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MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling

School of Social and Behavioral Sciences

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A Distinctive Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program

The MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Marist is a distinctive behavioral health care program designed to prepare you to become a licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor. Harnessing your desire to help those in need of mental health care, the program emphasizes the personal and professional growth of its students, fostering self-awareness and a deeper understanding of others. With diverse faculty possessing extensive clinical experience, and a thorough curriculum that exceeds state requirements, Marist’s Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling prepares you for a successful and meaningful career in this fast-growing field.
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A Curriculum That Goes Above and Beyond

The 60-credit Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Marist goes above and beyond the course areas required by NYSED.

  • Family and Couples Counseling
  • Crisis and Trauma Intervention
  • Psychopharmacology
  • Chemical Dependency Counseling
  • Counselor Supervision

About the Program >
View the full Curriculum >

Choose Your Program Timeline

Two-Year

This is a full-time, accelerated program, which includes two summers and 12-credit hours each fall and spring semester. This format includes the practicum during the first summer and an internship during the second year. Graduate assistantships are available in this accelerated program.

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Three-Year

This is a more flexible and less time-intensive option. This program includes two summers, 9-credit hours during the fall and spring semesters of the first two years, then 6-credit hours during fall and spring of the third year. This also includes practicum in the second summer and internship during the third year.

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Multiple and Diverse Clinical Sites

With Marist’s prestigious reputation, we’ve developed longstanding connections with multiple and diverse clinical sites for our Clinical Mental Health Counseling students. You’ll work closely with the program faculty to consider seeking training placements from a variety of types of clinical settings, including hospital inpatient and outpatient behavioral care programs, partial hospitalization programs, community outpatient mental health clinics, substance abuse mental health centers, child and family programs, and college counseling services. Your supervised clinical training experience will exceed New York State Education Department internship requirements.

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Present Your Research at Prestigious Conferences

Marist’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling program creates opportunites for faculty-student research collaboration and follows a practitioner-scientist training model. Students are encouraged to take advantage of opportunities to showcase research at prestigious counseling conferences. These experiences are particularly helpful for those students planning to apply for doctoral programs in counseling, which expect to see candidates with research experience.

"The best experience I had as a student was participating in a research study with my classmates and program director Peter del Rosario and then presenting this research to my future peers at the NYMHCA convention in Albany. This experience further demonstrated the Marist faculty's dedication to the field and the MHC program specifically."
Joe Cook
Addiction Counselor, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Expert Faculty With Diverse Backgrounds

Our highly experienced licensed mental health practitioners are committed to providing high-quality education and training to the next generation of behavioral health care providers. Our faculty come from a diverse range of clinical and educational backgrounds, and our students are exposed to every corner of the mental health counseling field. View all faculty > 

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Director of the MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program

Yumiko Ogawa, PhD, Counselor Education and Supervision
MA in Counseling
 
With over 15 years of experience in counselor education and over 25 years as a mental health clinician, Dr. Ogawa is dedicated to training the next generation of licensed professional counselors. An expert in Play Therapy, she has several publications and presentations around the world. Her work with undocumented and unaccompanied minors was mentioned in the United States Senate Floor. Being an immigrant in the U.S. entailed a grave identify shift for her from being an individual in a dominant group to an individual in a minoritized group. This shift was an eye-opening experience and it ignited her passion for combatting injustices and inequalities, particularly in the field of counseling.

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Small Class Sizes and Hands-On-Training

The average size of a counseling class is about 10-12 students. Students work closely with faculty and have more opportunities to receive deeper levels of instruction, skill development, interpersonal feedback, and mentoring than in programs with large class sizes.

Marist Clinical Mental Health Counseling By the Numbers

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Employment Rate

Alumni of Marist’s Master in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program are employed in their field within six months to a year of graduation.

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Clinical Sites

With over 50 established clinical sites for internship and practicum placements, students in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program can focus on their ideal career placement.

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Career Outlook

The field of clinical mental health counseling is anticipated to grow by 23% by 2030, much faster than average, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Top-Tier Career Placement in Clinical Mental Health Counseling

At Marist, we are focused on providing our Clinical Mental Health Counseling students with the tools and experience they need to pursue successful and meaningful careers in their field. Our students enter into a variety of areas in the mental health field, and their experience at Marist prepares them for success in every facet of mental health care. Below is just a glimpse at the career opportunities that await you after completing the MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Marist.

 

Logos of Clinical Mental Health Counseling career destinations: Berkshire Farm Center and Services for Youth, HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley, The Institute for Family Health
Logos of Clinical Mental Health Counseling career destinations: Family Services, Inc., Step One Child & Family Guidance Center Addiction Services, Inc., Dutchess County Department of Behavioral & Community Health

Licensure

Marist’s MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program is registered with NYSED as meeting the education requirements for the NY state licensed mental health counselor credential. Students interested in licensure in other states are responsible for becoming aware of those requirements and determining the degree to which the Marist MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling program meets those requirements. 

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