Masters of Education - Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Overview

The faculty of the Counselor Education Program, a CACREP accredited program, is dedicated to educating and training counseling professionals to function in culturally diverse settings. This training utilizes an integrative practitioner training model emphasizing development, prevention, enhancement, and the diagnosis and remediation of psychological disorders. The program is designed to provide a challenging, yet supportive environment that promotes professional orientation, practice and self-awareness.

Pictured right: Clinical Mental Health Faculty.  Larry Abernathy, Elaine Hiott, Dr. Jerry Neal, Dr. Cheryl Warner and Dr. David Scott

Objectives of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program are:

• to prepare counselors to effectively work with community and other agency personnel
• to qualify person to be certified, licensed, or registered
• to prepare counselors with understanding and skills related to counseling needs in the environment in which they choose to work
• to enhance a high degree of self-understanding by counselors
• to facilitate counselors in being able to effectively communicate with diverse cultural groups
• to provide counselors with knowledge about counseling across the life span
• to facilitate counselors in obtaining human evaluation and research skills
• to facilitate counselors in developing a high degree of sensitivity and acceptances of other's behavior
• to encourage awareness of responsibilities specific to a variety of community agencies to expect ethical practices of counselors in adherence to the American Counseling Association's ethical standards.

Program Name Change
Effective Fall semester of 2009, the Community Counseling program has changed the program title to the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program.  The Clinical Mental Health Counseling program is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). The accreditation runs through October 31, 2015. (Note: The Clinical Mental Health Counseling program is currently accredited under the 2001 standards for Community Counseling programs as a Community Counseling program. The CACREP 2009 standards combine the Community Counseling and Mental Health Counseling standards into standards for Clinical Mental Health Counseling programs. The counseling program intends to seek accreditation for this program as a Clinical Mental Health Counseling program when it comes up for reaccreditation, per CACREP guidelines.)  This change in title does not affect our CACREP accreditation status. 

Admission Requirements

Successful completion of the following screening and admission requirements is necessary for admission to pursue graduate study leading to the M.Ed. degree in Counselor Education, Clinical Mental Health Counseling emphasis:

• Baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution
• Admission to the Clemson Graduate School
  • Meet all requirements of the Graduate School.
  • GPR of 3.0 overall, where 4.0 = A
  • A minimum of 12 semester hours of psychology and/or sociology, graduate or undergraduate. This can be completed before starting the program or during the first two semesters in the program.
  • Personal Statement detailing your interest in this program and your career plans.
  • Competitive GRE scores
• Approval from the Counselor Education Faculty
• Optional departmental interview
• The application deadline for the Fall semester is February 1.  The application deadline for the Winter sessions is October 1.

Program Requirements

The M.Ed. program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling requires 60 semester hours of required course work. The program typically takes two full calendar years (i.e., Fall, Spring, and Summer sessions) to complete, and the program must be completed in six years, minus one semester. The number of hours that applicants may transfer from another institution follows the University guidelines as specified in the graduate catalog. These courses must meet the equivalence requirements of a Clemson graduate course and have been taken within the last five years. Courses over five years old are not accepted. Please download and read the Student Handbook (pdf) and the Clinic Mental Health Field Experience Manual (pdf)
The program is designed to be developmental in nature and appropriate course sequencing is required to ensure proper counseling skill development. Students are required to meet with their assigned advisor before enrolling in any course.

I. Area of Specialization (45 hours)*

ED F 701 Human Growth and Development
ED F 778 Educational Research
ED C 805 Community Counseling
ED C 810 Theories & Techniques of Counseling
ED C 811 Multicultural Counseling
ED C 812 Career Counseling
ED C 813 Appraisal Procedures
ED C 814 Developing Counseling Skills
ED C 815 Group Counseling
ED C 816 Introduction to Marriage & Family Counseling
ED C 818 Psychopathology for Counselors
ED C 821 Psychodiagnostics for Counselors
ED C 822 Addictions Counseling
ED C 823 Advanced Counseling Techniques & Strategies
ELECTIVE  Must be approved by your advisor
* Note-Courses are listed in numerical order. This order does not necessarily follow proper course sequencing.

II. Field Experiences (15 hours)

ED C 836 Community Counseling Practicum (100 clock hours)
ED C 846 Community Counseling Internship (600 clock hours)

Students presenting at the South Carolina Counseling Association's 2009 annual conference.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Testing Requirement:

• Upon completion of 33 hours, students in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program may be given permission by their major advisor to take the comprehensive examination.  Generally the comprehensive examination is taken during the student’s last semester in the program.
• All students will complete a written comprehensive examination.  See your advisor for more information.  Faculty reserve the right to develop other types of comprehensive exams with due notice and time for preparation given to the students.
• Passing the departmental written comprehensive examination is a requirement for the degree.
• Each student is allowed to take the Exam twice. Failure on two examinations results in dismissal from the program.

Chi Sigma Iota - Chi Upsilon Chapter

Clemson has an active local chapter of Chi Sigma Iota, (Chi Upsilon) an international honor society of counseling professionals and professionals-in-training dedicated to excellence in scholarship, research, and clinical practice.  Students with a grade point average (GPA) of 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale and who have completed at least nine hours of counseling courses are eligible for membership. 

National Counselor Exam

Clemson Counseling students are offered the opportunity to take the National Counselor Examination for Licensure and Certification (NCE) the semester before they graduate or the semester after graduation.  Most states use the NCE as part of their credentialing or licensure process.  NCE results are used as criteria for evaluating counselors who desire to become National Certified Counselors (NCCs).

Assessment:

The Counselor Education (EDC) program is committed to continuous program improvement. As such the department engages in numerous assessment activities and implements a comprehensive evaluation plan. This plan involves collecting program feedback from a variety of constituent groups, i.e. students, program graduates, site supervisors, employers, advisory board members, and other partners. The feedback gathered from these assessment tools is used to implement program changes, modifications, and updates.
As part of the comprehensive assessment plan, the following groups are surveyed to provide program feedback:

• Exit Surveys-are collected each semester from graduating students. The spring 2006 and Fall 2005 exit survey results for EDC Community Counseling, EDC School Counseling, and EDC Student Affairs are available;
• Alumni Surveys-are collected from program graduates one and three year after graduation. The 2004 alumni survey and 2005 alumni survey results are available;
• Site Supervisor/Employer Surveys-are collected annually. The 2005 site/employer survey results are posted.

Prospective students are encouraged to read these survey results. Hard copies of these surveys are also available the Counselor Education office, Tillman 330.

Contact Information
David Scott, PhD, LPC, CDFI
304-E Tillman Hall
(864) 656-1486
dscott2@clemson.edu

First semester students visiting the local Equine Therapy program at Mustang Medicine Works, LLC.