At a Glance
- Flat Tuition: around $30,000 for the two-year program
- Average Class Size: 15
- Convenient late afternoon, evening and online classes
- Two-year program completed in four terms:
- Term 1: August-January
- Term 2: January-July
- Term 3: August-January
- Term 4: January-July
Our Learning Goals for Students
- Prepare students to specialize as clinical mental health counselors (CMHC).
- Provide students with the knowledge and skills to become competent CMHCs.
- Prepare students to understand the ethical issues related to mental health counseling.
- Provide students with the educational requirements to be eligible for NYS licensure as CMHCs. For more information, please visit www.op.nysed.gov/prof/mhp/mhclic.htm.
Curriculum
The Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program is full time, requiring completion of 60 credits. The program is designed to be completed in two years: 12 credits each semester (48) and 12 credits over two summers. The curriculum is designed to lead to eligibility for licensure in New York state. The 60 credits include 24 credits of foundations of professional counseling, 21 credits of clinical mental health counseling courses, and 15 credits of clinical experience. The clinical experience includes 3 credits of practicum (100 hours of supervised counseling experience), and 12 credits of internship (700 hours of supervised counseling experience). The full course listing includes:
CMHC 510 Life Planning and Career Development
CMHC 520 Principles of Counseling
CMHC 530 Multicultural Counseling
CMHC 540 Advanced Counseling Theory and Practice
CMHC 550 Group Counseling
CMHC 560 Counseling Special Populations: Children and Adolescents
CMHC 570 Professional and Ethical Foundations of Counseling
CMHC 580 Foundations of Mental Health Counseling
CMHC 590 Practicum Mental Health Counseling
CMHC 610 Internship in Mental Health Counseling I
CMHC 620 Diagnosis and Treatment Planning
CMHC 630 Assessment in Counseling
CMHC 640 Internship in Mental Health Counseling II
CMHC 650 Crisis Counseling
CMHC 660 Research and Statistics
CMHC 670 Life Span Development
CMHC 680 Introduction to Family Counseling
CMHC 690 Topics in Counseling: Dual Diagnosis: Substance Abuse and Mental Illness
CACREP Accreditation Status
Cazenovia College’s M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program is not currently accredited by CACREP, which is a national standards organization for advanced degrees in counseling. The institution is working on becoming accredited by CACREP, and our program is aligned with and designed to follow all CACREP standards. Cazenovia’s CMHC program is approved by the New York State Office of Professions as a registered licensure qualifying MHC program, and graduates meet all educational requirements for students to apply for NYS licensure. See more details about the CACREP guidelines by visiting their website at https://www.cacrep.org/.
Application Deadline: March 1, 2023
Admission is open to students with a bachelor’s degree in human services, psychology, counseling, or related fields. Those candidates with unrelated bachelor’s degrees are eligible, but their transcripts will be evaluated and certain prerequisites will be a requirement for admission. Note that Introduction to Psychology and Introduction to Counseling are considered prerequisites for matriculation into the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program.
Additional requirements include:
- Minimum GPA of 3.2
- Official transcript
- Bachelor’s degree in human services, psychology, counseling or related field
- Completion of Intro to Psychology and Intro to Counseling (or equivalent) courses
- Completed graduate school application
- Personal statement
- Three letters of recommendation (must be professional and/or educational, personal recommendations are not accepted) Recommendation Letter Request Form
- Professional resume
- Interview with the program director
Candidates who meet the requirements for the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program will meet with faculty to discuss skills and goals. Confirmation of interviews will be sent to the email provided by the candidates for admission. Upon completion of the master’s program, students will be eligible for licensure. It should be noted that licensure in New York includes a background check. The licensure requirements are described at: http://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/mhp/mhclic.htm. Each student will be responsible for applying for licensure upon completion of the degree.
Students will complete 15 credits of clinical experience, which includes 3 credits of practicum (100 hours of supervised counseling experience) and 12 credits of internship (700 hours of supervised counseling experience). Some site examples include Helio Health, Liberty Resources, and the Department of Mental Health.
• Clinical Mental Health Counselor
• Child and Family Treatment Therapist
• Mental Health Program Coordinator
• Licensed Mental Health Counseling (Private Practice)
• Veterans Counselor
• Clinical Case Manager
• Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor
• Victim’s Advocate
Christina Bobesky,
- Program Director, Clinical Mental Health Counseling
- Associate Professor of Human Services