The M.S. program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling prepares individuals to be professional counselors, and is designed such that students will meet state educational licensure requirements as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor upon graduation. The Indiana State University CMHC program requires 60 semester hours of credit and includes 700 clock hours of supervised clinical experience. Click here for Indiana state credentialing information.

Students take courses from, and must demonstrate proficiency in, eight core areas of counseling: professional identity, social and cultural foundations, human growth and development, career development, helping relationships, group work, appraisal, and research and evaluation.

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A minimum of 700 clock hours of supervised practicum and internship experience are required during the program. Clinical experiences vary from site to site but typically include

• Assessment
• Individual Counseling
• Group Counseling
• Relationship Counseling
• Career counseling
• Crisis Intervention
• Consultation
• Advocacy
• Substance Abuse Treatment
• Case Management
• Mental Health Education
• Community Intervention

Students have the opportunity to receive training in diverse and varied settings including:

• public and special-needs schools
• community mental health centers
• family service centers
• alcohol and substance use treatment facilities
• college and university counseling centers
• psychiatric hospitals
• state correctional facilities
• specialized juvenile treatment centers

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Summer 1 Year 1

COUN 534 - Foundations of Counseling

COUN 635 - Career Counseling

Summer 2 Year 1

COUN 633 - Theories of Counseling

COUN 738D - Ethics

This master’s level course is designed to provide students with lecture/discussion as well as experiential opportunities to increase their knowledge and skills in the ethics of professional practice. Attention is directed toward the nature of professional practice in various work contexts. This course focuses on current professional issues, professional and personal development, ethics in research and practice, and legal issues.

Fall Year 1

COUN 533 - Techniques of Counseling

COUN 626 - Psychopathology/Psychopharmacology/Diagnosis

COUN 666 - Multicultural Counseling

This course is experiential in nature. Activities are specifically designed to enhance (a) knowledge, (b) individual sensitivity, and (c) interpersonal/clinical effectiveness. Course activities include lectures, discussions, group and individual exercises, self-assessments, case/critical incident analysis, and immersion activities. Active participation in course activities and assignments typically results in a combination of personal and professional growth in the respect for, appreciation of, and ability to work more effectively with culturally different individuals, family systems, groups, and organizations.

Spring Year 1

COUN 615 - Group Counseling

EPSY 621/721 Seminar in Human Development or/ Development through the lifespan

COUN 634 - Practicum

A 100-hour practicum component, with at least 40 face-to-face hours, is an integral component of the course. The practicum provides an opportunity for counselors in training to implement individual counseling techniques and observe group counseling techniques. This is a distinctly defined, supervised clinical experience in which the student develops basic counseling skills and integrates professional knowledge.

Summer 1 Year 2

COUN 628 - Appraisal

COUN 655 - Advanced Techniques

Summer 2 Year 2

COUN 645 - Crisis Interventions

COUN 710 - Community Counseling

Fall Year 2

COUN 526 - Marriage and Family Therapy

COUN 642 - Addictions

COUN 739D - Internship

Spring Year 2

COUN 620 or EPSY 620 - Foundations of Research

COUN 740D -Advanced Internship

COUN 631 - Supervision Course

Total: 60 credit hours

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The master’s program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling prepares students to become eligible for licensure as a licensed mental health counselor. Students can then work in various settings, such as community mental health private practice, addictions treatment facilities, among many others.

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Graduation Rates - Graduation rates have been in excess of 95% over the last ten years.

Current Students - Our student group is quite diverse. We have students of all age ranges, undergraduate majors, diverse cultural backgrounds, and geographic regions enrolled in our program.

Geographic Origin - Students come from all over the United States and several students from abroad. Although a majority of our students are from Indiana and Illinois, we also had students from multiple states, such as New York, Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio, Texas, and Washington.

Age - The ages of our students typically range anywhere from their early 20's to the mid 50's, however, prospective students of all ages are encouraged and welcomed to apply.

Undergraduate Major - Students with a wide variety of undergraduate degrees are currently enrolled in the program. Although a majority received undergrad degrees in Psychology, we have students with Business, Biology, Sociology, and Criminology degrees.

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