Clinical Mental Health Counseling, MS
Clinical mental health counselors provide services to clients who seek help with everyday life concerns as well as those who struggle with significant emotional, cognitive, and behavioral challenges. To help these clients achieve optimal well-being, clinical mental health counselors utilize individual, couple, family, and group counseling.
These services are provided across many settings, including private practice, mental health agencies, college counseling centers, churches, hospitals, cancer treatment centers, and substance abuse and eating disorder treatment centers
"Our CMHC program is designed to help people enter as students and graduate as professional counselors. The faculty is dedicated to this task and in helping each student to find their own professional identity. The faculty encourages our students and graduates to fulfill their highest potential and make the best impact on their clients and communities." - Benjamin Willis, CMHC Graduate Program Director
Program Specific Admission Requirements
New students may start coursework in the fall semester only.
Applicants must complete the specially developed recommendation forms for the program and respond to an additional program specific essay in order to finalize and submit their application. These documents are requested and collected as part of the on-line application process.
Applicants are expected to have completed a course in each of the following areas: Introduction to Statistics (Descriptive Statistics or Basic Inferential Statistics), Introduction to Theories of Personality, Counseling or Psychotherapy and Lifespan Development (Developmental Psychology, Adulthood, Adolescence, Childhood, Growth and Development).
Personal interviews with program faculty members prior to acceptance are required. Clinical mental health counseling applicants participate in a group interview. All interviews are scheduled by program faculty shortly after the application deadline. Program directors review applications and pay particular attention to each applicant’s ability to address program specific professional goals and professional identity in the statement of intentions.
Students falling below a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.00 on a 4.00 scale may be required to submit other evidence of their ability to successfully complete a graduate program, such as grades in other graduate-level courses, a record of progressively higher work responsibilities, or scores from the Miller Analogies Test or Graduate Record Examination.
For general application requirements, please Visit Our Admissions Webpage.
Curriculum
The Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program is a 60-credit curriculum that leads to the Master of Science degree and fulfills all the educational requirements for licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Pennsylvania.
The curriculum is divided into four categories: Foundations of Professional Counseling, Clinical Mental Health Counseling Courses, Clinical Experience, and Electives for Specialization.
Required credits include coursework in the principles and practice of counseling, three credits of practicum (100 hours of supervised counseling experience), and six credits of internship (600 hours of supervised counseling experience).
Six credits of electives are offered to provide students with opportunities for additional study in individual areas of interest and for development of skills in working with specific client populations.
For additional information on the curriculum, visit the Loading... Catalog.
Mission Statement of Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program
Beyond the Classroom
Counseling Training Center
Students work with clients from the University and local community, completing at least 40 hours of direct practicum experience.
Assistantships
Graduate Assistants receive a stipend as well as tuition scholarships.
Honor Societies
Eligible students can join Chi Delta Rho, the local chapter of the International Honor Society of Counseling.
Already have a Master's degree?
We offer a post-master's certificate program designed to meet the educational requirements for a licensed professional counselor.
Counseling and Human Services Newsletter
The Journey to Competent Caregiving
The Newsletter will provide you with a glimpse of how faculty work to inspire student growth and the intentional ways that students are mentored to become self reflective practitioners, competent care givers and community leaders. Likewise, you will read about student perspectives as they navigate through the program and explore pivotal moments in their student counselor development. These stories provide insight into what a Scranton education is all about.
Graduate Education at Scranton
With over 30 programs The University of Scranton can help you to achieve your goals, personally and professionally. Find out what our students have to say about graduate education at Scranton.
Successful Graduates
Career Opportunities
Community mental health agencies, private practices, interdisciplinary medical offices, substance abuse treatment, crisis counseling agencies
Accreditation
The Clinical Mental Health Counseling program (formerly the Community Counseling program) has been accredited since 1992 by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), a specialized accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
The Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program was recently reviewed for re-accreditation and successfully met all requirements. Hence, graduates meet all requirements for certification as a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and are eligible to sit for the National Counselor Exam (NCE) sponsored by the National Board of Certified Counselors. Further, graduates meet all of the educational requirements for licensure as Professional Counselors in Pennsylvania and many other states.
The program prepares students for this work by providing a learning environment in which they acquire the academic competencies of the profession, refine these competencies through application and experience personal and professional development to meet the standards of Fitness for the Profession.
Combined/Accelerated Degree Option
Undergraduate University of Scranton Human Services majors with outstanding academic records may be eligible for early admission to the Clinical Mental Health Counseling graduate program through the Accelerated Baccalaureate/Master's Degree Program. (Other relevant majors may also be considered for admission.)
Interested students must commit to this program no later than the end of their junior year of academic study, adhere to the time frame for application as outlined in Graduate Course Catalog, and meet specific admissions criteria. We only accept applications for the fall semester. Please visit the Accelerated B.S./M.S. website for additional information.
Meet the Program Director
Benjamin T. Willis, Ph.D., N.C.C., A.C.S.
Clinical Mental Health Counseling Graduate Program Director Assistant Professor
Ph.D., The University of North Carolina at Greensboro M.S., The University of North Carolina at Greensboro B.S., The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
(570) 941-6172benjamin.willis@scranton.edu
