CWU Mental Health and Counseling Program Receives Premier Accreditation

ELLENSBURG, Wash. -Central Washington University´ mental health and counseling program, housed in the Department of Psychology, is flourishing. The program has received national accreditation from the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), making it one of only three CACREP accredited mental health counseling training programs at a public university in the state of Washington.

CWU´s master´s of mental health and counseling has been accredited through October 2009. Accreditation for the program is expected to be extended to October 2015 as the program at Central incorporates and implements additional recommendations by CACREP.

"We were able to achieve this milestone through the collaborative efforts of members of the CACREP committee and our faculty, students and administration," says Rob Brammer, CWU mental health counseling program director. "Their dedication, persistence and significant contributions throughout the lengthy process are what helped us reach this important goal."

Psychology department chair Stephanie Stein also commends College of the Sciences Dean Meghan Miller´s support for recent hires and funding that strengthened the program. She notes, "In the end, our strong students, faculty and administrators were rewarded for their hard work."

Central´s mental health counseling program prepares professional mental health counselors to be competent, proactive, knowledgeable, ethical, skilled and adaptable to the needs of the people they serve in a variety of community and agency settings.

In a letter to CWU, the CACREP Board applauded the time, energy and commitment put forth by Central´s faculty and administration.

Professor Jeff Penick, who served as the program´s liaison to CACREP and led the faculty team that prepared the extensive self-study comments on the benefits to students: "The endorsement gives our students more opportunity for advanced study once they´ve finished the program at Central. Students who graduate from an accredited program may sit for the National Counselor Examination immediately after they receive their degrees, whereas students from non-accredited programs must wait until they finish their 3,000-hour internship."

Penick says the program´s accreditation also makes it easier for Central graduates to transfer their licenses between states.

A corporate affiliate of the American Counseling Association, CACREP is a national organization based out of Virginia that accredits master´s degree programs in counseling. For more information on CACREP, visit www.cacrep.org. More information on Central´s counseling program can be found at www.cwu.edu/~counpsy.

Contact: Teri Olin, CWU Public Relations & Marketing, olint@cwu.edu, 509-963-1416