The LMU School Psychology program is committed to preparing compassionate and ethical practitioners and leaders in the field. Our program is highly regarded by school districts because of the breadth and depth of our training, as well as our support of our candidates. Our graduates are in high demand by top employers and school districts.
School psychology is a fast-paced career and our rigorous program prepares our graduates for success! In addition to coursework and fieldwork that develops candidates’ knowledge and skills, we integrate learning strands to prepare our graduates to have a positive impact on the students, families, and school communities they serve.
Integration of Research, Theory, and Practice
Our coursework draws on theory and research while supporting our candidates in applying their knowledge and skills in practice. Many of our courses have practical, field-based assignments to ensure that candidates can apply what they are learning to real-life scenarios.
Self-Care, Stress Management, and Burnout Prevention
We recognize that self-care and stress management are important tools for maintaining life-long passion and effectiveness in the field of school psychology. We integrate learning activities throughout the program that promote candidate wellness and help them prevent professional burnout throughout their careers. Additionally, we “require” candidates to engage in self-care activities as part of their fieldwork experiences to help them form sustainable work habits and work-life balance.
Leadership Development
We train our school psychology graduates to be leaders in their schools, districts, and communities. Across the program, our candidates learn about their strengths and leadership style to develop the skills to be effective change agents. Our leadership curriculum encourages deep self-reflection as our candidates practice their leadership skills during fieldwork to execute, influence, build relationships, and think strategically to promote individual and systemic change.
Positive Mental Health, Motivation, and Resilience
Too often our educational system focuses on student and family deficits versus their strengths. We strive to shift that paradigm by teaching our candidates research-informed, evidence-based practices that promote positive mental health, motivation, and resilience. This practice aligns with a culturally responsive Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework that first aims to build academic and social-emotional resilience for all students, while harnessing student strengths and critical ecological factors of the learning environment to intervene effectively when problems do occur.
Social Justice in Action
Every student deserves to receive a quality education and to feel valued, supported, and safe at school. For us at LMU, social justice is not simply a guiding principle or a catchphrase—it’s active awareness and engagement in practices that disrupt the status quo to cultivate a more equitable and just world. Our program helps our candidates gain a deeper understanding of historical contexts and contemporary issues related to societal and educational disparities such as anti-Black racism, homophobia, ableism, sexism, and other insidious forms of oppression, and our faculty integrate their social justice work into their courses.