The CWU Mental Health Counseling program consists of 90 credit hours and typically takes just over two years to complete.  All students begin the program in fall quarter. Students often finish their internships during the summer quarter of their second year.

Course Requirements:

Students must complete the following courses, which are described in CWU’s Graduate Catalog.

Students may take elective classes but are not required to do so to graduate. Possible elective classes include the below listed.  Most of these courses are offered either spring or winter quarter, but may not be offered every year.

• PSY 515 Behavioral Medicine and Health Psychology (4)

• PSY 530 Positive Psychology (4)

• PSY 551 Behavior Analysis (4)

• PSY 558 Advanced Statistics (5)

• PSY 567 Counseling and Assessment of Children and Adolescents (4)

• PSY 578 Applied Clinical Neuroscience (4)

• PSY 580 Current Issues in Psychology (3)

Other Program Requirements:

• All MHC students are required to compete a portfolio.  This portfolio serves as a culmination of the work one completes within the program, and is meant to demonstrate the student’s development of counseling knowledge, requisite clinical skills and practice, and professional identity. Portfolio credits (4) are earned during spring of the second year; however, students work toward fulfilling the requirements throughout the program.
• Students are required to participate in 30 hours of research or service learning during their course of study.  There are 4 ways one may complete this requirement:

1. Participate in the research currently being conducted in the Community Counseling and Psychological Assessment Center (CCPAC)

2. Join any faculty currently working on a research project (this includes non-counseling faculty).

3. Complete a Thesis (please speak with the Program Director prior to making this decision)

4. Serve the community via service learning activities (Note: Students may not provide clinical services in the context of this experience)

• Students must successfully complete their practicum in full prior to starting internship.
• Internship credits (12) are taken over two quarters (usually spring and summer of second year).
• Background Check and Liability Insurance:  All MHC students are required to get fingerprinted and have a background check. These tasks are completed at the beginning of the program and have associated costs for the student. All MHC students must carry liability insurance, which may be obtained through the university.