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Master of Arts in Applied Child & Adolescent Psychology: Prevention & Treatment

Single Course Enrollment

Interested in taking one or more courses in the Master of Arts in Applied Child & Adolescent Psychology: Prevention & Treatment program? If you’d like to try out the program before applying, or if you need credits for professional development, you can enroll in select individual courses on a space-available basis.

Available Courses 

If you have a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent, and you're not currently enrolled in a graduate degree program, you can apply to take one of the following classes:

PSYCAP 510: Conceptual Foundations of Developmental Psychopathology: Risk & Protective Factors (Summer 2024)

Credits: 3

This course draws from two conceptual frameworks that form the basis of current thinking about developmental psychopathology. The developmental psychopathology perspective focuses on risk and protective factors in child psychopathology, and highlights the continuity between typical and atypical development. The bioecological model of human development emphasizes the importance of understanding bidirectional influences between the individual's’ development and the surrounding environmental context. This model provides an organizational framework for understanding intrapersonal, family, neighborhood/community and social/economic risk and protective factors relevant to understanding child mental health. In this class, we will address intra-individual (e.g., temperament, emotion regulation) as well as broad social-contextual factors that contribute to children’s mental health problems, such as parent substance use and mental health problems, intimate partner violence, poverty and contexts of abuse and neglect.

PSYCAP 512: Social & Emotional Development (Spring 2024)

Credits: 3

Social-emotional development includes the child’s experience, expression and management of emotions, and the ability to establish positive and rewarding relationships with others. It involves both intrapersonal and interpersonal processes. Social and emotional skills are critical to being a good student, citizen and worker. In this course, we will cover the core features of social-emotional development, including temperament, attachment, emotional competence and regulation, development of the self, gender, identity development (including ethnic and racial socialization) and prosocial behavior. Because healthy social-emotional development unfolds in an interpersonal context, we will focus on the role of parents, peers, romantic relationships and other caregivers as key contexts for strengthening children’s capacity to learn and develop.

PSYCAP 516: Approaches to Child & Adolescent Treatment (Summer 2024)

Credits: 3

This course offers comprehensive details about providing evidence-based treatment to children experiencing a range of emotional and/or behavioral problems. Students learn about various treatment implementation approaches and examine the application of those approaches with diverse families (e.g., culturally, ethnically, sexually, economically). Upon completion of the course, students will understand the most effective treatments across a range of different childhood disorders and have a rubric for determining how to make treatment decisions.

PSYCAP 520: Critical Thinking About Research (Summer 2024)

Credits: 3

Leadership in the area of child psychology requires the capacity to think critically about current research and to communicate current findings to others. This course covers core concepts in research methodology and explores how to critically evaluate research findings. It also discusses ethical guidelines for practice and research.

Application Steps

Step One: Determine Your Status

To take a course, you must have either graduate nonmatriculated (GNM) or nonmatriculated (NM) status at the UW. GNM status allows students with a bachelor’s degree to take graduate courses and apply up to 12 credits toward degree requirements, should they later be accepted into a UW graduate program. Learn more about GNM status.

Note: Acceptance as a GNM student does not necessarily mean you'll be accepted to the master's degree program in the future.

Nonmatriculated status is for those who want to take graduate courses but do not intend to apply those credits to a graduate degree now or in the future. Learn more on the Non-Degree Enrollment website.

Step Two: Apply for Your Course

To apply, email psychma@uw.edu the following information:

  • Course name
  • Whether you plan to pursue GNM or NM status (if you choose GNM status, indicate whether you intend to apply to the Master of Arts in Applied Child & Adolescent Psychology: Prevention & Treatment program during the next two years)
  • Your resume or curriculum vitae
  • An unofficial transcript of your undergraduate and/or most recently completed graduate studies
  • A short statement (no more than half a page) explaining why you want to take the course

The deadlines for submitting application materials for single course enrollment vary by course. They are:

  • PSYCAP 510: April 29, 2024
  • PSYCAP 512: February 9, 2024
  • PSYCAP 516: April 29, 2024
  • PSYCAP 520: April 29, 2024

Step Three: Obtain Student Status

After you have been approved by the department/program to take a course, follow the process below specific to your status. Do not apply for GNM/NM status until approved by the program.

GNM Applicants: Apply online to the Graduate School at least 20 days prior to the first day of the course. You must specify the quarter you are applying for and pay an application fee.

NM Applicants: The program specialist will direct you to the NM registration forms. Fill out these forms and return them to the program specialist for department signatures. The program specialist will return the signed forms to you and you'll submit them with your payment to UW Non-Degree Registration Services.