Overview
The Counseling Department is located in the College of Education and Professional Development, co-located on the Huntington and South Charleston campuses of Marshall University.
Thank you for your interest in the Master of Arts Degree in Counseling. We encourage you to review this site and our main program website linked above. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you have. In our 60-hour program, we prepare graduates with the knowledge, skills, and professional dispositions needed to meet the challenges associated with entry into the field of Counseling as Professional Counselors.
Program graduates in the Clinical Mental Health emphasis are eligible to apply for the Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) credential through the West Virginia Board of Examiners in Counseling at http://www.wvbec.org/ — when they complete post-graduate supervision and pass the National Counselor Exam (NCE) or the National Clinical Mental Health Counselor Exam (NCMHCE).
Program graduates in the School Counseling emphasis are eligible to apply for both the LPC-WV license through the West Virginia Board of Examiners in Counseling at http://www.wvbec.org — when they complete post-graduate supervision and pass the National Counselor Exam, and the Pre-K—Adult School Counseling Certification through the West Virginia Department of Education at http://www.wvbec.org/ upon graduation and by passing the PRAXIS II Professional School Counselor Examination (#5421).
In addition to these two major areas of emphasis, we offer a five-course Graduate Certificate of Advanced Studies in Violence, Loss, and Trauma Counseling, currently the state’s only graduate level initiative providing a sequential, specialized professional development opportunity for mental health professionals focusing on traumatology and trauma-informed mental health counseling.
Accreditation
The Clinical Mental Health Counseling emphasis and the School Counseling emphasis of Marshall University’s Counseling Program are both accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).
The College of Education and Professional Development and the School Counseling emphasis area are accredited by the West Virginia State Department of Education.
Course Delivery
Campus-based Option
The Counseling Program is committed to reaching students across the state who are wanting to continue their graduate education. The Program is offered in a hybrid format with a mixture of live, face-to-face class meetings and online content delivery. Several courses in the program are delivered as fully online courses and several are taught with 3-5 class meetings over the course of the semester and the remaining content online.
Live classes are taught in the evening (4 pm or later) on both campuses, but may or may not be offered on both campuses each semester. The Schedule of Courses on the university web page will help you determine when and where those live meetings will be held.
All Counseling students are required to complete site-based clinical experiences for both the Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling emphasis. COUN 608 – Practicum (3 credit hours) requires a minimum of 100 site-based hours (40 direct & 60 indirect). COUN 691 – Clinical Mental Health (6 credit hours) and COUN 698 – School (6 credit hours) require a minimum of 600 site-based hours (240 direct & 360 indirect). It is highly recommended that students complete the internship course over two semesters for 3 credit hours per semester. Students are required to obtain acceptable site-placements pending final approval of the Counseling Program Clinical Placement Coordinator and course instructor. Guidelines for acceptable sites and additional Practicum and Internship information are outlined in the Practicum and Internship Handbook. Following these procedural guidelines, students will use SupervisionAssist to search for potential sites, apply for admittance to Practicum and Internship courses, upload appropriate documents for their clinical courses, and possibly attend their Practicum and Internship course meetings.
Distance Education Program Option
The Marshall University College of Education and Professional Development Counseling Program offers a Distance Education Program Option for students who want to complete a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling, with an emphasis in either Clinical Mental Health Counseling or School Counseling. The program is offered in a hybrid format, using a combination of synchronous (real-time video/virtual participation) courses and fully online asynchronous courses. Courses are offered on a semester schedule, Fall, Spring, and Summer. Please note that COUN 673 & COUN 630 are not offered during summer semesters.
Distance Education students are required to complete site-based clinical experiences for both the Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling emphasis. COUN 608 – Practicum (3 credit hours) requires a minimum of 100 site-based hours (40 direct & 60 indirect). COUN 691 – Clinical Mental Health (6 credit hours) and COUN 698 – School (6 credit hours) require a minimum of 600 site-based hours (240 direct & 360 indirect). It is highly recommended that students complete the internship course over two semesters for 3 credit hours per semester. Students are required to obtain acceptable site-placements pending final approval of the Counseling Program Clinical Coordinator and course instructor. Guidelines for acceptable sites and additional Practicum and Internship information are outlined in the Practicum and Internship Handbook.
In addition, clinical courses COUN 604 – Group Counseling and Techniques, COUN 607 – Counseling Techniques, COUN 608 – Practicum, and COUN 691/698 – Internship meet by synchronous format (via Blackboard Collaborate, Supervision Assist, etc.) a minimum of every two weeks to satisfy professional instructional and supervision requirements.
PLEASE NOTE: The Marshall University Counseling Program Clinical Mental Health and School Counseling emphasis meets current academic requirements for students to apply for appropriate licensure through the WV Board of Examiners in Counseling or the WV Department of Education. Distant Education students should contact their state licensure agencies for information related to their state requirements.
Admission Deadline
Applications for admission consideration are accepted at any time throughout the year. However, applications received within two weeks of the first day of class cannot be guaranteed admittance or the ability to enroll in the recommended initial courses in the curriculum in time for the start of the semester. It is highly recommended that you complete the process prior to that time.
Applicants are encouraged to communicate with the Graduate Admissions office early in the process to be certain their files are complete and ready for review by program faculty. For full details about the admission process, please visit our Counseling admissions page.
For the Campus-based application, please visit our admissions site and select Graduate/Master’s and Professional Applicants.
For Distance Education Admission Application, please visit our admissions site and select Distance/Graduate & Undergraduate Applicants.
Faculty & Staff Directory
For information on the program faculty and staff, please visit our directory.
