Master of Science Degree in Mental Health Counseling
Psychology Department
Read the news release announcing the new Mental Health Counseling Master's Program. The Master's of Science degree in Mental Health Counseling is being offered at Viterbo University beginning fall 2011. The program is designed to meet state requirements for licensure as mental health counselors in the state of Wisconsin and Minnesota. The 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, and evidence-based counseling, prevention, and intervention skills.
Students will have opportunities to learn through a variety of teaching methodologies including class discussions, role-playing, small group work, case-study analyses and classroom simulations. Students will apply this knowledge in supervised clinical settings.
Distinct Curricular Themes
- Mental health counseling: A curriculum that exceeds national and state
standards by requiring core coursework in addiction counseling,
psychopharmacology, family counseling, and wellness counseling, with emphasis
on ethical professional practice.
- Bio-psych-social: This
program will provide training emphasis on psycho-diagnostics, psychometrics,
and psycho-pharmaceutical knowledge and clinical skill sets applicable across
the life span and sensitive to cultural differences.
- Science-practitioner: A model that emphasizes not only evidenced-based
clinical practices, but also data-driven decision making where trained mental
health counselors embrace a research orientation and seek to maintain a
clinical relevance in their research (i.e., science informs practice and
practice informs science).
- Multicultural: A multicultural infusion encouraging a counselor
identity that seeks an appreciation of diversity and human growth in context
with social dynamics, while also advocating for community justice and equity.
- Complementary health: A perspective that recognizes the interplay of
Mind-Body medicine within an emphasis on personal wellness where mental health
counselors are trained to intervene for initial symptom relief as well as
lifestyle patterns for increased well-being and longevity.
- Certificate
of advanced training: Each
graduate in a select specialty area of her/his choice can receive a certificate
of advanced training. Those choices include certificates in, addiction counseling, complementary health and wellness counseling, and child and adolescent counseling.
For more information, please contact Debra Murray, Psy.D., Program Director damurray@viterbo.edu 608-796-3720.