University of Wisconsin Stout | Wisconsin's Polytechnic University

The M.S. degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling provides students with the assessment, diagnosis, prevention and treatment skills necessary for helping a diverse clientele with behavioral and emotional difficulties.

Mission Statement

The faculty’s priority is to assure that graduates are competent and productive counseling professionals, committed to lifelong personal and professional growth, who respect the race, sex, age, religion, cultural heritage and sexual orientation of all individuals. Differences are appreciated and students are accepted as fellow human beings possessing unique backgrounds. The purpose of the program is to provide students with the counseling skills necessary for helping with the behavioral and emotional difficulties of clients from diverse backgrounds. Our objective is to attract students who will make strong commitments to their academic achievement, professional development, and personal self-awareness and growth.

General Requirements

• A minimum of 60 credit hours
  
  
  • There are 48 required and 12 elective credits
    
    
• The successful completion of the program’s comprehensive exam (or a Master’s thesis)
  
  
  • The comprehensive exam assesses the student's understanding of knowledge and skills necessary for entering the mental health counseling profession. Internship experiences provide training specific to the student's area of interest or formal concentration.
    
    
  • The thesis option is in place for students who are interested in research and/or planning on pursuing further education beyond the master’s degree.  The thesis option also fulfills two credits of the elective course requirements for each student.
    
    
• A 150 hour practicum and 600 hour clinical internship
  
  
  • See the Practicum and Internship page to learn more information about this aspect of the program.

   

Concentrations

The program allows the student to develop specialized areas of expertise and students may use a portion of their elective credits to develop that specialty area.

Formal concentrations are offered in:

• Career Counseling [PDF]
  
  
• Child and Adolescent Counseling [PDF]
  
  
• Eating Disorders [PDF]
  
  
• Gerontological Counseling [PDF]
  
  
• Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Counseling [PDF]
  
  
  • Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program Details
    
    
• The program may also be completed with "No Concentration" [PDF].

Counseling Licensure

The Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling meets the educational requirements for the following licenses in the state of Wisconsin:

• Professional Counselor
• Substance Abuse Counselor

After completion of degree requirements and graduation from the program, to receive licensure as a Professional Counselor (LPC) in Wisconsin (and all other states), graduates will need to accrue 3,000 hours of supervised counseling experience (at least 1,000 hours of face-to-face client contact) in no less than two years. During this time, individuals must hold a Professional Counselor training license. In addition, graduates need to take and pass the National Counselor Examination and the Wisconsin Statutes and Rules examination. Please note the information listed above is applicable only to Wisconsin, as licensure requirements are determined by the state.

The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counseling concentration has been approved as a pre-certification education program for the Substance Abuse Counselor (SAC) and Clinical Substance Abuse Counselor (CSAC) certifications by the Department of Regulations and Licensing. For graduates with the AODA Counseling concentration, this accreditation allows for 2,000 hours of supervised work experience toward obtaining the Substance Abuse Counselor credential and 4,000 hours of supervised work experience toward obtaining the Clinical Substance Abuse Counselor credential. The AODA Counseling Concentration will also provide the necessary preparation for the Master Addiction Counselor (MAC) credential offered through NBCC. Similar to the Professional Counseling licensure, this information applies only to the state of Wisconsin.

Information about the necessary criteria and application forms for licensure can be found at the Department of Regulation and Licensing web site. For information about the licensing boards in other states as well as information about the National Counseling Examination, please refer to the National Board for Certified Counselors web site.