Help People Move Forward with a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Prepare for licensure and professional practice as a mental health counselor with skills to support wellness, prevention and healthy development.
Earn Your Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling Online
Whether you’re new to counseling or building on related experience in psychology, social work or education, Herzing’s Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (MSCMHC) gives you graduate-level preparation designed to help you pursue a career in counseling. You’ll complete your coursework online and your supervised practicum and internship in your own community, building counseling skills under professional guidance.
- Online coursework with field-based practicum and internship
- 60 semester credit hours
- Finish in as few as 24 months
- 20 graduate courses, including a three-course clinical sequence
- 700 hours of supervised practicum and internship experience
- Experienced faculty and personalized student support
- Emphasis on ethics, cultural responsiveness and evidence-based intervention
- Designed to prepare you to pursue licensure as a mental health counselor
Why Choose Herzing’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program
Herzing’s MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling takes a practical approach to preparing you for counseling practice. Coursework emphasizes wellness, prevention, optimal human development and advocacy while also encouraging you to develop a professional counselor identity alongside your clinical skills. You’ll study trauma and crisis response, substance use and addiction, psychopathology, psychopharmacology and counseling across the lifespan.
You’ll build your communication and listening skills, conduct comprehensive intake interviews and develop treatment plans that are symptom-based, developmentally relevant and culturally responsive. In your internships, you’ll apply basic and advanced counseling skills with clients, supported by weekly supervision.
Supervised Clinical Experience
Every student completes a field-based practicum and two internships. You’ll work in a community counseling setting with weekly group supervision and individual or triadic supervision throughout.
Practicum
Your practicum is where you apply basic counseling skills with clients under close supervision.
- Minimum 100 on-site hours, including 40 hours of direct client contact
- Weekly group supervision plus individual or triadic supervision
- Prerequisite: Group Counseling. Taken alongside Assessment in Counseling and Diagnosis and Treatment Planning
Internship I and Internship II
Your two internships build on the practicum, moving you from basic to advanced counseling skills in a professional setting.
- Minimum 300 on-site hours each, including 120 hours of direct client contact
- 600 internship hours total across the two courses
- Weekly group supervision plus individual or triadic supervision
- Application of basic and advanced counseling skills with direct client contact
What will I learn in Herzing's MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program?
The program is 60 semester credit hours across 20 required courses. You’ll build from counseling theories and professional ethics through assessment, diagnosis and specialized clinical practice, then apply everything in your practicum and internship sequence.
Required Core Courses
- Counseling Theories
- Career Counseling
- Counseling Skills and Techniques
- Professional, Legal and Ethical Issues in Counseling
- Introduction to Clinical Mental Health Counseling
- Counseling Research and Evaluation
- Counseling Diverse Populations
- Lifespan Development
- Counseling Children and Adolescents
- Psychopathology and Psychopharmacology
- Trauma and Crisis Counseling
- Group Counseling
- Assessment in Counseling
- Diagnosis and Treatment Planning
- Substance Use and Addiction Counseling
- Counseling Couples and Families
- Human Sexuality in Counseling
Clinical Sequence
- MH 690 Clinical Mental Health Counseling Practicum
- MH 693 Clinical Mental Health Counseling Internship I
- MH 695 Clinical Mental Health Counseling Internship II
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Where Counselors Work
Clinical mental health counselors practice in a wide range of settings. The program is designed to prepare you to work in environments such as:
- Community mental health centers
- Hospitals
- Governmental and community agencies
- Employee assistance programs
- Correctional facilities
- Private practices
- Schools
Committed to Quality
Herzing University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (hlcommission.org). Herzing University is approved to offer programs in an online learning modality through association with the main campus in Madison, Wisconsin.
The Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling is designed to prepare you to pursue licensure as a mental health counselor. Counselor licensure requirements vary by state. We encourage you to review the requirements in the state where you intend to practice.