Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Master of Arts

If you want to make a difference in your community and your neighbors’ lives, you will find an outlet for your passion here. Through classroom instruction, fieldwork experiences, and internships, you’ll be ready to take on a position in clinical mental health settings as a Licensed Associate Counselor, and eventually as a Licensed Professional Counselor (independent practice).

This program prepares you, through highly experiential classroom instruction in evidence-based counsling approaches, fieldwork experience, and internships, to become an applied counseling/psychotherapy practitioner to serve with clients of all ages in behavioral health agencies, clinics, hospitals and eventually private practices. We offer this program at Northern Arizona University-Flagstaff as well as NAU -Phoenix and NAU-Tucson.

This plan meets the coursework requirements for the Licensed Associate Counselor (LAC) of the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners and for the national counselor certification of the National Board for Certified Counselors. Becoming an LAC and Nationally Certified Counselor are requirements toward the License as a Professional Counselor (LPC), which allows for independent practice. Graduates are often successful in pursuing counseling licensure in any of the other 49 states (each state has its own licensure laws. See this recent list.

This program has been CACREP-Accredited for 20 consecutive years. The GRE is not required or applicants with a 3.0 GPA.

GRE Statement, effective August 2017: If you have a cumulative GPA of 3.0* or higher, you are NOT required to submit official Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test scores for the MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling or the MEd Counseling-School Counseling programs. If you have a cumulative GPA of less than 3.0, you are required to submit official Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test scores on the aptitude portion (verbal and quantitative) of the GRE taken within the past six years. Scores, if applicable, must be received by application deadline for admission consideration.

This program is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).

Career opportunities that might be pursued:

With further education, one of these paths is possible:

Community counselor providing individual, group, couple and family counseling to children, adolescents, adults and the elderly in a wide-variety of clinical mental health settings.
Private practice as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
Mental health consultant
Specialty possibilities are unlimited but often involve; anxiety/depression, addiction, eating disorders, counseling couples/families, helping clients boost their self-care and wellness strategies, trauma therapy, stress reduction via mindfulness and much more.

University Requirements

To receive a master’s degree at Northern Arizona University, you must complete a planned group of courses from one or more subject areas, consisting of at least 30 units of graduate-level courses. (Many master’s degree programs require more than 30 units.)

You must additionally complete:
- All requirements for your specific academic plan(s). This may include a thesis.
- All graduate work with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0.
- All work toward the master’s degree must be completed within six consecutive years. The six years begins with the semester and year of admission to the program.
The full policy can be viewed here.

Overview

In addition to University Requirements:

Complete individual plan requirements.

Minimum Units for Completion	60
Fieldwork Experience/Internship	Required
Progression Plan Link	View Program of Study
Licensure	This program may lead to licensure.

Purpose Statement

As a student in the MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, you’ll take courses, do fieldwork, and participate in practica and internships that will prepare you to be an applied counseling/psychotherapy practitioner in behavioral health agencies, clinics, hospitals and eventually private practices.

This program meets the Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) coursework requirements of Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners and for national counselor certification of the National Board for Certified Counselors.

Student Learning Outcomes

Outcomes align with Standards from the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP).

Professional orientation and ethical practice - studies that provide an understanding of all of the following aspects of professional functioning.
Social and cultural diversity - studies that provide an understanding of the cultural context of relationships, issues, and trends in a multicultural society.
Human growth and development - studies that provide an understanding of the nature and needs of persons at all developmental levels and in multicultural contexts.
Career development - studies that provide an understanding of career development and related life factors.
Helping relationships - studies that provide an understanding of the counseling process in a multicultural society.
Group work - studies that provide both theoretical and experiential understandings of group purpose, development, dynamics, theories, methods, skills, and other group approaches in a multicultural society.
Assessment - studies that provide an understanding of individual and group approaches to assessment and evaluation in a multicultural society.
Research and program evaluation - studies that provide an understanding of research methods, statistical analysis, needs assessment, and program evaluation.
Foundations, contextual dimensions and practice in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

See the full list of Student Learning Outcomes

Details

Additional Admission Requirements

Admission requirements over and above admission to NAU are required.

- NAU Graduate Online application is required for all programs. Details on admission requirements are included in the online application.
- Undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited institution
- Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.00 (scale is 4.00 = "A"), or the equivalent.
- Admission to many graduate programs is on a competitive basis, and programs may have higher standards than those established by the Graduate College.
- Transcripts
- For details on graduate admission policies, please visit the Graduate Admissions Policy
- International applicants have additional admission requirements. Please see the International Graduate Admissions Policy
Individual program admission requirements include:

- GRE® revised General Test for applicants with a GPA lower than 3.0.

- 3 letters of recommendation

- Responses to specific essay questions

- IVP Fingerprint clearance card

- Candidate interview

- Prerequisite course:
  - EPS 525 or upper-divison undergraduate Statistics course complete within the past three years.

Master's Requirements

Take the following 60 units:
- EPS 590, EPS 592, EPS 601, EPS 615, EPS 620, EPS 621, EPS 625, EPS 617, EPS 660, EPS 661, EPS 670, EPS 680, EPS 681, EPS 688,EPS 690, EPS 692 (48 units)
- EPS 669 - Clinical-Based Crisis (3 units)
- EPS 694 for the post-practicum internship (6 units)
- EPS 622, EPS 640 or another course with your advisor's consent (3 units)

This plan meets the coursework requirements for the Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) of the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners and for the national counselor certification of the National Board for Certified Counselors.

Be aware that some courses may have prerequisites that you must also take. For prerequisite information click on the course or see your advisor.

PROGRAM FEE INFORMATION

Program fees for Fall 2020 will be updated in Summer 2020. Please check back to confirm program fees.

Program fees are established by the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR). A program fee of $1000 per year ($500 per semester) has been approved for this program.

Campus Availability

Pima Cmty Coll, West

This 60-hour highly experiential CACREP-accredited program prepares you to become a successful applied counseling practitioner to work with clients of all ages in a variety of behavioral health settings. This program offered in its entirely at the Mountain Campus in Flagstaff, at the North Valley campus in Phoenix and in Tucson.

As a student in the MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, you’ll take courses, do fieldwork, and participate in practica and internships that will prepare you to be a culturally sensitive/responsive, ethical, and evidence-based counseling practitioner.

The mission of the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accredited masters programs is to prepare professional counselors who meet national standards of the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) as well as state counseling licensure or certification in their specialty area. Our programs are designed to be comprehensive in nature and to focus on the development of evidence-based counseling practice in a variety of settings and with clients from culturally diverse backgrounds.

Objectives for School Counseling and Clinical Mental Health Counseling Programs

Successful completion of the Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and the Master of Education in School Counseling prepares students to:

Initially accredited by CACREP in November 1998, our program’s current accreditation runs through March 31, 2022. Students who wish to pursue licensure as a professional counselor have options to do so in CACREP-accredited programs or unaccredited programs. If you wish to become better educated about these differences, we strongly encourage you to visit the FOR STUDENTS tab at http://www.cacrep.org/.In the 2017-2018 academic year, there were thirty (30) graduates of Northern Arizona University’s Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program. Twelve (12) individuals completed their degree requirements on the main campus in Flagstaff and eighteen (18) were students from our Phoenix-North Valley based program. Our graduates consistently achieve high pass rates on the NCE exam, with an overall success rate for first time test takers at 100% for this past several years. Of the persons who graduated, 92% completed the program within the expected time period and 76% of those program graduates were employed in their field within 3 months of graduation.

This program meets the Licensed Associate Counselor (LAC) coursework requirements of the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners and for national counselor certification of the National Board for Certified Counselors. LAC’s in Arizona most frequently evolve to become Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC’s), who are eligible to work independently.Successful completion of this degree gives you the potential to transfer your licensure to other states, depending on their licensure requirements.The vast majority of our graduates go on to become thriving licensed professional counselors who speak highly about their training experience at NAU.

We strongly believe that counselors are best trained and mentored via frequent live, face-to-face interactions with faculty who are leaders in the field of clinical mental health counseling, and via face-to-face structured quasi-counseling interactions with peers. Our courses are highly engaging and experiential. Students are required to demonstrate a wide range of counseling skills (e.g. assessing clients, developing a strong therapeutic alliance, responding to cultural dynamics in the counseling process, collaborating with clients about realistic goals, implementing treatment plans and collaborative evidence-based interventions, adjusting clinical work based on client feedback).We believe experiential engagement is the best way to foster development of such skills. Although we do offer a few online or hybrid courses in the program, the vast majority of coursework involves classroom formats that are conducive to not only cutting-edge knowledge competency development, but skill-competency development as well.

GRE ONLY if your undergraduate GPA was less than 3.0GRE Statement, effective August 2017: If you have a cumulative GPA of 3.0* or higher, you are NOT required to submit official Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test scores for the MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling or the MEd Counseling-School Counseling programs. If you have a cumulative GPA of less than 3.0, you are required to submit official Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test scores on the aptitude portion (verbal and quantitative) of the GRE taken within the past six years. Scores, if applicable, must be received by application deadline for admission consideration.

Licensed supervisors who work with our student-interns frequently state that NAU interns are ready to hit-the-ground-running when they begin internship, and rate our interns’ effectiveness very highly.

How do I apply, and when is the application due?

The entire application process is a one-stop process. Once you click on APPLY NOW, in above right margin, all elements of the application are handled within that link!

The primary application items we will evaluate include:

The graduate school application
GPA
Three-part personal statement
Three professional/academic recommendation letters
Interview
GRE General Test (ONLY if your undergraduate GPA was less than 3.0)

For credit transfer and GPA policies, please visit the Graduate College website for more information about these policies.*Please note: GPA can be evaluated over the course of the entire undergraduate degree, for the last 60-credit hours of the undergraduate degree, or can include graduate credit (if applicable) as well.Application Due dates, by campus location:

Program	Deadline
MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling (Flagstaff only)	February 1
MEd Counseling - School Counseling (Flagstaff only)	February 15

Program	Site	Application deadlines	Semester next cohort begins
PsyD Clinical Psychology	North Valley (Phoenix)	April 1, 2020 (initial deadline for priority) May 15, 2020 (final deadline)	Fall 2020
MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling	North Valley (Phoenix)	February 15, 2021	Fall 2021
MEd Counseling - School Counseling	North Valley (Phoenix)	March 1, 2021	Fall 2021
MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling	Tucson	April 1, 2021	Fall 2021
MEd Counseling - School Counseling	Tucson	November 1, 2020	Spring 2021
EdS School Psychology	North Valley (Phoenix)	March 31, 2021	Fall 2021
M.Ed. Human Relations	Statewide Campuses	Rolling Admission

Please note:

Completed application files are reviewed and admission decisions are made once each year.
Applications will be reviewed and admission notifications are sent to students within approximately 30 days of the deadline.
It is your responsibility to ensure that your application file is complete. Incomplete files will not be reviewed.
In Flagstaff, many students apply for graduate assistantships (GA roles). If a student secures a GA role during grad school, they typically earn a full-tuition waiver in exchange for working 20 hours per week. For additional information, please visit the Graduate College webpage.

Tuition costs are updated routinely by the university and posted here.The MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program has a program fee that is assessed over five semesters (fall and spring each year) at $500 per semester, totaling $2500, over the three years students are in the program. The program fee has been approved by ABOR for students at our Flagstaff, Phoenix, and Tucson Campuses.The program fee covers administrative costs associated with this professional degree program. The program fee is implemented in lieu of course fees. As such, fees are more predictable for students. Program fees can be covered with financial aid. This fee allows us to better incorporate and support technology in the curriculum, provides students with current hands-on training with appropriate protocols and instruments, and allows faculty to make required site visits. This fee will strengthen our program, keep it nationally prominent and allow our students to be competitive in this rapidly changing and demanding field.

Clinical Mental Health Counseling

What classes do I need to take - and in what order?

The MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling is a 60-credit hour program that most students pursue on a full-time basis. The vast majority of students who complete the program do so in about 2 years, although the program can take a bit longer for those who take fewer than 15 credits per term.
Some of your courses may have prerequisites you must meet before enrolling. Find more information in the academic catalog.

Programs of Study

Recommended Course Sequence

EPS Course Offerings Semester-by-Semester (Flagstaff)

Students in this Master's program should follow the professional code of ethics and certification/licensure guidelines established by the following organizations: National Board for Certified Counselors American Counseling Association Board of Behavioral Health Examiners - State of Arizona Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs