Accreditation of Graduate Counseling Programs
The graduate degree programs in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling are accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).
Our Department is committed to providing a caring and challenging environment which facilitates the acquisition of the knowledge and the development of the skills necessary for our students to become effective counselors in an increasingly diverse society. Specifically, we affirm and adopt the Statement of Core Values of CACREP which acknowledges our belief in
- Advancing the counseling profession through quality and excellence in counselor education;
- Ensuring a fair, consistent, and ethical decision-making process;
- Serving as a responsible leader in protecting the public;
- Promoting practices that reflect openness to growth, change, and collaboration; and
- Creating and strengthening standards that reflect the needs of society, respect the diversity of instructional approaches and strategies, and encourage program improvement and best practices. (CACREP Board of Directors, March 2002)
Curricular experiences and course content for both the Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling Programs are built around the following eight core areas as defined by CACREP: professional orientation and ethical practice, social and cultural diversity, human growth and development, career development, counseling and helping relationships, group counseling and group work, assessment and testing, and research and program evaluation.
The Department of Counselor Education offers graduate programs in counseling at two different campus locations. Master’s degrees are offered in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at both the Boiling Springs and Charlotte campuses. School Counseling is offered only at the Boiling Springs campus. Both programs prepare counselor trainees to take counseling board examinations and meet other requirements for licensure. The Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling Programs follow an annual cohort model. Applicants are admitted in the fall. Counselor trainees move through their program together, taking evening (or afternoon during the practicum and internship semesters) courses each semester and in the summer. Students admitted to the Clinical Mental Health Counseling or School Counseling Programs who desire to change to the other program must reapply and meet all admission requirements for the program they wish to enter.
Faculty members at both campuses work closely together and often teach on both campuses. Many of the same courses will be taken in the first two years of study by both Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling trainees. Program advisors work with counselor trainees from the application process through graduation to support their academic and professional development. In addition, program advisors are available for consultation and recommendations after graduation.