This degree program is designed for students seeking preparation leading to counseling related employment in community and business settings.
Degree programs are individually designed to prepare students to work in a variety of settings including mental health centers, drug and alcohol treatment programs, correctional institutions, health care settings, social service agencies, and business and industry. Students completing this 48 credit hour program should be positioned to eventually seek PA licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor and upon successful completion of the National Counselor Exam (NCE) become a Board Eligible Nationally Certified Counselor.
Program Philosophy:
The Master of Arts in Community Counseling fosters a training model that recognizes the interactive effect between people and their environment. The program philosophy is to approach helping from an educational and developmental perspective, emphasizing prevention and promoting enrichment in people’s lives while also providing skills for effective intervention. The wide variety of employment settings in which our graduates are found reflects this developmental, preventative, and interventionist focus.
Curriculum:
The curriculum is designed to prepare students for careers in counseling and human service agencies. Students receive instruction in counseling theories, participate in individual and group practica experiences utilizing various counseling approaches with adolescent and adult (or child) clients and engage in a 300-hour supervised field experience in a professional setting reflecting their counseling interests. All students have five (5) years from their first course enrollment to complete their degree program.
Students enrolled in the Masters of Arts degree program will complete 48 credits for the degree. The program requires the following core courses or their equivalent: COUN 610, COUN 615, COUN 617, COUN 618, COUN 634, COUN 636, COUN 730, COUN 755, GR 615, and 9 credit hours of elective courses, to be determined by students in consultation with their advisor. Consult Appendix B for course descriptions.
For students electing to focus their clinical training on working with adolescent and/or adults, the following additional courses (12 credit hours) are required: CE 637, CE 639, CE 657 and CE 659. Students electing to focus their clinical training on working with children are additionally required to take the following 12 credit hours: CE 627, CE 629, CE 667, and CE 669.
Occupational Outlook:
The counseling profession is growing with ever-increasing opportunities for counselors to work in a wide variety of community settings. Upon completion of the Master of Arts in Community Counseling, recipients are qualified to seek work in mental health centers, human service agencies, substance abuse, programs, correctional institutions, health care settings, and business and industry. The Master of Arts degree program in Community Counseling is designed to prepare students to work in a variety of settings, including mental health centers, drug and alcohol treatment programs, specialized community agencies, vocational or rehabilitation programs, correctional institutions, health care settings, social services, and business and industry. The counseling curriculum is based on the educational standards as set forth by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC). Students who successfully complete their course work will be eligible to take the National Certification Exam. Upon passing the exam, students will be Board Eligible counselors.
Students enrolled in the Master of Arts degree program will complete 45 (plus thesis) or 48 (without thesis) hours of credit for the degree. The M.A. program requires the following courses or their equivalents:
Core Classes
GR 615 3 credits Elements of Research
COUN 610 3 credits Introduction to Community Counseling
COUN 615 3 credits Counseling Across the Life-Span
COUN 618 3 credits Diversity Issues in Counseling
COUN 617 3 credits Basic Counseling Skills
COUN 634 3 credits Mental Health Appraisal
COUN 636 3 credits Career Counseling & Development
COUN 730 3 credits Ethical & Legal Issues in Community Counseling
COUN 755 3 credits Field Experience
3 credits Elective
3 credits Elective
3 credits Elective
Total 36 credits
Application of Counseling Courses - based on Client Population
Students planning to work primarily with adolescents and/or adults will take the following sequence:
COUN 637 3 credits Counseling Theory (adolescent/adult)
COUN 639 3 credits Group Counseling (adolescent/adult)
COUN 657 3 credits Individual Counseling Practicum (adolescent/adult)
COUN 659 3 credits Group Counseling Practicum (adolescent/adult)
Total 12 credits
Students planing to work primarily with children will take the following sequence:
COUN 627 3 credits Child Counseling Theory
COUN 629 3 credits Group Procedures (child)
COUN 667 3 credits Individual Counseling Practicum (child)
COUN 669 3 credits Group Counseling Practicum (child)
Total 12 credits
Total credits - 48
Prospective students for the Master of Arts in Community Counseling must meet departmental admissions requirements and procedures in addition to those of the Graduate School and Research. Prospective students should contact the department to determine these requirements. Applicants are required to attend an admission workshop as the final step in the admissions process. Workshops are held three times a year, and applicants should contact the department to obtain the dates of workshops and deadlines for applications to reach the department.
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