The Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling is a 60-credit degree program offered online. This degree program is designed to align with the Clinical Mental Health Counseling specialty area standards delineated by CACREP. Students will develop competency in foundational counseling theories and skills, present professional dispositions essential to the practice of counseling, and provide the academic base for professional licensure in the State of Michigan. All counseling students are required to attend two separate professional development orientation/training over three days in-person on the Cornerstone University campus. Optional concentration areas beyond licensure requirements are offered in marriage and family therapy, addictions counseling, and trauma counseling.   Students pursuing the Marriage and Family concentration must declare the concentration before starting practicum to avoid extending beyond the suggested program timeline.

Change of Degree Program

If a student wishes to change his or her program, he/she may do so by completing an Application for Program Change. Students are required to complete all courses for the degree, which are not duplicated from the previous program. Students pursuing the Marriage and Family Therapy concentration must declare the concentration before starting practicum to avoid extending beyond the suggested program timeline.

Professional Development Gates

The Department of Graduate Counseling performs comprehensive evaluations of student development, learning, and application across four Professional Development Gates. Each Professional Development Gate is structured throughout a student’s degree timeline, where key areas of student development are evaluated by the Department of Graduate Counseling faculty.

Gate 1 – Admissions Process

Applicants’ readiness for graduate work and entrance into the Clinical Mental Health Counseling field of study. Assessment of candidate’s knowledge and disposition as follows:

• Knowledge - Undergraduate GPA of 2.7 or higher.
• Disposition - Disposition average of 3 or higher on the PDCA-RA with no areas of concern noted as rated by the Department of Graduate Counseling faculty based on admissions interview. All other required admission application completed.

Gate 2 – Professional Development & Pre-Practicum:

Students are evaluated based on “readiness” (knowledge, skill, and disposition) for Practicum placement by the Department of Graduate Counseling faculty to begin entry-level clinical work as follows:

• Knowledge – Cumulative GPA 3.0 across Practicum pre-requisite courses with no areas of academic concern (e.g., extensions, remediation, etc.) as noted by the Department of Graduate Counseling Faculty. Student has met key performance indicators (KPI) across completed coursework.
• Skill – Students successfully completes the following courses with no skill-based student remediation referrals as noted by the Department of Graduate Counseling Faculty: Residency #1 + COU-503, Residency #2 + COU-610, and COU-612.
• Disposition – Disposition quotient of 3 or higher on the PDCA-RA across Pre-practicum coursework with no areas of concern as noted by the Department of Graduate Counseling faculty. Students maintain a willingness to learn, receive feedback, and develop professionally.

Gate 3 –Pre-Graduation

Students must meet academic requirements as mentioned in the Student Handbook for each course with no areas of concern.  Students in their last semester of the counseling program are evaluated for their “readiness” (knowledge, skills, and disposition) to graduate and begin the licensing process as a post-graduate for clinical work as follows:

• Knowledge – Students must meet academic requirements as mentioned in the Student Handbook for each course with no areas of concern noted by Department of Graduate Counseling faculty. In Internship 2, students must pass the CPCE exam.
• Skills – Students must successfully complete all required clinical hours, assignments, and have no skill-based remediation referrals as noted by the Department of Graduate Counseling faculty (Practicum and Internship)
• Disposition – Disposition quotient of 3 or higher on the PDCA-RA across Pre-practicum coursework with no areas of concern as noted by the Department of Graduate Counseling faculty.

Practicum and Internships

For comprehensive information regarding Practicum and Internships, please refer to the MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling Practicum/Internship Manual on MyCU.

Admission Requirements

• A completed application and non-refundable $50 tuition deposit
• An official transcript verifying a baccalaureate degree from a U.S. regionally accredited college/university or equivalent. Cornerstone University graduates need not request a Cornerstone University transcript. Official graduate transcripts from other schools are required only if course work will be transferred to meet program or course requirements.
• A minimum grade-point average of 2.7 in undergraduate course work at the institution from which the baccalaureate degree was received. Students not meeting this requirement may submit a written request to the admissions committee for acceptance to the graduate program explaining why they believe they can succeed in a master’s program and submit a written essay per instructions provided by the enrollment counselor.
• Interview with Counseling Faculty.

In addition:

• Students whose primary language is not English must achieve a minimum TOEFL score of 577 (paper-based test), 233 (computer-based test), 90-91 (internet-based test) or a minimum IELTS score of 7.0 and have the results submitted to Cornerstone University.

Required Courses

Concentrations (Optional)

Marriage and Family Therapy

(allows for Dual Licensure in Michigan)

Addictions Counseling

Trauma Counseling