Sacred Heart University Online MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling

The Farrington College of Education and Human Development at Sacred Heart University offers an online MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC), including two campus residencies, a practicum, and two internships. Sacred Heart University seeks to equip students with the skills needed to be effective counselors and value the dignity and worth of every person.

The program was developed with the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) and prepares graduates to sit for national certification exams such as the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE) through the National Board for Certified Counselors. CACREP standards ensure that students are equipped for influential careers in counseling.

Online students come to the Sacred Heart University campus in Fairfield, Connecticut, for two, one-week campus residencies. Residency I helps students develop individual counseling skills and how to apply them in a counseling setting. The residency focuses on teaching participants to become change agents in therapeutic relationships. Residency II focuses on group counseling including the dynamics and diversity of groups, methods for evaluating group effectiveness, and legal and ethical issues.

The MA in CMHC program comprises 60 credits and includes 700 to 1,000 hours of supervised practice, 280 of which must be in direct service with clients. The program begins in the fall, spring, or summer. Full-time students can complete the program in two years. Part-time students may take three to four years. Courses last eight weeks each.

Sacred Heart University delivers CMHC courses in a cohort model through the Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS). Although the program is asynchronous, students will move through courses in a specific order with their cohort of peers, interacting through discussion boards, chats, and other multimedia tools such as podcasts, Hypothes.is, FlipGrid, VoiceThread, Quizlet, Group Me, Poll Everywhere, Mentimeter, and Remind.

Core counseling courses include Introduction to the Counseling Profession and Introduction to Ethics; Human Development Skills and Helping Relationships – Residency I; Counseling Theories; Social and Cultural Foundations; Assessment and Assessment Techniques; Psychopathology, Diagnostic Systems, and Advanced Assessment; Career Counseling; Research Methods and Program Evaluation; Substance Use Disorders and Process Addictions; Crisis and Trauma: Assessment and Treatment; and Group Counseling: Residency II.

Clinical mental health counseling core courses include Professional Issues, Laws, and Advanced Ethics in Clinical Mental Health Counseling; Treatment Planning and Integrative Models of Care; Practicum in Clinical Mental Health Counseling; Internship in Clinical Mental Health Counseling; and Advanced Internship in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

Nine credits of electives must then be chosen from the following: Advanced Internship II in Clinical Mental Health Counseling; Counseling Theories II: Couples, Families, and Children; Human Sexuality; Counseling Special Populations and Advanced Techniques; Counseling Grief and Loss; Psychopharmacology and Advanced Psychopathology; Consultation and Organization Administration in Counseling; Technology in Counseling and Supervision; and Counseling Couples.

Sacred Heart University is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE).