Chart Your Career Path With Your Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling Degree
Viterbo University’s Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling (MSMHC) degree program educates counselors who will integrate the values of contemplation, integrity, hospitality, stewardship, and service into their personal and professional lives.
Our curriculum exceeds national and state standards by requiring core coursework in:
- Addiction counseling
- Psychopharmacology
- Family counseling
- Trauma and crisis counseling, with an emphasis on ethical professional practice.
The program also provides training emphasis on psychodiagnostics, psychometrics, and psychopharmaceutical knowledge and clinical skill sets applicable across patients’ life span.
Internships in a clinical setting are designed to guide you toward independent work with clients while under the full supervision of a site supervisor. You will complete 600 hours of internship placement, 240 hours of which includes direct client contact.
Students in Viterbo’s MSCMHC program have opportunities to learn through a variety of teaching methodologies, including
- Class discussions
- Role-playing
- Small group work
- Case-study analyses
- Classroom simulations
- Experiential activities
- Reflective and academic writing
A Clinical Mental Health Counseling Certificate is also available. This program is designed to meet the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) requirements for mental health counselors.
Master of Mental Health Counseling Program Details
Program format and class structure
Weekday classes meet primarily on Wednesday and Thursday evenings—from either 3 p.m.–6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m. Weekday classes meet for the full semester, meeting every week.
Weekend intensive classes meet a total of three weekends—Fridays from 5 p.m.–10 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
The program cannot be completed by taking only weekend intensives or only weekday classes.
Electives and focus area
Students must take two electives, allowing you to focus on an area of interest.
Average time to complete your degree
Accelerated path: seven semesters (year-round, taking a minimum of nine credits each semester)
Traditional path: 10 semesters (year-round, taking a minimum of six credits each semester)
Prerequisite
Applicants must have earned a bachelor’s degree.
National counseling honor society
Students who have completed at least one semester of coursework with a GPA of 3.5 or above will be invited to join Viterbo’s chapter of the national counseling honor society, Chi Sigma Iota. Throughout the year, CSI hosts events that foster networking connections, enhanced learning, and volunteer-related opportunities.
Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling Program Accreditation and Licensing Requirements
Our MSCMHC degree is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Our program is designed to meet state requirements for licensure as mental health counselors in the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. You will be prepared for a career as a licensed clinical professional counselor (LPC/LPCC/LMHC).
Key content areas include:
- Professional identity
- Social and cultural diversity
- Human growth and development
- Helping relationships
- Career development
- Group work
- Assessment
- Diagnosis
- Research
- Program evaluation
- Evidence-based counseling, prevention, and intervention skills
Within the curriculum, you will select two electives, allowing you to accentuate your counseling skills in a selected area, choosing from:
- Child and adolescent play therapy
- Family counseling
- Integrative health counseling
- Addiction counseling
Those interested in also becoming a certified substance abuse counselor (SAC) may select the addiction counseling electives and one additional course (psychopharmacology) to meet state certification requirements.
Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling Program Advantages
Our MS program offers you several advantages, including:
- Learn from expert faculty in small classes. Our current full-time faculty members are licensed professional counselors in the state of Wisconsin with extensive clinical experience. Two faculty members are registered play therapists in addition to being LPCs. Class sizes range from 10–20 students. However, all clinical courses (690, 695, and 696) are capped at six students, based on CACREP recommendations for student-to-faculty ratios.
- Gain hands on experience in state-of-the-art learning facilities. Our counseling labs provide advanced learning opportunities that are essential to training our students. We offer a play therapy training space with plans for a second room soon.
- Enjoy the educational benefits of our location. You will enjoy opportunities to pursue clinical internships with organizations and facilities in La Crosse (and Onalaska) as well as many surrounding smaller towns. Our strong regional reputation among counselors is enhanced through our numerous professional placements and successful graduates practicing in the region.
- Benefit from successful student outcomes.
- Placement rates: The most recent job placement rate for graduates of the program seeking employment is 95%. Of these graduates, 75% obtained employment before graduation or within one month of graduation.
- Licensure Rates: 95% of program graduates who have met the requirements for postgraduate supervised practice and sought licensure are licensed.
- Results on the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination: The program requires students to complete the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination (CPCE) published by the Center for Credentialing and Education, a corporate affiliate of the National Board of Certified Counselors. In the most recent year, the Viterbo student mean exceeded the national mean on the CPCE in 87% of the knowledge areas.
- 100% of graduates who met the requirements for postgraduate supervised practice successfully obtained licensure.
What Can You Do With Your Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling?
Many of our graduates pursue clinical counseling positions in hospitals, state agencies, and private practices.
Examples of career paths for our degree graduates include:
- Licensed professional counselor (LPC)
- Licensed mental health counselor (LMHC)
- Licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT)
- Licensed professional clinical counselor (LPCC)
- Substance abuse counselor (SAC)
Coursework and Curriculum
Students engage in a wide variety of experiential learning opportunities. Examples include:
- A cultural immersion experience in COUN 520 that encourages in vivo perspective-taking and reflection on the experiences of marginalization
- Completing action research with human subjects in COUN 660
- Engaging in mock counseling sessions to develop individual and group counseling skills in COUN 675 and COUN 680
- One practicum and two internships: these courses help you begin the process of accruing hours for professional licensure
Our most recently developed elective is a course on experiential and expressive techniques in counseling. This course covers a wide variety of expressive mediums and modalities that can be utilized across cultures as well as across the lifespan.
Related Programs
Not the right programs for you? Viterbo also offers:
