Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC)
The MA degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling is a 60-credit hour program designed to meet the educational requirements established by the Illinois Administrative code for licensure as a Professional Counselor in Illinois. The CMHC curriculum follows a year-round sequence of required courses. All courses follow an accelerated format with classes meeting once a week for 7-week sessions, with the exception of semester-long Practicum and internship courses. The program is designed to be completed in as little as two years. The MA program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling builds upon the broader North Park identity of cultural diversity and active integration of an inclusively defined Christian perspective. Students will learn the skills and knowledge required to function as a professional counselor. The program follows a generalist model of counselor education in which students are broadly trained to function as competent counselors in a broad range of settings. Within this generalist model, students have the opportunity to define specific areas of specialization through internship site selection. Potential areas of specialization include couples counseling, family counseling, addiction treatment, and career counseling.
Learning Outcomes
- Students will demonstrate knowledge of human development relevant to counseling practice.
- Students will analyze how culture influences mental health functioning.
- Students will demonstrate knowledge of effective helping relationships with groups and individuals.
- Students will demonstrate knowledge of research design and assessment measures relevant to counseling practice.
- Students will demonstrate knowledge of ethical counseling practices.
- Students will articulate case conceptualization skills through case presentation.
- Students will develop individualized plans for careers as professional counselors.
Academic Policy
At the end of each semester SPS will evaluate the academic status of each student. As soon as grades have posted, students’ cumulative and term grade point averages in the CMHC program will be reviewed. All work attempted and graded at North Park is included in the grade point average calculation, even grades of DW and I which carry the same impact as a grade of F.
North Park University graduate students must have a 3.0 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) to remain in good standing. Students with a cumulative grade point average below 3.0 will be placed on academic probation. A letter will be sent from the School Dean that outlines the terms for returning to good academic standing. These terms may include the requirement to repeat certain courses or bring up the overall grade point average within a specified time. If the student is unable to meet these terms, that student will be subject to dismissal from the program.
Additionally, students must obtain a grade of C or better to receive credit towards their degree for any CMHC course. A grade below C will require a retake of the course. Students will immediately be placed on academic probation if they accumulate two grades of C or below at any time during the program. As noted above, a student shall be placed on academic probation when a cumulative grade point average falls below 3.0. North Park University graduate students must have a 3.0 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) or above to graduate from the program.
Grades will not be entered for Practicum, Internship I, or Internship II until a completed evaluation and hour log has been signed by the student, site supervisor, and Director of Clinical Training. If required documents are outstanding one week after the end of an academic term students must apply for an “incomplete” grade for the course.
Degree Requirements for M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Required semester hours: 60 sh
Core Courses
Optional Advanced Training Courses in Addiction Studies (CMHC 5800, CMHC 5810, CMHC 5820):
Students enrolled in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) program can add three advanced training courses in addiction studies to their degree plan and specialize in this area within their internship site selection. Students will then be prepared and eligible to take the Illinois Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC) examination which leads to CADC certification through the state of Illinois. The three additional courses are: CMHC 5800 Special Populations (3 sh); CMHC 5810 Psychopharmacology (3 sh); CMHC 5820 Advanced Addiction Treatment (3 sh).
CMHC 5010 Counseling Theory (3 sh)
This course examines the major philosophical bases for counseling theory, ethical and professional issues, and various theories that contribute to the practice of professional counseling, including: object relations, humanistic/existential, cognitive/behavioral, and systemic approaches.
CMHC 5020 Counseling Techniques (3 sh)
This course is an introduction to the principles, procedures, and techniques of the intentional interviewing that occurs in professional counselor-client interactions. Through experiential exercises (mock counseling sessions), beginning counselors will learn specific interviewing skills, the goals and stages of interviewing, as well as strategies for therapeutic change. Beginning counselors will explore the importance of nonverbal behaviors, values, working alliance, the role of emotions and cognitions, as well as cultural factors in counselor-client communication. Throughout the course, beginning counselors will have the opportunity to reflect upon their own beliefs, skills, and values, as well as assess their competence in the specific interviewing skills.
CMHC 5085 Research Skills for the Disciplines (0 sh)
Research for the Disciplines introduces students to a variety of strategies for conducting quality academic research at the graduate level. In addition, it reinforces appropriate academic- integrity etiquette, including proper citation and formatting for integrating outside sources into a student’s own writing or other projects requiring research. This zero credit, Pass/Fail course is a requirement for all MACP students in the School of Professional Studies and will run in conjunction with CPSY 5010: Counseling Theories, in a student’s first semester. A passing grade for CPSY 5085 is the prerequisite to CPSY 5970: Internship I.
CMHC 5110 Psychopathology and Maladaptive Behavior (3 sh)
This course covers general principles of etiology, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, controversies, and cultural factors of mental and emotional disorders. Emphasis is placed on mental status assessment and diagnostic categories as organized in the DSM-V.
CMHC 5120 Group Dynamics, Processing and Counseling (3 sh)
In this course, students explore the dynamics related to group counseling process. Topics include: various counseling theories applied in group work; phases of group development; therapeutic factors in group work; group work with ethnic/ racial minority individuals; and skills related to group therapy documentation and case notes. Students will have the opportunity to develop group facilitation skills in a mock group experience.
CMHC 5210 Social and Cultural Foundations of Counseling Psychology (3 sh)
This course examines the myriad ways in which culture and identity impact mental health and the clinical counseling process. In this course, diversity will be defined not only in the traditional manner of addressing the four major racial/ethnic groups, but will also explore dynamics related to gender, dis- ability, religious belief, immigration status and sexual orientation. There will be a special emphasis on how these identity issues are manifested in the professional clinical counseling relationship. An important aspect of this course will be for the student to explore sensitive issues of oppression and privilege, and how the student has been impacted personally by these larger systemic patterns.
CMHC 5220 Professional, Legal and Ethical Responsibilities Related to Professional Counseling (3 sh)
This course covers topics including: professionalism in counseling, federal and State laws relevant to counselors, the ethical decision making process, and ethics with an emphasis on the Code of Ethics of the American Counseling Association.
CMHC 5310 Research and Evaluation (3 sh)
This course covers statistical principles, research designs, methods, techniques and tools used in performing and interpreting research in counseling. Topics include: developing the ability to evaluate relative strengths and weaknesses inherent to any research paradigm; quasi-experimental research design; qualitative research methodologies, meta-analysis, threats to internal validity; threats to statistical conclusion; and the process of replication to verify scientific findings.
CMHC 5320 Human Growth and Development (3 sh)
This course will provide an overview of the various stages of the human growth cycle and include information about multiple theories of development; such as physical, personality, social, cognitive, moral and faith development. An emphasis will be made on how these developmental processes interact with presenting issues in the clinical context.
CMHC 5410 Integrating Spiritual & Religious Issues in Counseling (3 sh)
This course will explore the vital role that faith plays in an individual’s life. Topics that are addressed include: faith development theories; exploring the historical pathologization of healthy faith by the psychology profession, assessing the spiritual worldview of the client, the implicit and explicit integration of spirituality into the counseling process, ethical issues of addressing spirituality in counseling, collaboration with clergy during the counseling process, and the potential role of religious beliefs in psychopathology.
CMHC 5420 Appraisal of Individuals (3 sh)
This course covers assessment of the various attributes of a person through standardized tests. The course also includes an overview of statistical procedures relevant to test standardization and interpretation. Topics included in this course are: item development, validity, reliability, standardization of tests, and using professional benchmarks to evaluate the psychometric soundness of an instrument. Students will critique a commonly used psychological instrument as well as develop and validate their own scale.
CMHC 5510 Advanced Culturally Competent Counseling Techniques (3 sh)
This course provides in-depth opportunities for students to deepen and expand their multicultural competencies and counseling skills for working with diverse belief systems and populations. Exploration of diverse spiritual, religious, ethnic, and systemic belief systems will allow students to develop cross-cultural competencies and understanding of the impact of the cultural context on the therapeutic process. Topics included will be pedagogy of the oppressed, the development of culturally responsive role induction skills, the assessment of racial/cultural identity, and an overview of psychological instruments used to measure multicultural issues in counseling.
CMHC 5520 Substance Abuse and Addiction (3 sh)
This course covers chemical, psychological, social and spiritual aspects of drug use, abuse and dependency, and effects on the family. Counseling skills are acquired in the areas of assessment, diagnosis, and treatment intervention.
CMHC 5540 Trauma and Healing (3 sh)
This course focuses upon current theory and research related to traumatic events and their survivors. Attention will be given to the special skills and dynamics involved in counseling survivors of trauma. The course will place emphasis upon the role of spirituality in the recovery process.
CMHC 5610 Lifestyle and Career Development (3 sh)
This course covers the lifelong processes and the influences that lead to work values, occupational choices, career path/ patterns, decision-making style, and integration of self- and career-identity with patterns of work adjustment. The course is designed around the concepts of career development and includes an overview of the major career development theories.
CMHC 5620 Family Dynamics (3 sh)
This course covers family systems theory and its applications, prevention approaches for working with families, and specific problems that impede family function. Students will learn how to construct a multigenerational genogram. The major systems theories will be covered as well, including: Satir, Whittaker, Bowen and Minuchin.
CMHC 5640 Child and Adolescent Counseling (3 sh)
This course explores the provision of counseling services for children and adolescents. It focuses on the acquisition of theoretical, applied, and collaborative techniques and practices required to understand and help children and adolescents’ function effectively within their social and emotional worlds. Overriding course principles include ethical, legal, professional, multi-cultural, and humane approaches to treatment delivery; understanding and partnering with the systems in which children and adolescents reside and learning and demonstrating various evidenced-based and developmentally guided individual and group treatment delivery models.
CMHC 5680 Human Sexuality (3 sh)
This course provides students with a broad understanding of sexuality and its biological, psychological, and sociological aspects. Different theoretical and therapeutic perspectives regarding sexuality are explained, with special focus on an evolutionary approach. The course is designed for students who want to obtain deeper knowledge of sexuality and especially those who plan to pursue their studies in sexology and sexual and relationship therapy. Students will learn more about a variety of expressions of sexuality and many factors that influence it.
CMHC 5800 Special Populations (3sh)
This course introduces students to multicultural aspects of chemical dependency. Multiculturalism is an important concept to examine in relation to addictions counseling as our clients’ age, race, gender identity, ethnic identity, sexual orientation, or disability status can impact the course of addiction or treatment. In this course, students will examine cultural influences as they converge with the substance use and co-occurring disorders. Developing cultural competence in addictions counseling is emphasized. Process addictions (e.g., gambling) also will be examined through a multicultural lens.
CMHC 5810 Psychopharmacology (3 sh)
Psychopharmacology provides counseling students with the fundamentals of psychopharmacological medications and abused substances in order to better serve the mental health needs of their clientele. Counselors frequently provide interventions for clients who are being medicated for psychiatric or psychological use, and/or substance abuse. As such, counselors must have adequate knowledge with regards to psychopharmacological medications, their applications, and their typical adverse drug reactions. Counselors also need to possess adequate knowledge on drugs and substances that may be abused, and the physical effects of substance abuse. This course is intended for counseling graduate students.
CMHC 5820 Advanced Addiction Treatment (3 sh)
The Advanced Addiction Treatment course is designed to specifically address treatment approaches utilized while working with the addicted population. In this course, students will continue building their expertise of addictions’ treatment by studying specific treatment approaches found to have had positive outcomes with the addicted population.
CMHC 5910 Current Topics in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (1-3 sh)
This course will offer an in-depth exploration of specific topics in the field of Counseling Psychology. The course can be taken as an elective for current students or by graduates to fulfill CEU requirements related to maintenance of licensure.
CMHC 5960 Practicum (2 sh)
This course introduces students to professional counseling practice. Students provide counseling services in preparation for Internship I and II. Students apply counseling theory and techniques in practicum placements and must complete 100 hours, 40 of which must be direct service. Supervision is provided in the course along with supervision at the Practicum site.
CMHC 5965 Pre-Internship (1 sh)
This course builds upon the Practicum course and serves as an introduction to the internship experience. The course will focus on group supervision of internship experiences, case presentations, and development of counseling skills. Students will engage in self-reflection and discussion of internship experiences and acquire deeper understandings of counseling theory in the context of counseling practice. This course is a pre-requisite for Internship I and Internship II courses.
CMHC 5970 Internship I (3 sh)
This course provides practical experience in counseling for the purpose of developing both individual and group counseling skills and acquire internship hours. These experiences allow students to perform some of the counseling activities that an employed Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor would be expected to perform. Students must have an approved internship site before registering for Internship I courses. Students must demonstrate proof of Professional Liability Insurance prior to beginning Internship I. Prerequisite: CPSY 5010, CPSY 5020, CPSY 5110, CPSY 5120, CPSY 5210, CPSY 5220
CMHC 5971 Internship II (3 sh)
This course provides further direct client experiences in assessment, individual counseling and group counseling, as well as opportunities to become familiar with a variety of professional activities other than direct service (e.g., referral sources, case histories and progress notes, data management, etc.). The internship provides an opportunity for a student to perform a variety of activities that a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor would be expected to perform. A minimum of 700 clock hours with a minimum of 1 hour per week of onsite supervision is required to complete the internship. Prerequisite: CPSY 5970.
CMHC 5975 Extended Internship (1 sh)
This course will provide supervision to students who are engaging in clinical counseling, but have already taken Internship I and II. This supervision course is designed to offer continued supervision for students who have not completed the 700 required hours, or students who wish to amass more than the minimum 700 hours.