Mental Health Counseling Objectives & Structure
Program Objectives
Upon graduation, the successful student in the Mental Health Counseling Program will be able to:
- Demonstrate professional skills required for working in a multidisciplinary community agency, business, college/university, or health setting.
- Demonstrate a variety of differential assessment practices consistent with the DSM-IV-TR.
- Demonstrate the ability to use a diverse range of research-based intervention strategies.
- Develop appropriate intervention plans based upon a knowledge of culturally relevant variables in client care including ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic levels, gender, sexual orientation, and disability status.
- Demonstrate professional behavior consistent with ethical guidelines of the Mental Health Counseling Profession.
Program Structure
Students may take courses on a full-time or part-time basis (see Program Requirements). Students are required to complete 60 credit hours of coursework, including a supervised practicum experience with a minimum of 100 clock hours and a supervised internship with a minimum of 900 clock hours. This supervised application of counseling skills in various community sites will allow students the opportunity to grow into effective mental health counselors. Because of the demands of our program and sequencing of courses, students are admitted for fall semester only. Our curriculum was developed according to the New York State Department of Education requirements for licensure as a mental health counselor
Suzanne Bader
I chose St. John Fisher College for my M.S. in Mental Health Counseling because it is the most comprehensive program in the Rochester area that offers an array of courses necessary to obtain the clinical background for licensure in this field.
The program at Fisher has given me the confidence to know that I will be successful in the field of Mental Health Counseling. The professors have helped me to identify my own personal strengths that I bring to this field.
As an older student returning to school after many years, I had some concerns about fitting in. I quickly learned that the diversity that individuals bring to the program is valued at St. John Fisher College. The learning process is enhanced because of the unique perspectives of the students.
The Mental Health Counseling Program at St. John Fisher College sets the highest standard to assure that students who receive their Master's Degrees they will be qualified to enter this field with confidence.