.
A community process context is essential to the counseling program at ITP, and the emphasis is on students' own integration of course material. As they grow through their personal transformational work, the classroom becomes a de facto laboratory in which they use their own life experiences for case studies and analysis.
A Variety of Scholarships, Loans, Stipends, and Other Aid Makes ITP Tuition Manageable for Almost Anyone, Anywhere
The tuition at ITP varies according to the type of program, the schedule, the residential or global status, and other factors. A complete tuition schedule, of course, is available online and in the school's printed materials. The important thing to remember is that ITP is committed to helping all well-qualified applicants obtain the finances for this important education, so a variety of tuition assistance, scholarship, and student loan programs are available.
In addition to helping students navigate the government student loan application processes, ITP also awards several need-based scholarships with funds appropriated annually by the Board of Trustees as part of the overall operating budget. Although not intended as a primary source of educational funding, the scholarships act as a bridge to help needy but qualified students manage their tuition budgets. ITP also has a Diversity Scholarship to assist those from minority cultural and economically challenged backgrounds.
ITP's Center for the Divine Feminine provides tuition scholarships between $2,000 and $5,000 to both residential and global students. These scholarships are awarded to students whose focus is on the connection to the Divine Feminine, the interaction of the field of transpersonal psychology with the Divine Feminine, and Feminist studies that deal with elements of the sacred.
ITP also helps students locate internships that will pay stipends that can help defray the cost of books and other needs. A lack of funds for tuition should never prevent any student from applying to ITP, as there are many ways that the institution can help.
Spirituality Infuses Many of ITP's Courses and is a Primary Focus of the Residential MA Program in Women's Spirituality
ITP's two-year, 54-unit weekend master's program in women's spirituality gives women who are at a "crossroads" in their lives the opportunity to earn a degree with which they can help themselves and others. Offering growth in intellectual and creative expression, the spirituality program seeks to assemble the social, intellectual, artistic, and spiritual aspects of womanhood into a coherent whole. The spirituality program emphasizes transformative lessons, and seeks to motivate students to engage their local communities in change that accords with a wide range of people's own spiritual beliefs.
The program is primarily concerned with inspiring women to cogent social action through "spiritual activism." Part of this process involves students learning how to think critically, as well as empathetically, and work toward personal transformation as a means of effecting social change.
Intimate graduate seminars are delivered in a cohort model by diverse practitioners of women's spirituality, from artists and authors to scholars and ritualists. With required courses being offered on weekends (usually twice a month) students are able to complete six quarters in two academic years with no summer classes. A thesis or similar major creative project is required for graduation.
The spirituality curriculum examines women's roles in history, as well as pre-historic times, and focuses on spiritual and religious leadership by women, their healing and social activism work, women's literary and social functions, and their many artistic contributions. ITP's feminist learning community provides mentoring and encourages the development of both knowledge and theory by integrating research, spiritual practice, social activism, and various sacred arts.
