The Personal Choice for Your Professional Journey

The Marist College MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program will prepare you for your career as a professional counselor so that you can make a difference in the lives of children, adolescents, and adults. The Program provides both on campus and online courses, and professional field experiences in a variety of mental health settings. Students can complete the program in 2 years in a full-time, accelerated plan or through a more flexible and less time-intensive 3 year schedule. The Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program is registered with NYSED as meeting the education requirements for the NY state licensed mental health counselor credential. Request a program brochure to learn more! Ready to begin? Start your application today!

Why You Should Choose the Marist College MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program:

Affordability and Financial Support

In the past 6 years, more than 95% of students qualified for Merit Scholarships of $3000-$5000, and about 35% of students were awarded a two-year graduate assistantship valued at $9000. Overall, the cost of tuition is moderate compared to other programs in NY.

A Path to Professional Employment

Over the past 3 years, about 85% of graduates succeeded in finding employment or entering a doctoral program within 3-4 months of graduation. 

Success with the NY Counselor Licensing Exam

The NY licensing exam is very difficult - only about 61% of individuals pass the exam on the first attempt.* The pass-rate of graduates of the Marist Counseling Program is very good - higher than that of the majority of other NY counseling programs.

*Based on NYS Education Dept. data for 2006-2012.

High Training Standards

Marist's Program standards exceed the NY State Licensure requirements and call for additional clinical coursework in:

• Family & couples counseling
• Crisis & trauma intervention
• Psychopharmacology
• Chemical dependency counseling
• Counselor supervision.

In addition to the required counseling courses, a number of advanced counseling electives allow students to choose training in specialized clinical areas such as:

• Grief Counseling
• College Mental Health Counseling
• Counseling the Seriously Mentally Ill
• Counseling Children & Adolescents.

Success with Students Gaining Admission to Doctoral Programs

Graduates of our Program have gone on to Ph.D. and Psy.D. Programs in Counseling or Clinical Psychology at such prestigious programs as:

• Columbia University
• University at Buffalo
• Spalding University
• Palo Alto University
• Alliant International University

Wondering why our counseling students chose the Marist MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program over other programs?

Here's what they said were the most important reasons...

• Marist College's Reputation
• Affordability
• The Counseling Curriculum and Clinically-Experienced Faculty
• Small Class Sizes and Excellent Faculty: Student Ratio
• Location - in the beautiful Mid-Hudson Valley
• The Variety of Clinical Training Sites that includes: hospital mental health programs, community mental health agencies, college counseling centers, residential treatment programs, and substance abuse/mental health agencies.