Clinical Mental Health Counseling, MS

The Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling offers a rigorous 24-month, 60-credit program that provides the educational preparation for licensure as a professional counselor in your home state.

Overview

The Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (MS-CMHC) program involves an intensive field experience program, in which students work in clinical placements according to their talents and career ambitions and are mentored by the host organization, a New England College faculty member, and NEC Clinical Coordinator, and the Director of the MS-CMHC program.

NEC is proud of our strong history of partnering with mental health and counseling organizations. NEC and these organizations work together to benefit all parties in developing field experiences in clinical mental health counseling.

Program Mission

The mission of the MS-CMHC program is to provide exceptional graduate-level education to cultivate highly qualified clinical mental health counselors. The program achieves this by engaging its students in deliberate academic scholarship following the standards of the Council for Accreditation for Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) with a specialized focus on equity, advocacy, and justice. We are committed to guiding students along their path to become successful clinical mental health counselors by encouraging students to grow in knowledge, awareness, and clinical skills.

Available Delivery Methods

Students can earn this degree on campus or 100% online.

Program Details

Learning Outcomes Developed to Meet CACREP Standards

Professional Counseling Orientation and Ethical Practice

Students will acquire knowledge of the history and philosophy of counseling; professional roles, collaboration, professional organizations, credentialing, and ACA and AMHCA ethical standards as a means to developing a counseling identity and an advocacy mindset.

Social and Cultural Diversity

Students will acquire knowledge of how the elements of diversity and societal factors impact individuals; while, gaining self-awareness regarding their culture and developing a personal understanding of how their own perspectives may affect the counseling relationship.

Human Growth and Development

Students will acquire knowledge of adaptive and maladaptive development, developmental crises, disability, psychopathology, and theories development and will apply theories of learning, personality development, and strategies for helping individuals throughout the lifespan in an ethical and developmentally appropriate manner.

Career Development

Students will know and apply career development theories, decision-making models, vocational and occupational information to career development program planning, organization, implementation, administration, and evaluation.

Counseling and Helping Relationships

Students will demonstrate basic and advanced counseling skills, including developing goals and interventions for the purpose of working directly with or indirectly in consultation with various stakeholders in various settings to improve the lives of those they serve.

Group Counseling and Group Work

Students will know group theory and gain an experiential understanding of group development, dynamics, and leadership styles for use in an ethical and legal manner in various types of groups.

Assessment and Testing

Students will know statistical concepts, reliability, validity, multicultural issues in assessment, ethical and legal issues, as well as learn bio-psychosocial assessment, case conceptualization, principles of diagnosis, and use of the current DSM so that they have the ability to conduct individual and group assessment and evaluations.

Research and Program Evaluation

Students will acquire knowledge of research methods, statistical analyses, needs assessment, and program evaluation, including qualitative and quantitative methods, technology uses, and ethical and legal issues.

Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Students will have knowledge of integrative systems of care; fiscal and legal issues; collaboration; community needs assessment; interventions and outreach; individuals and communities served; and clinical mental health counseling services.

Professional Practice

Students will develop and demonstrate clinical skills through supervised practicum and internship experiences and an integration of the knowledge and skills needed to be successful as practicing counselors.
Licensure

Our MS-CMHC program aligns with the degree and coursework requirements for professional counseling licensure in the following states:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming

Our MS-CMHC program does not meet current state requirements for professional counseling licensure in Kentucky or Ohio.

You can see requirements in your state through the National Board for Certified Counselors’ State Board Directory.

The MS-CMHC program was not designed to meet professional counseling licensure standards outside of the United States of America.

Field Experience FAQs

What is the MS-CMHC Field Experience all about?

Learn More

The Mental Health Counseling program at NEC is hands-down the best master’s program I’ve been through. I worked in higher education administration for 15 years, have three master’s degrees from three different institutions, and teach graduate level classes at another, so I can offer this opinion with some authority.

The program at NEC was structured in such a way that I was able to maintain full-time employment, which was an essential factor in deciding which school to attend. Though a small school, NEC contracted with some of the best practitioners in the region who were incredibly gifted instructors. Even today, my experiences at NEC inform what I do as a clinical mental health and addictions practitioner.
Amy Reynelli Clinical Mental Health Counseling, MS, 2011

Degree Requirements

Clinical Mental Health Counseling Requirements, M.S.

(60 credits)

Electives (select 2 for your state)

Supplemental Internship (as needed for state requirements for internship hours)

CMHC 6985 - Advanced Internship II in CMHC

Faculty

Forristal, Kaitlyn
Program Director and Assistant Professor, Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Human Services
Email: kforristal@nec.edu

Expertise and Recent Press

Expertise:
- Clinical and professional expertise in issues of social justice and equity, LGBTQIQA+ communities, transgender and gender expansive clientele, victims and survivors of sexual assault, identity issues, issues of body size and body image, leadership and advocacy, and counselor professional identity
- Recently appointed as Assistant Editor of the Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision
Recent Press:
- “Fatmisia and clinical counseling decision making in master’s-level counseling students” in Journal of Mental Health Counseling
- “Decolonizing wellness: The philosophical and historical underpinnings of wellness and recommendations for the counseling field” in Journal of Mental Health Counseling
Educational Background
PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision, University of Toledo (CACREP Accredited)
MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, University of Toledo
BA in Psychology with minor in Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Toledo

Bio
Dr. Kaitlyn M. Forristal joined the NEC Clinical Mental Health Counseling team in 2018 as a Visiting Assistant Professor. Throughout the last few years, she has served as Program Coordinator, Assistant Professor, and current Program Director of the MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Human Services programs. She is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and a National Certified Counselor. Dr. Forristal has clinical experience working in community mental health centers, non-profit organizations, and private practice. Her clinical expertise is in serving LGBTQIQA+ community members, especially transgender and gender expansive folks, counseling women, college students, marginalization due to body size, and body image development.

Dr. Forristal has a strong professional identity as a counselor and maintains memberships in counseling and counselor education organizations. Dr. Forristal enjoys teaching Social and Cultural Foundations, Introduction to Counseling, Theories and Techniques, and the field experience courses. At NEC, she currently serves on the Institute of Art and Design’s Inclusion and Diversity Committee and chairs the CMHC program’s CACREP self-study committee. She is currently involved in research projects based on body-size diversity, examining and decolonizing our current conceptualization of wellness, and making mental healthcare services more accessible to trans clients. She regularly presents at conferences on these topics and provides training workshops at organizations and universities.

Outside of academia, Dr. Forristal enjoys cooking, swimming, true crime podcasts, and spending time with her cats.