Concentration: Clinical Mental Health Counseling

 

Program Description

The certificate in Clinical Mental Health Counseling is designed to meet the requirements for licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor for those students who have completed an accredited master’s degree in other areas or counseling, typically School Counseling and Guidance Education, and who seek licensure as a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor. The knowledge, skills, and dispositions that comprise the Certificate in Clinical Mental Health Counseling prepare individuals to serve populations for whom expertise from mental health preparation would be most appropriate.

Certificate Outcomes

  • To enhance skills to further obtaining licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor
  • To facilitate the skills necessary to enhance professional expertise
  • Serve as a gateway to licensure
  • Extend student’s pursuit of life-long learning

Admission Requirements:

Students applying for entrance to the Certificate in Clinical Mental Health Counseling are required to submit an application for admission, Apply Online (www.alcorn.edu/academics/graduate-studies)

  • Hold accredited master’s degree in a counseling related field
  • official transcript from an accredited school (if a student has attended more than one school, transcripts must be submitted from all schools attended). At least one transcript must document the student has a bachelor’s degree.
  • Grade Point Average (GPA) in a master’s degree with an overall GPA of 3.0 or better
  • Immunization record

Decisions are made only after receipt of all credentials by the Department of Education and Psychology admission committee. The department uses an admission formula to accept students. The entire application packet, including all supporting materials, must be submitted to the Graduate School.

Certificate Completion Requirements:

The curriculum for the Certificate in Clinical Mental Health Counseling requires 12 credit hours of coursework.

Program completion expectations require the following:

  • A minimum of 9 credit hours of graduate instruction must be completed in residence at Alcorn State University
  • Earn no more than two Cs in coursework
  • Successfully complete any certificate assessments according to content area
  • Official transcripts on file for all transfer credits accepted by the University

Academic advisors are allowed to accept up to six semester credit hours earned at an accredited university with a grade of “B” or higher for graduate coursework completed. Substitutions of coursework are allowed with the approval of an advisor and department administrators up to nine hours if the substitution(s) meet curriculum requirements.

See Transfer of Credits Policy for additional information.
See the Substitution of Courses Policy for additional information.

Certificate Audit:

Before students are awarded the certificate in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, each student’s progression to certificate completion will be evaluated to determine if student has met all academic requirements for course work and other aspects of the student’s course of study and Graduate School requirements. When these requirements are met, the student is cleared for certificate completion.

Time to Certificate Completion

Alcorn’s time to degree completion policy applies to all students seeking a certificate. The policy allows 6 years to complete the clinical mental health counseling certificate program. Certificate completion depends on the pace a student completes the curriculum. If the time exceeds six years, the student must petition the Graduate School to consider an appeal for more time to completion of the certificate coursework.

See the Student Academic Appeals Policy for Expiration of Timeline for additional requirements

Curriculum
Core Courses (12 Hours)
CM 509 Introduction to Clinical Mental Health Counseling
CM 520B Clinical Mental Health Counseling Internship I or
CM 521B Clinical Mental Health Counseling Internship II
CM 530 Psycho-Diagnostics in Counseling
CM 532 Marriage and Family Counseling

For More Information Contact:
Ms. LaShonna Fletcher ▪ 601.877.6202▪ [email protected] (Department of Education and Psychology)