Overview

Were you a Resident Assistant?
Were you involved on campus as an undergraduate?
Were you inspired by your college experience?

If you said YES to any of the above and you are interested in helping college students make the adjustment from high school to college or helping non-traditional students with the transition back to school, you may be interested in the Mental Health Counseling: College program.

The Mental Health Counseling: College concentration is a 60 credit program intended to prepare licensed professional counselors to address the diverse clinical needs of college and university students. Competence in student affairs work is gained through coursework that examines who today's college student is within the context of our diverse society. There is a strong emphasis on social justice throughout the program.

Students' competence is further developed through a combination of course work that utilizes a theory to practice model and relevant internship experiences. Students also complete courses in community mental health counseling. Students complete internships in college counseling and community mental health settings that provide supervised experiences in mental health counseling. This allows students to integrate theory into practice. Interns are supervised by licensed mental health professionals at their internship sites as well as a faculty liaison. Electives may be taken in child, adolescent, or adult development, mental health counseling, or special topics courses in counseling.

Curriculum

This 60 credit concentration includes 24 credits of specialized coursework, 6 credits of electives, and 30 credits of core counseling coursework.

The 24 credits of specialized coursework include two 300 hours internships and the following:

CSL 535 Consultation, Training and Organizational Change
CSL 550 United States College Students and the Campus
CSL 551 Roles and Responsibilities of Student Affairs Staff
CSL 552 Student Development Theories
CSL 555 Critical Issues in College Counseling
CSL 585 Community Mental Health Counseling & Psychopathology
CSL 593 Mental Health Counseling Internship I
CSL 594 Mental Health Counseling Internship II

The 30 credits of core counseling coursework include:

CSL 500 Counseling Theory and Practice
CSL 505 Research in Counseling
CSL 528 Clinical Counseling Skills
EPY 529 Tests, Measurements, and Appraisal
CSL 530 Issues in Lifespan Development in Counseling
CSL 540 Social and Cultural Foundations in Counseling
CSL 553 Dynamics of Group Counseling
CSL 554 Career Development Theory
CSL 589 Master's Seminar and Ethics in Counseling I
CSL 590 Master’s Seminar and Ethics in Counseling II

Electives (6 credits)

Students have the option of completing a Comprehensive Exam or a Thesis.

Interested in learning more? Check out the Program Handbook or the Graduate Catalog for more detail.

Students interested in a less clinical counseling program who are still interested in working with college students may want to examine the College Student Services Adminstration degree.