MSU’s new master’s in clinical mental health counseling seeks to address growing public need

Next year, Michigan State’s Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education will welcome the first cohort of a brand new master of arts program: clinical mental health counseling (CMHC). The program is the first of its kind at MSU. 

This new program will provide students with the opportunity to get an accredited degree in mental health counseling, which will allow them to go on and obtain licensure to practice counseling. Students will also complete a number of clinical hours throughout their time in the program, granting them access to supervised experience in their field of interest. 

CMHC seeks to address the growing need for mental health providers, as more and more people are seeking mental health help. 

Every year, the Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education does exit interviews with graduating students, and faculty look at student feedback to see what they can do to improve counseling, educational psychology and special education programs. Through these exit interviews and communication with community members and organizations, faculty members learned there was increasing demand for mental health support in the community.

Professor and CMHC Director Gloria Lee said the past few years have seen increasing demand for more mental health support, especially coming off of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 59.3 million adults in the United States were affected by mental illness in 2022. 

These factors led department faculty to see the need for a clinical mental health counseling track, in addition to the already successful rehabilitation counseling program at MSU. 

“We decided that we wanted to listen to the demands from students and from the community and from the national trend … so that we can actually do justice to providing the needed services and training for our students and for the community,” Lee said. 

Professor Trisha Easley will be teaching in the new masters program while being the clinical coordinator for the program. 

“Not only do we see an increase in mental health concerns, but with that increase there’s a demand for individuals who can provide that care,” Easley said. “So we want to be able to provide those highly trained individuals to be able to then go out and help their communities and help individuals who need it.”

CMHC will be a 60-credit program to take place over the course of three years. The foundation of the program is guided by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).

“We want to create it so that it would be aligned with the accreditation,” Lee said. “Accreditation is important to make sure that students can apply for licensure and certification, because that’s very important to make sure that they can apply for the exam that would allow them to be more marketable for seeing clients.”

Classes in the program will introduce students to mental health counseling, basic counseling theories and techniques, and human growth and development. There will also be courses related to different types of counseling like addiction, trauma and crisis counseling. 

A unique facet of the clinical mental health counseling program will be its connection to MSU’s rehabilitation counseling program. Rehabilitation counseling focuses on counseling and services for people with disabilities. The two programs will share around two-thirds of classes as well as faculty members. 

“Disability is very prevalent, and everybody experiences it, or experiences someone, a loved one that they know that has a disability,” Easley said. “To have the knowledge and the understanding and the background with working with that population … is a unique piece that our faculty has and that can enhance our program.”

Assistant Professor Hung Jen Kuo studies how technology can be leveraged to improve mental health in individuals with and without disabilities. He has taught in the rehabilitation counseling program and will also be teaching in the new CMHC program. 

In his personal observations of both programs, the rehabilitation counseling program often attracts older applicants, which he credits to the possibility that older individuals recognize the need to serve people with disabilities. In turn, the new CMHC program has attracted younger applicants thus far, he said. 

“So with our program, who’s originated from serving persons with disability, now we get to talk to a youngster about mental health counseling, but at the same time infuse the disability knowledge and skill to train them so that they understand what’s going on,” Kuo said. 

There are also a variety of faculty members who teach in both programs and will offer a wide range of expertise to incoming students. Kuo said this range will allow for students to learn many different ways to meet their future clients’ needs.

“So we need to customize our technique and strategy according to the client’s needs,” Kuo said. “And sometimes the client may need, say, for example, more behavioral techniques, and sometimes people need to have more cognitive behavioral therapy.”

Kuo, for example, works with technological forms of counseling, like virtual reality and even video games to improve mental health. 

“If we have a broader faculty group who has a very distinct, I guess, quality, then we bring to the table that different … dynamic that we can infuse or prepare our students ready to take on clients with diverse needs,” he said. “So that’s very special in our program.”

In addition to the variety of classes students will take and faculty members they will learn from, 15 of the 60 credits required for graduation will be gained through completion of clinical hours. 

Toward the end of their degree, students will sign up for a practicum, Lee said, and later on complete almost a full semester of internship.  

As the clinical coordinator, Easley works to assign students to their clinicals and supervises them throughout the process. 

“You can only learn by doing and have to get in there and practice the skills that you’ve been working on throughout the entire program,” Easley said. “Use the knowledge that you’ve been building from the program and then actually get in there and start to work with clients.”

Alongside supervision from Easley, there are onsite supervisors that work with students during their clinicals. 

“It’s just really essential to do it and to do it in a supportive way so you can actually practice those skills, get feedback and get more comfortable in the position itself to be able to offer your clients the best care possible,” Easley said. 

There are many options for students looking to complete their clinical hours. They sometimes will work on campus with MSU Counseling and Psychiatric Services or with community organizations and private practices that have relationships with the department, Lee said. 

Through their courses and clinical hours, the program seeks to prepare students for a variety of counseling roles once they graduate, Lee said, from work at schools to community mental health agencies or prisons. 

“The more that I see a lot of counseling, the degree, there’s more overlapping than not,” Lee said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing … the graduates, it’s going to take three years, but then hopefully they would kind of be able to see the training be beneficial for them, so that they can actually help to benefit the community.”