Master of Arts
Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Mission

Through excellence in education, the mission of the Department of Counseling and Human Services is to prepare graduates of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Master's degree to work as professional counselors who are able to integrate Marianist values related to promoting justice, peace, and human dignity as they serve in an increasingly pluralistic, changing, and global society.

Overview

In summer 2009, the Clinical Mental Health Counseling degree program replaced the Community Counseling and Mental Health Counseling degree programs. Click here to learn about the Clinical Mental Health Counseling degree program.

Graduates of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program are prepared to work in institutions and agencies offering counseling services including alcohol and drug and social service agencies. Client problems may be, but are not limited to the effects of socioeconomic status, unemployment, aging, gender, culture, race, ethnicity, chronic illness, developing transitions, and interpersonal, family, and community violence. Graduates have knowledge of the general principles of etiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental and emotional disorders and dysfunctional behavior, structure and function of human service agencies, mental health education, outreach and prevention strategies, and community health promotion and advocacy. Clinical Mental Health counselors have the ability to implement education, preventive, and remedial programs. This is a 60 semester hour program, which includes an intensive 700 clock hour clinical (practicum/internship) experience. Students graduating from the program meet the academic requirements for licensing by the Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors.

CMHC Master's Program Objectives

The learning goals set forth by St. Mary's University's master's program in CMHC are embedded within a learning environment designed to develop the students' abilities to achieve and demonstrate:

Objective 1: Professional Identity - a successive understanding of the professional counselorss integrated roles related to the management and oversight of ethically sound clinical services in a variety of community contexts and clinical settings.

• Over the course of the program, students are measured through the completion of the following: creating and responding to clinical vignettes, presenting and responding to cases in clinical courses, developing a crisis intervention video plan presentation, responding to ethical dilemmas, and collaborating with others in the department and in the community during clinical courses and for course projects.

Objective 2: Counseling, Prevention and Intervention - knowledge and practices regarding a systematic approach to creating and maintaining collaborative service plans and advocacy needs in response to diverse community, wellness, and mental health issues and crises.

• Over the course of the program students are measured through completion of the following: developing wellness plans at two different points in the program; developing crisis assessment and treatment plans (to include considerations for addiction, co-occurring mental health issues, etc.; completing a community and social justice project; developing a genogram; writing a paper outlining their development over the lifespan in relation to family, peers, community and other sociocultural contexts; and writing a mental health status exam paper on the protagonist in the movie that depicts a crisis.

Objective 3: Diversity and Advocacy - understanding of the ways in which privilege and oppression operate in relational and socio-political cultural contexts and impact therapeutic relationships, theoretical modalities, community resources (or a lack of), and advocacy needs.

• Over the course of the program students are measured through the completion of the following: making a class presentation on human development through a sociocultural lens, participating in an immersion project designed to broaden sociocultural perspectives, creating a "power line" designed to examine identity markers that indicate sources of privilege or oppression in their lives, writing reflection papers on social status, and the completing the sociocultural portion of the Clinical Case Conceptualization Position Paper.

Objective 4: Assessment - ability to create and obtain culturally sensitive and competent case conceptualizations, and biosocial and mental health histories and to utilize and interpret assessments in ways that insure treatment interventions (including referrals, counseling, and psychotropic medication considerations) are consistent with clients' respective developmental contexts.

• Over the course of the program students are measured through the use of the following: presenting cases in their clinical courses; performing a client autopsy based on the creation of a client crisis, preparing a comprehensive treatment plan and resolution; researching the levels of bias and practicality of assessment tools, consulting with a psychiatrist in clinical courses, creating biosocial histories for the clients they see in the Counselor Education and Family Life Center, writing a mental health status exam paper on the protagonist in a movie that depicts a crisis.

Objective 5: Research and Evaluation - that they can use research techniques; identify and apply cutting edge, outcomes-based treatment modalities relevant to their clinical practice; and evaluate the effectiveness of the counseling interventions and related programs.

• Over the course of the program, students are measured through completion of the following: writing a literature review, creating a community counseling project that includes program evaluation, and researching evidence-based treatments in evaluating counseling outcomes.

Objective 6: Diagnosis - understanding and working knowledge of mental health diagnoses, diagnostic criteria, and diagnostic tools and their relevance in relation to clients' health, psychosocial stressors, and crises, and how to collaborate with other mental health professionals in the interest of clients in a variety of contexts and circumstances.

• Over the course of the program, students are measured through completion of the following: writing a paper on a clinical diagnosis, creating a role-play video during which they conduct a mental health status exam, and writing a mental health status exam paper on the protagonist in a movie that depicts a crisis.

Program of Study for Clinical Mental Health Counseling

The Master of Arts in Counseling with a specialization in Clinical Mental Health Counseling is a 60 semester hour non-thesis program.

The following courses are required:

Core Courses (46 hours)
CN 6354 Introduction to Counseling
CN 6150 Practicum in Group Process
CN 6253 Group Process
CN 6321 Assessment and Appraisal in Counseling
CN 6352 Career Planning
CN 6355 Theories of Counseling
CN 6381 Methods of Research
CN 7301 Professional and Ethical Issues
CN 7302 Social/Cultural Issues in Counseling
CN 7351 Human Growth and Development
CN 7377 Sexuality Counseling and Somatic Issues
CN 6361 Crisis Counseling
CN 6369 Introduction to Marriage and Family Therapy
CN 7333 Mental Health and Psychopathology
CN 7267 Community Counseling and Social Justice
CN 6282 Hope Resilience and Human Transcendence
CN 7199 Clinical Mental Health Capstone
CN 6251 Advanced Professional Issues in Organization and Administration of Counseling Services

Elective Courses (Total: At least 5 credit hours)

Clinical Courses (9 hours)
CN 6357 Counseling Practicum
CN 7359 Counseling Internship I
CN 7360 Counseling Internship II

Summary for Community Counseling Requirements:
Core Courses 46 hours
Elective Courses At least 5 hours
Clinical Courses 9 hours

Total 60 hours