The M.S. program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling provides students with the knowledge, counseling experience and clinical skills needed to work in a variety of settings, from the local community, schools, prisons and nursing homes to other public and private facilities. The program selects highly qualified and motivated individuals and prepares them to become effective professionals in counseling and related fields.
The program is designed to equip students with the training and knowledge necessary to attain their Licensed Counseling Associate credentialing and pursue a number of post-degree supervised clinical experiences. Graduates of this program may achieve full licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Arkansas and clinical recognition as a National Certified Counselor. Clinical Mental Health Counseling students are also prepared to continue their studies in doctoral programs.
Admission Requirements
All admission documentation for the Counselor Education - Clinical Mental Health Program must be submitted digitally through the university’s Slate application software. Applicants should ensure that all required materials—including transcripts, letters of recommendation, and personal statements—are uploaded directly into Slate by the application deadline. No paper copies or emailed documents will be accepted. This process allows for a secure, efficient, and streamlined review of applications, ensuring that all materials are received and processed in a timely manner.
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Bachelor's Degree
Must have a minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 2.5 (or 3.0 on the last 60 hours of undergraduate work).
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Admission to Candidacy
Students who have attained unconditional status and completed 9-12 hours of required courses in the counseling program must file for candidacy status. For more information, please contact Ms. Karen Ashcraft at ashcraft@hsu.edu or 870-230-5349.
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Essay
A typed essay that reflects the applicant’s rationale for pursuing a career in counseling and demonstrates an awareness of the following characteristics that are necessary for becoming an effective counselor:
- Ability to work well with others in a caring and authentic manner.
- Awareness of cultural issues and of being non-judgmental.
- Possession of integrity and ethical conduct.
- Commitment to professional development.
The essay is divided into five basic sections, each one designed so that the first few words of each segment are provided to get you started in the correct direction. Complete each segment (typewritten) so that you feel the intent of that item has been covered.
- Item 1: My rationale for pursuing a career in counseling is best expressed as follows...
- Item 2: My ability to work well with others in a caring and authentic manner is best expressed and demonstrated by...
- Item 3: My awareness of cultural issues, and of the necessity of being non-judgmental, is best expressed and demonstrated by...
- Item 4: My possession of integrity and ethical conduct is best expressed and demonstrated by...
- Item 5: My commitment to professional development is best expressed and demonstrated by...
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Appraisal/Recommendation
Three appraisal/recommendation forms:
- One completed by a work supervisor or someone familiar with the student’s work performance and ethics.
- One completed by a faculty member in the applicant’s most recent academic program of study.
- The third form may be completed by anyone who can attest to the applicant’s ability and/or character, except that it may not be completed by anyone who is a relative of the applicant.
Career Paths
- Addiction Counselor
- Case Manager/Social Services Coordinator
- Clinical Mental Health Counselor
- Counselor Education Professor
- Crisis Counselor
- Private Practice Therapist
- School Mental Health Counselor
*Some careers may require additional education.
Learning Outcomes
- Have specialized knowledge and skills for mental health service delivery
- Have general knowledge of the influence of context on theories of human behavior, human development, and human relating
- General knowledge and experience with treatment modalities appropriate for a broad range of mental health service settings
- Have knowledge and respect for the influences of culture/ethnicity, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic class
- Are prepared to provide competent professional service and leadership within the mental health field upon graduation
Courses
In order to earn your M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, you will complete 19 courses, including two electives, for a total of 60 credit hours.
Students and graduates of the Counselor Education program who want to become Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC) in Arkansas must meet additional training requirements. LEARN MORE
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CNED 61103: Professional Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
The basic philosophy and principles of the helping relationshiop and introduction to the management of organized counseling programs. Professional orientation studies of history, roles, professional organizations, ethics, standards, and credentialing. The introductory course for counselors-in-training and an elective for persons in other educational roles.
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CNED 67903: Case Management - Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
Laboratory and field experience with community agency clients including development and use of cumulative records, individual 112 programs of treatment and follow-up. Implementation of treatment and consultation to facilitate growth will be emphasized. This includes methods of inhancing teamwork within the agency and/or staff and community agency personnel.
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CNED 68203: Counseling Internship - Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Credit Hours: 6
Supervised field practice in working as a counselor in a mental helath agency setting. Six hundred (600) clock hours are required, two hundred forty (240) or which are face-to-face and three hundred and sixty (360) indirect. Students are strongly encouraged to complete all other required coursework prior to enrolling in intership and must complete prerequisites before admission to intership.
Taken in two semesters for six credit hours total.
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CNED 50303: Marriage Counseling and Family Systems
Credit Hours: 3
Students will receive an introduction to the major theories and techniques of couples and family counseling including a working knowledge of family systems theories and their application in working with couples and families.
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CNED 57203: Assessment in Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
A survey of the types and objectives of the various standardized tests used in the public school setting: achievement, mental abilities, aptitude, interest and self-appraisal instruments. Included in the course will be basic statistics necessary for the elementary understanding and interpretation of test data. Methods of study will include use of class lecture, research, films, and experience with test-taking and interpretation. Open to non-counseling majors.
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CNED 50003: Advanced Human Development
Credit Hours: 3
The study of human growth from infancy through adulthood, including theories of development in such areas as physical, mental, personality and social maturation, abnormalities and variations in development due to sex, culture, and environmental factors.
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CNED 64403: Psychopathology
Credit Hours: 3
This course is designed to assist the mental health practitioner in understanding psychological disorders that are experienced by adults. Students will be learn to distinguish between abnormal and normal behavior. In understanding mental disorders, students will learn about the signs, symptoms, behaviors and thoughts that the person experiences. Additionally, all mental disorders will be conceptualized within various schools of counseling theory that underlie clinical practice. Students will learn to use the DSM V. Additionally, this course will sensitize students to the role that culture and other diversity issues play in the diagnosis and treatment of psychopathology.
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CNED 67303: Theories of Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
Major contemporary and historical theories in counseling and an introduction to their application in the counseling and consultation roles.
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CNED 67403: Group Procedures
Credit Hours: 3
This is a skills and content course designed to help you gain the rudimentary knowledge and skills for conducting group counseling. The course will focus primarily on therapy groups in a brief format, but will also include information about psycho-educational groups and longer term therapy groups. In each of these settings we will examine multicultural issues as they pertain to the group process. Although the class will have a specific focus, you will be encouraged to develop your own learning goals and to choose assignments that will help you attain those goals. Prerequisite - CNED 67303: Theories of Counseling.
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CNED 69503: Social and Cultural Foundations in Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
Studies that provide an understanding of the cultural context of relationships, issues, and trends in a multicultural and diverse society related to such factors as culture, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, sexual orientation, mental and physical characteristics, education, family values, religious and spiritual values, socioeconomic status and unique characteristics of individuals, couples, families, ethnic groups, and communities.
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CNED 68803: Research and Program Evaluation
Credit Hours: 3
A study of the many types of research methods applicable to the several academic disciplines, including techniques for the interpretation, the reporting, and the presentation of research. Also, the program development process, from needs assessment to program evaluation, will be covered.
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CNED 67503: Career Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
This is a dedicated to theoretical and applied topics in career development and career counseling. Students will acquire and understanding of career development and career counseling theories, vocational issues of multicultural groups, vocational assessment and intervention techniques and occupational information.
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CNED 61603: Pre-Practicum
Credit Hours: 3
This course provides to provide an understanding of fundamental counseling skills such as relationship building, basic assessment, goal setting, selection of interventions, and evaluation of client outcomes. This course is intended for graduate students who have a working knowledge of counseling theory and would like to gain fundamental counseling skills. The course may also be beneficial for practicing counselors interested in enhancing their current skills.
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CNED 66703: Counseling Practicum
Credit Hours: 3
Practicum is a supervised, on-campus laboratory experience in application of theories and techniques of counseling. Practicum is a beginning counseling skills class. It is the beginning of the Clinical leg of your training. It is the prerequisite to Internship. Prerequisites: Introductory Course to Clinical Mental Health/School Counseling, CED 6093 Pre Practicum, CED 6733 Theories and CED 6743 Group Procedures.
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CNED 69303: Ethics
Credit Hours: 3
Students will receive an introduction to the ethical codes of mental health counseling, school counseling, and an overview of the philosophy of ethics. This course focuses on ethical conceptualization, analysis, decision making and practical application of ethics and law to common dilemmas faced by counselors.
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CNED 65803: Counseling and Substance Abuse
Credit Hours: 3
This course reviews addictive processes and disorders from historical and current perspective. Included are theoretical models of understanding and treating misuse, abuse, and addiction. Assessments and comorbidity are reviewed to assess severity of addiction, develop treatment plans, and determine treatment setting.
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CNED 61903: Counseling Children and Adolescents/Intro to Play Therapy
Credit Hours: 3
This course is an introductory course, focusing on theories and techniques when applied to counseling children and adolescents. Emphasis is placed on the developmental needs of children and adolescents in the counseling process. Play therapy techniques for young children and creative techniques for adolescents will be highlighted.
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CNED 56503: Family Counseling and Parent Education
Credit Hours: 3
The basic philosophy and principles of helping families. The open forum method of interviewing families will be studied and practiced, combined with methods and techniques to help parents deal with family conflicts and discipline. This model is easily applied to the process of consulting with teachers about school-related discipline problems.
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CNED 61503: Special Problems in Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
Due to unique and extenuating circumstances, a student may need to take a required or approved elective CED course during a semester when that course is not offered. By enrolling in Special Problems in Counseling, the student is able to take a course out of sequence by taking it on an individual basis. It is not an independent study course of the student or instructor’s choosing. The same curriculum and requirements for the regular counseling courses will be used. Application to take Special Problems is made to the department chair. Students will meet regularly with an instructor on a period-arranged basis.
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CNED 50703: Advanced Play Therapy
Credit Hours: 3
This course is an advanced course, focusing on theories and techniques, of play therapy, when applied to counseling children, adolescents, adults, and older adults. Emphasis is placed on the developmental, attachment related, and trauma related needs of individuals in the counseling process. Play therapy skills, techniques, and activities for all ages will be highlighted.
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CNED 66303: Supervision
Credit Hours: 3
This course will provide students with the experiences and theory necessary for supervising counselors in training. This class is only available to those who have their LAC.
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CNED 71003: Sex Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
This course will consist of an exploration of the psychological, physiological, social, familial, and existential components of human sexuality. Specific attention will be given the following subjects: Sexual attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, dysfunctions, deviations, and counseling; AIDS, incest, sexual abuse and other deviations; gender and sex; and human sexuality in different cultures. The course will be adapted to the needs of students or professionals in educational, counseling, mental health, social, and family agencies. An integration of individual, marital, family, and sex counseling approaches will be presented. Particular attention will be paid to the ethics of sex counseling.
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CNED 69103: Advanced Counseling Techniques
Credit Hours: 3
Integration of theory and methodology in experiential learning with various systemic and individual approaches. Prerequisite - CNED 67303: Theories of Counseling.
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CNED 69803: Seminar in Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
Critical analysis of issues confronting the professional counselor working with students/clients individually and in groups. Discussion of relevant research in counseling and of practical implementation of the various counseling theories.
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CNED 66803: Psychopharmacology
Credit Hours: 3
The purpose of this course is to acquaint counseling students with the fundamentals of psychotropic drugs. Basics of pharmacology, adverse effects, indications, and drug interactions will be discussed. Boundaries of practice and practical issues of assessment and referral will be covered. The overall aim of the course is to provide information about psychopharmacology to the non-medical mental health care provider so that s/he can be a more informed member of the mental health care team. This course does not purport to prepare the student to be any part of the pharmacological prescriptive process.
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CNED 66203: Crisis Intervention Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
The study and practice of the theory and techniques of crisis intervention as applied to a variety of debilitating psychological trauma. Selected topics include PTSD, suicide, battering, loss, substance abuse, sexual assault and abuse, and health and maintenance of the crisis interventionist. Typical age-related experiences can inform intervention.
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CNED 61401: Technology Assisted Counseling
Credit Hours: 1
Arkansas State Licensure Required Course
This course will provide a foundational introduction to all concepts concerning telemental health counseling. Topics include: history and functionality of telemental health, skills for telemental health, HIPPA compliance with distant counseling, best practices an ethical concern, crisis planning and protocols, selection of telemental health technology, orienting clients to telemental health , and telemental health and holistic support for clients. This course will include information on additional trainings and certifications for telemental health counseling.
Resources
Contact
Karen Ashcraft
Administrative Assistant
870-230-5349
ashcraft@hsu.edu
Henderson State University's counseling programs are accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).