MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling - Dallas

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Program Overview

The MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling program consists of 60 credit hours of course work and supervised clinical training experiences. Students learn to promote mental wellness, prevention, and resilience in individuals and communities.

Students in the MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling program gain experience and training in general counseling competencies including ethics, research, program evaluation, diagnosis, theories, career development, assessment, and counseling interventions. Students receive specialized training that focuses on community, prevention, and early intervention in community settings.

Students are prepared in the requisite knowledge, skills, multicultural competence, and self-awareness required of professional counselors.

Acknowledged for its commitment to diversity, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology recognizes that service to a diverse community plays a vital role in mental health services. Through its programs, the Counseling Department embraces this commitment through the integration of multicultural education and diversity across its curriculum; successful students demonstrate an appreciation for and competency in this area. Likewise, the faculty reflects experience in graduate level teaching and counseling practice with diverse clinical populations. This program seeks to serve a diverse student body.

Mission

The Chicago School - Dallas counseling department seeks to prepare Clinical Mental Health Counselors (CMHC), representative of the communities we serve, to work in diverse trauma-informed interdisciplinary team environments applying core counseling skills in traditional and integrated care contexts utilizing both clinic based and telehealth service delivery methods to positively impact community members’ mental health and wellness needs across the lifespan, particularly those in mental health provider shortage areas.

Program Philosophy

The MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling program is dedicated to preparing students to become professional counselors for clinical mental health practice in a wide range of settings. The program focuses on students developing a professional identity as a practitioner-scholar; an awareness of diversity and advocacy; and strong helping relationship, diagnosis, and assessment skills. The core belief of the counseling program is that clients have the ability to heal from within a therapeutic environment.

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion the program prepares students to:

Professional Practice

• Program prepares students to demonstrate contextual knowledge and application of the principles of mental health, wellness, and human development including prevention, education, consultation, intervention, and advocacy.
• Program prepares students to demonstrate knowledge and application of strategies for addressing diverse clients’ career development and employment opportunities in a global economy.
• Program prepares students to demonstrate knowledge and application of the helping process with diverse clients; counseling theories and techniques; prevention, education, and consultation; wellness models; counselor self-understanding; and the change process.
• Program prepares students to demonstrate knowledge and application of group development, dynamics, theories, techniques, therapeutic factors, and how they contribute to the design and facilitation of groups in a culturally relevant manner.
• Program prepares students to demonstrate knowledge and application of culturally and developmentally appropriate clinical assessment, diagnosis, and evaluation practices for diverse mental health service recipients in mental health service settings.

Diversity

• Program prepares students to demonstrate an intersectional lens of cultural competence in counseling with individuals, groups, and families from diverse cultural backgrounds as well as the ability to advocate for equity and social justice in the promotion of mental health on the behalf of clients, the community, and the profession of counseling.

Professional Behavior

• Program prepares students to demonstrate knowledge and application related to ethical professional counseling practice, establish a professional counselor identity, and engage in effective interdisciplinary practice.

Scholarship

• Program prepares students to critically evaluate and utilize research, evidence-based practices, and program evaluation to inform the practice of clinical mental health counseling with diverse client populations.

Licensure

For information on where The Chicago School of Professional Psychology meets or does not meet program licensure eligibility requirements for the state in which you wish to be licensed, please visit: https://www.thechicagoschool.edu/admissions/licensure-disclosures/.

Admission Requirements

For information on where The Chicago School of Professional Psychology is currently authorized, licensed, registered, exempt or not subject to approval, please visit https://www.thechicagoschool.edu/why-us/state-authorization/

Application to The Chicago School of Professional Psychology’s MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling program is open to any person who has earned a bachelor degree from an institutionallyaccredited institution and who meets other entrance requirements. Applicants will be judged on their overall ability to do graduate work. Factors that are considered in admission include GPA from undergraduate schools. Generally, an undergraduate GPA of a 3.0 or higher on a 4.0 scale is required for admission. Applicants must submit official transcripts from all schools where a degree was earned. It is recommended that transcripts are submitted from all schools where credit was received to enhance their applications. Additional factors that are considered in admission include the following:

• Application
• Application Fee ($50)
• Essay: The mission of the program is to prepare Clinical Mental Health Counselors (CMHC), representative of the communities we serve, to work in diverse trauma-informed interdisciplinary team environments applying core counseling skills in traditional and integrated care contexts utilizing both clinic based and telehealth service delivery methods to positively impact community members’ mental health and wellness needs across the lifespan, particularly those in mental health provider shortage areas. In a two-page essay address the following:
  • How you would contribute to the fulfillment of the program’s mission given your personal and professional characteristics and accomplishments, your academic background, and your experience, and
  • Upon successful completion of the program, how do you see yourself contributing to the profession as a clinical mental health counselor?
• Resume
• Three Letters of Recommendation from professionals familiar with your academic ability or work or vounteer efforts
• Admissions Interview
• Group admissions interview
• Bachelor’s degree from an institutionally accredited university

Each applicant is reviewed holistically, taking factors such as personal and professional experience and accomplishments into consideration. Applicants are encouraged to contact the Office of Admissions to discuss their unique qualifications.

Applicant Notification

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology reviews applications on a rolling basis. Once review begins, complete applications will be considered by the Admission Committee and applicants will be notified regarding the admission decision. The Chicago School of Professional Psychology does not share information or provide any feedback regarding admission decisions.

If a student is offered admission and in order to secure a place in the incoming class, a non-refundable tuition deposit of $250 will be required by the deposit deadline indicated in the offer of admission. The non-refundable deposit will be applied in full toward the student’s tuition upon enrollment.

Degree Completion Requirements

• Successful completion of 60 credit hours of coursework
• Successful completion of supervised practicum experience at an approved site with an approved clinical supervisor for a minimum of 100 hours.
• Successful completion of supervised internship experience at an approved site with an approved clinical supervisor, for a minimum of 600  hours.
• Successful completion of a comprehnsive exam and capstone project. 

Policies

The following policies are located under Academic Policies and Procedures : Academic Calendar, Admissions Requirements, Attendance, Satisfactory Academic Progress, Service Learning, and Transfer Credit/Course Waiver. Click the link above for detailed information.

Ethical Guidelines

Students are expected to develop a working knowledge of the ethical and legal issues pertaining to, but not limited to, American Counseling Association’s Code of Ethics (2014); relevant federal, state, and local laws, statutes, regulations, and legal precedents (e.g., the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures, 1978) as well as the professional norms, standards, and guidelines relevant to the profession.

Practicum and Internship

Prior to entering practicum, at the end of their programs of study, students complete Practicum Readiness Assessment to prepare for practicum, review a diverse list of approved clinical training sites, develop their resume, and request recommendations for practicum placement prior to interviewing for practicum, all completed under the supervision of the Director of Clinical Training. Approved clinical sites are varied in terms of location in the metroplex, populations served (e.g., child, adolescent, elderly, LGBTQI+, religion, trauma survivors, addictions, etc.) and type of setting (e.g., psychiatric or specialized treatment hospital, residential treatment center, community counseling agency, school, private practice, correctional/forensic sites, etc.). Students may only register for fieldwork classes once approved by their supervisor and the Director of Clinical Training.   

Practicum and internship occurs in the final year of the student’s program. During fieldwork, students engage in practical counseling skills practice at an approved clinical site in the community, under the supervision of a licensed mental health provider approved by the program’s Director of Clinical Training. Students meet for an average of one hour for weekly clinical supervision on site individually or in triadic supervision. In addition to the site supervisor, students attend a weekly fieldwork seminar to staff cases and discuss professional and site-related issues throughout practicum and internship with a faculty member who is a licensed professional counselor supervisor and a group of classmates/colleagues who are also in fieldwork.

Practicum is a minimum of 100 hours on site with 40% of those hours being direct client contact. After successfully completing practicum, students complete two semesters of internship totaling at least 600 additional hours on site with 40% being direct client contact. During Internship I, students prepare for and take the Comprehensive Professional Counseling Examination that mirrors the licensing exam they will take post-graduation. During Internship II students prepare for and present a Clinical Case Examination, which is a case study where they apply everything learned throughout the program to a case presented to their Internship group

Transfer of credit for the practicum/internship is not granted and practicum/internship requirements are never waived.  Further details regarding practicum and internship are available from the CMHC Director of Clinical Training.

Students registered in this program incur a one-time $195 Experiential Learning Technology Fee.