Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program

Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program Overview

The Masters of Clinical Mental Health Counseling (MCMHC) program has been in existence since the Fall of 2018. The program is one of 12 graduate programs offered within the Graduate School at Indiana University Southeast. The MCMHC program is part of the School of Social Sciences and is housed within the Psychology Department. It is one of two graduate programs offered by the School of Social Sciences. The MCMHC program is a 60-credit-hour degree that is designed to provide quality educational and clinical experiences for students in order to become licensed mental health counselors (LMHC).

The MCMHC program has changed since its inception in 2018. Prior to 2020, the MCMHC Program was an integrated program with the other Indiana University system regional campus counseling program. In 2019, the faculty decided to pursue CACREP accreditation to better serve the needs of students who live in southern Indiana and northern Kentucky. Indiana University Southeast is located on the state border between Indiana and Kentucky. Students desire to become licensed in both Indiana and Kentucky. Currently, Kentucky counseling licensing requires that applicants graduate from a CACREP accredited program. As a result of this decision, the MCMHC program was created and became a stand-alone counseling program which was no longer an integrated program with the other regional campuses as those campus counseling programs did not desire to pursue accreditation. In the Fall of 2020, the new MCMHC Program was approved.

Program Statistics

• The MCMHC program has graduated two cohorts. In 2020, the program graduated 13 students and in 2022 the program graduated 18 students.
• All 2018 cohort graduates are now either LMCHAs or LPCAs. Ten of the 2018 cohort graduates are licensed in the state of Indiana, one is licensed in Kentucky and Ohio, and one is licensed in the state of Washington.
• All the 2018 cohort graduates have successfully passed the National Counselor Exam (NCE) which is required for initial licensure in Indiana, Kentucky, and Washington.
• Graduates of the 2018 cohort are 100% employed and are employed in counseling centers, private practice, and counseling group practices.
• Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling student rates of completion of the program for both the 2018 and the 2022 cohorts is 86% and 75%, respectively.

Summary Of Program Evaluation Results

The first annual MCMHC Program Assessment report was completed for Fall of 2020 to Fall of 2021. The program engages in systematic assessment of program students to ensure program objectives as well as CACREP standards are being met. Assessment also ensures students are learning the content necessary to pass state licensing exams such as the NCE and the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Exam (NCMHCE).

The following Broad Areas of Counseling Knowledge and Practice (BACKP) were assessed and reported in the MCMHC Program Annual Assessment Report:

Program Objectives

1. Provide a quality graduate level education in clinical mental health counseling through the provision of a curriculum infused with critical thinking skills, multicultural competencies, ethics, and professionalism.
2. Prepare graduates to advocate for the needs of diverse persons and work to promote social justice for the communities and individuals they serve.>
3. Provide a practice-oriented program which provides an educational experience that encourages applied, theoretical knowledge while supporting students in the development of professional and clinical practice.
4. Foster an environment that educates and empowers professional counselors to become leaders and advocates for the profession and the greater community.
5. Provide an educational environment that upholds a wellness perspective and encourages wellness based personal and professional practices.
6. Provide specialized instruction, training, and supervision in clinical mental health counseling skills to prepare students to work in a variety of mental health settings.

Broad Areas of Assessment of Counseling Knowledge and Practices

Assessment data collected in the MCMHC 2021-2022 Annual Assessment Report details student learning and achievement of the Broad Areas of Assessment of Counseling Knowledge and Practices areas identified below.

Assessment Results

The initial annual assessment cycle provides initial data of Year 1 of the first cohort group of the MCMHC Program. Results suggest that the following Learning Objectives were met or partially met by program students:

Assessment Area A: Professionalism, advocacy, and ethical practices

• Student Learning Outcome 1: Students will identify with the clinical mental health counseling profession, apply counseling ethics, and demonstrate a working knowledge of the history, theoretical concepts, advocacy, and practice skills required of entry level mental health counseling professionals.
• Student Learning Outcome 1 was met during this assessment cycle.
  

Assessment Area B: Theoretically based, culturally sensitive clinical practices.

• Student Learning Outcome 2: Students will demonstrate the ability to integrate knowledge of the theoretical models of counseling and multiculturally sensitive evidenced based interventions with professional practice skills to effectively counsel clients.
• Student Learning Outcome 2 was partially met during this assessment cycle.

Assessment Area C: Application of assessment and research practices

• Student Learning Outcome 3: Students will demonstrate the ability to apply assessment skills and counseling research evidence to provide effective counseling treatment.
• Student Learning Outcome 3 was not met during this assessment cycle.

Assessment Area D: Counseling and helping relationships.

• Student Learning Outcome 4: Students will demonstrate the application of wellness concepts to professional counseling practice.
• Student Learning Outcome 4 was met during this assessment cycle.
• Student Learning Outcome 5: Students will demonstrate the counseling skills, counseling relationship development skills, the use of evidenced based practices, treatment plan development and documentation skills expected of an entry-level counselor.
• Student Learning Outcome 5 was met during this assessment cycle.

Action Plan

To address the student learning standards that were not met, the MCMHC program faculty has devised the following action plan:

During the 2022-2023 assessment cycle:

• Faculty will re-evaluate COUN C520 Research in Counseling and COUN C537 Program Evaluation to determine if adjustments to content or assignments is warranted to improve student learning and skill in this area.
• Faculty will re-evaluate some of the counseling skills courses to determine if changes are needed to improve student counseling skills in several areas and in application of counseling theory to clients.
• Faculty will continue to ensure that all CACREP accreditation standards continue to be met in MCMHC Program courses.
• Faculty will collect data from students through the deployment of a Qualtrics survey to determine students' perceptions of the program and ways in which the MCMHC Program can better support student retention and success.
• Faculty will continue review of retention data for students in the MCMHC to determine procedures to reduce student attrition of students who may be particularly vulnerable to withdrawing from the program.
• Faculty will continue to collect data of MCMHC graduates, specifically their rate of employment and the passing rates for counselor licensing exams and attainment of counselor licensure which are required by CACREP.
• Faculty will continue to collect survey data from site supervisors and employers regarding students and program graduates to determine if program practicum students, internship students and program graduates are performing above average on all areas surveyed.

Program Modifications

In 2018, the MCMHC Program faculty made the decision to pursue accreditation by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). The required the program to become a stand-alone program that does not serve any of the other regional campuses in the Indiana University regional college system. The decision was made to better serve students who live on the borders of both Indiana and Kentucky. Currently, Kentucky requires that applicants graduate from a CACREP accredited program in order to become licensed. Many MCMHC Program students wish to be licensed both in Indiana and in other states that may require this accreditation. This accreditation would result in greater employability of MCMHC Program graduates.

In addition, the MCMHC Program is now a hybrid program with no more than 50% of program courses being online. This allows the program to provide a quality program that meets the needs of adults who often work full time and need flexibility.

The program now requires students participate in a New Student Orientation for each cohort that is admitted in the Fall of each year. New students are oriented to the program and are provided a fully updated MCMHC Program Student Handbook. Students are also required to attend an orientation to Practicum/Internship at the beginning of their clinical year.

The MCMHC Program has now begun to institute a systematic assessment of the program to ensure quality student learning and that students are prepared to successfully pass counselor licensing exams. Results of the assessment are reported previously in this report.

Program students are now assessed using a dispositional rubric that is related to program objectives and areas of assessment by faculty each semester. Once a year students receive by email or letter that details their progress in the program and any areas that students may need to develop. Students are apprised of their progress in the program verbally by their advisor each semester.

Substantial Program Changes

The primary substantive change to the MCMHC Program, in addition to the change to a stand-alone program, is that the plan of study of the MCMHC Program in several ways. First, the program added a new course: COUN C537 Program Evaluation. This course was required for several reasons: (1) one of the content areas required by CACREP is program evaluation, (2) one of the content areas students must be knowledgeable about is program evaluation for the National Counselor Exam (NCE) and (3) to replace the advanced Internship course. Replacing the advanced internship with the program evaluation course ensures that the program remains a 60 hour program which is required by both CACREP and Indianan counselor licensing.

Since the development of the new MCMHC Plan of Study, Indiana has changed educational requirements for the internship. Previously, students were required to complete 9 credit hours and 900 clock hours of Internship. This consisted of two semesters of internship and one semester of an advanced internship. Since 2020, the State of Indiana Counselor Licensing Board reduced the hour requirements for internship. Presently, applicants are only required to have completed 6 credit hours and 600 clock hours of internship. An advanced internship is no longer required.

The following plan of study was initially approved but is waiting for final approval by the Indiana University Southeast Trustees:

Current MCMHC Program Plan of Study

• COUN-C 520 Research in Counseling
• COUN-C 504 Counseling Theories
• COUN-C 532 Introduction to Group Counseling

Complete two semesters (total 6 credit hours) of the following:

• COUN-C 550 Internship in Counseling (300 clock hours for each enrollment for a total of 600 clock hours)*
• COUN-C 552 Career Counseling and Development
• COUN-C 563 Foundations of Mental Health Counseling&
• COUN-C 567 Intro to Marriage and Family Therapy
• COUN-C 501 Multicultural Counseling
• COUN-C 600 Counseling Techniques: Cognitive Behavioral Interventions
• COUN-C 669 Assessment in Counseling
• COUN-C 514 Lifespan Development
• COUN-C 511Professional Issues and Ethics
• COUN-C 535 Introduction to Addictions Counseling
• COUN-C 540 Principles of Assessment & Prediction
• COUN-C 624 Principles of Psychopathology
• COUN-C 524 Clinical Practicum (100 clock hours)
• COUN-C 601 Counseling Techniques: Affective/Humanistic Interventions
• COUN-C 736 Child Psychopathology
• COUN-C 537 Program Evaluation**

*Due to Indiana licensing changes students are no longer required to complete an advanced internship as a part of their Masters program. Previously students were required to complete three semesters of Internship enrollment for 9 credit hours and a total of 900 clock hours).

**Program Evaluation is an added course. Due to the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs standards which requires that students receive instruction about program evaluation and assessment this course was added to the program. This is a content area that is also included in the counselor licensing exam.