Facebook pixel Aliento Program Benefits | Pepperdine University | GSEP Skip to main content
Pepperdine | Graduate School of Education and Psychology

Aliento Program Benefits

People

  • Students graduate with foundational competencies in culturally informed clinical practice and, for students entering the program with conversational Spanish proficiency, advanced professional Spanish-language skills for behavioral health settings. The program is not designed to teach Spanish from the beginning level; rather, it supports Spanish-speaking students in strengthening their professional vocabulary, therapeutic communication, and clinical confidence in Spanish.
  • The program partners with practicum sites that provide opportunities for supervised bilingual clinical experience for qualified Spanish-speaking students, including opportunities for Spanish-language supervision.
  • The program allows students to complete coursework designed to meet academic requirements for both LMFT and LPCC licensure pathways.
  • General courses are offered in the afternoons and evenings at Pepperdine University’s West Los Angeles, Calabasas, and Irvine Graduate Campuses. Courses specific to the Latinx Mental Health emphasis are only offered at the Irvine Graduate Campus.
  • The program is open to students whose bachelor’s degrees are in fields other than psychology. Before enrolling in the Latinx Mental Health emphasis, students must complete required prerequisite coursework.
  • Up to 6 units of general coursework from an accredited institution may be transferred into the program if equivalent courses were completed at the graduate level within the past seven years with a grade of “B” or better.
  • A master’s thesis is not required. Students’ complete community-engaged learning projects as part of designated courses, providing opportunities to apply classroom knowledge in real-world settings while strengthening professional competence, ethical responsibility, and community-informed practice. Most courses include a formal paper or project.
  • The program meets prerequisite requirements for application to Pepperdine University’s doctoral program, although completion of the degree does not guarantee admission.
  • Financial aid, career services, and housing assistance are available.