Program Overview

Introduction to the Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling

The Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Marquette University prepares highly skilled professional counselors who are license-eligible to practice in a variety of settings. Students can pursue a general track or a specialization in addictions, child and adolescent, or clinical rehabilitation counseling. The program is offered as an in-person program with full-time and part-time options or a remote program.

Program Overview

Clinical mental health counselors work in various settings, including community health centers, hospitals, outpatient and residential mental health centers, prisons, and private practice. The scope of their work is broad and depends in part on the specific work setting. Areas of practice might include behavioral or substance abuse interventions, and supporting clients with parenting, interpersonal, coping, and collaborative skills.

Licensing Requirements

Specific licensing requirements vary from state to state, but mental health counselors typically require a degree in higher education, including a master's degree, plus an internship to sit for licensing exams. The on-campus program is fully accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).

Why Choose Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Marquette?

• Support clients in their growth and wellness through coursework focused on human development, psychopathology, assessment, theories of counseling, consultation, crisis and disaster response, ethical and legal issues, multicultural issues, and counseling research, as well as individual, group, family, and counseling interventions.
• In addition to rigorous classroom learning, the program requires practicum/internship experience and assists students in securing a clinical placement that is meaningful to each student.
• The cohort model provides community and support among students.
• Strong community partnerships offer students diverse clinical training experiences.
• Nationally renowned, diverse faculty experts are active researchers and dedicated to serving and mentoring students.
• As a Catholic, Jesuit institution, the program encourages students to stand up for the dignity of all and build communities in which everyone can thrive and belong.
• The program challenges students to think critically about the cultural context of their approach and to seek opportunities to serve underrepresented populations.
• The reputation for thoroughly preparing students has graduates standing out, and the program equips them to truly serve the greater good, no matter where their career takes them.
• The programs have high retention rates and low student-to-faculty ratios.
• The location in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, offers the amenities of a big city with the friendliness and ease of a smaller city.

Scholarships

Resch Mental Health Initiative Scholarship

Marquette University and Emplify Health by Bellin are proud to announce the launch of the Resch Mental Health Initiative, aimed at addressing the critical shortage of mental health professionals in Northeast Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Scholarship awardees are expected to train and work in the counties in the Emplify Health by Bellin service area in Northeast Wisconsin and are expected to be enrolled in the program on a full-time basis.

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Grant

The HRSA grant supports experiential training opportunities focusing on clinical mental health counselors with a child and adolescent specialization. This award builds upon the department's clinical mental health counseling – child and adolescent specialization (CMHC-CAS) program, the only such training program in Wisconsin.

Curriculum

The curriculum for CMHC-CAS centers on evidence-based training that emphasizes an interprofessional team-based, trauma-informed care approach, with cultural humility and social justice focuses. Clinical placements are available at primary care settings in high-need and high-demand areas throughout Milwaukee County.

Award Information

The Health Resources and Services Administration is the primary federal agency for improving health care to people who are geographically isolated or economically or medically vulnerable. This award is funded through the HRSA's Behavioral Health Workforce and Education Training program for Professionals, which is increasing the supply of behavioral health professionals while also improving distribution of a quality behavioral health workforce, and thereby increasing access to behavioral health services in underserved communities where behavioral health services are most urgently needed.

Eligibility and Requirements

The HRSA grant is available through 2029. A limited number of students per year are eligible and must be admitted to the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program and declare their specialization as child and adolescent counseling. Students can apply for the HRSA internship stipend once they have successfully completed their practicum and continue the same site placement in internships for the following Fall and Spring semester.

Program Requirements and Structure

• The program requires 60 credit hours and can be completed in 21 months full-time.
• There are three optional specializations: addictions, child and adolescent, and clinical rehabilitation counseling.
• The program has a high employment rate, with 100% of graduates employed within 90 days post-graduation, and an 83% pass rate for the NCE exam.
• 96% of students graduate within the expected time period.

Program Learning Objectives

1. Apply knowledge of bio-psycho-social-cultural foundations of behavior and evidence-based counseling approaches to diverse individuals and groups.
2. Apply professional, ethical, and legal standards in their counseling practices.
3. Assume advocacy roles for the mental health care of underserved individuals and groups in urban settings.
4. Integrate self-awareness, counseling roles, and reflective practices into a professional counseling identity.
5. Provide clinical mental health counseling prevention and treatment services for diverse individuals and groups in community settings.

Who Should Apply

Students with a bachelor's degree who wish to pursue a license-eligible degree in the field of counseling, or who anticipate pursuing a Ph.D. in counseling psychology, should apply to this program. Students with a variety of backgrounds are admitted to the programs, including those with a bachelor's degree, some graduate courses, a master's degree in a mental health field, or even doctoral degrees in another field but wishing to retrain as counselors and counseling psychologists. All applicants must have at least attained a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university.

Commitment to Diversity and Social Justice

The program faculty, staff, and students believe it is their responsibility to actively engage in creating a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive world. They value and embrace diversity across all forms of identity and acknowledge the complexity of diversity as it relates to privilege and the disparities of racial and social power impacting society. The program is committed to dismantling discriminatory systems and is dedicated to doing so through research, practice, and service. As members of an academic community, they believe that diversity enriches educational and professional growth, as well as communities, and they dedicate themselves to increasing self-awareness, growth, collaboration, relationship-building, and ongoing education. In their quest for racial and social justice, they advocate with and for those in their communities whose voices deserve to be heard, and they are committed to taking personal and group responsibility for racial and social justice and to holding one another accountable.