Program Overview

Introduction to the Counseling & Art Therapy Program

The Counseling & Art Therapy program is designed to provide comprehensive, engaging, and in-depth education in counseling and art therapy. The program aims to develop strong counselor-artist-therapist identities in students through growth-oriented and reflective classroom, studio, community, and clinical experiences.

Mission and Goals

The mission of the program is to prepare world-class counselors and art therapists who are culturally responsive, community-involved, ethical professionals with successful careers. The goals of the program include:

• Preparing competent entry-level counselors in the knowledge, skills, awareness, actions, and professional dispositions learning domains.
• Preparing competent entry-level counselors in the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective learning domains.
• Preparing counselors and art therapists with clinical competence in assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning.
• Preparing counselors and art therapists to speak and write professionally about mental health services.
• Encouraging students to develop an innovative, professional, ethical, research-minded, and culturally responsive approach to counseling and art therapy.

Core Values

The program adheres to the following core values:

• Integrity: adhering to high standards and accepting responsibility for conducting oneself as a moral, rational professional.
• Creativity: fostering a climate of energy and openness to explore using the creative process.
• Self-Awareness: valuing self-awareness and the capacity for reflection as intrinsic to effective clinical practice and professional identity development.
• Humanity: dedicating oneself to cultivating a learning environment that embraces diverse perspectives and lived experiences.
• Collaboration: embracing collaboration as a fundamental practice to build a professional community based on support and encouragement of individual and collective expression of ideas.
• Depth: valuing richness and intensity in developing oneself to be competent in the breadth of understanding about the complexity of the human experience.

Student Learning Outcomes

The program includes competencies and student learning outcomes for CAAHEP accreditation and the eight core learning areas for counseling education. The student learning outcomes are designed to ensure that graduates are prepared as competent entry-level counselors and art therapists.

Program Goals and Technical Standards

The program has established technical standards that outline the essential skills and abilities required for students to successfully complete the program. These standards include:

• Observation skills: demonstrating sufficient attention and accuracy in observation skills.
• Communication skills: demonstrating effective communication skills with all ages and genders of patients.
• Critical reasoning skills: demonstrating critical reasoning skills, including intellectual, conceptual, integrative, and quantitative abilities.
• Motor and sensory function: demonstrating sufficient motor and sensory function to perform typical functions of counselors and art therapists.
• Behavioral and social attributes: demonstrating the behavioral and social attributes vital to participation in a professional program and service as a practicing professional counselor and art therapist.

Accreditation and Evaluation

The program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) upon the recommendation of the Accreditation Council for Art Therapy Education (ACATE). The program completes annual evaluations for continuous program improvement, and the evaluation period is three years.

Graduate Program Satisfaction and Employment Rates

The program has a high graduate program satisfaction rate, with 93.1% of students/alumni expressing satisfaction with the program. The program also has a high employment rate, with 100% of graduates employed in the mental health field or pursuing an advanced degree within 10 months of graduation.

Reasonable Accommodations

The program provides confidential and specialized disability support and is committed to excellence in accessibility. Students who require accommodations should contact the Student Disability Services Department to discuss their needs.