M.S. in Mental Health Counseling

The Mental Health Counseling program is designed to emphasize the strengths of individuals and families in order to facilitate recovery and resilience when faced with emotional, mental or physical challenges. Students will develop a strong understanding of the psychological foundations of mental health and related developmental issues. Upon graduation students will be able to demonstrate current evidence-based intervention strategies consistent with the professional counseling paradigm. The Mental Health Counseling Program provides students with a solid base of both theoretical and applied knowledge and understanding of issues required for future licensing.

In 2008, the Mental Health Counseling program was awarded a full eight years of accreditation from the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). The program becomes only the seventh CACREP-accredited program in New York State. CACREP accreditation provides recognition that the content and quality of the education offered by the accredited program has been evaluated extensively and meets standards set by and for the profession.

In accordance with standards recommended by CACREP, the program focuses upon counseling areas such as professional identity, social and cultural diversity, human growth and development, helping relationships, career development, group work, assessment, research, program evaluation, and evidenced-based intervention skills used in mental health counseling. This Masters of Science degree in Mental Health Counseling provides students the opportunity to learn through a variety of teaching methodologies including class discussions, role-playing, small group work, case-study analyses and classroom simulations. Students also have the opportunity to apply this knowledge in supervised clinical settings.