Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology

School Counseling, MA

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Overview

You’re passionate about helping young people achieve their full potential—and now it’s time to advance your own. The Master of Arts in Counselor Education—School Counseling at Western Michigan University prepares you to make a meaningful impact in the lives of students from kindergarten through 12th grade. This program equips you with the knowledge, skills, and practical experience needed to support academic, social, and emotional development in school settings. Graduates meet the educational requirements for the school counselor license (K–12) and the Limited License as a Professional Counselor (LLPC) in Michigan, ensuring professional readiness and flexibility. Through a combination of core counseling coursework, specialized school counseling training, and hands-on practicum experiences, you’ll gain the confidence and competence to guide students, collaborate with educators and families, and create positive learning environments. WMU’s program fosters growth, prepares leaders in education, and empowers counselors to help every student thrive.

Meet Brian

Alumnus returns to Kelloggsville to support students through use of his counseling training.

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Attend an informational session!

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Learn more about the program by attending one of our virtual information sessions. These sessions offer the opportunity to meet with a faculty member—and occasionally a current student—to gain a deeper understanding of the program structure, coursework, and application process. Participants are encouraged to ask questions and engage in conversation about how the program can support their professional goals.

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Why apply?

Comprehensive, Career-Ready Curriculum
Coursework includes research methods, group dynamics, testing and assessment, counseling theories and techniques, ethics and professional issues, multicultural counseling, lifespan and career development, psychopathology, substance use and recovery-oriented systems of care, and foundations of clinical mental health counseling.
Preparation Across Disciplines
This master’s program goes beyond traditional training by preparing you to work effectively across disciplines, settings, and populations with confidence and adaptability.
Hands-On Clinical Experience
Build confidence and competence through supervised practicum and internship experiences that connect classroom learning to real-world counseling practice.
Commitment to Cultural Responsiveness
Develop the skills to work effectively with diverse populations while honoring identity, context, and lived experience.

Program of Study

The Clinical Mental Health Counseling 60-hour program trains students to appropriately assess clients so that the correct diagnosis can be made to ensure that the most effective evidence-based counseling intervention is selected to help clients reduce the impact of mental and emotional disorders. As reliable and valid assessments must first be used with clients to make the correct diagnosis and ensure that the most effective counseling intervention is selected, CMHC students are trained in many types of assessments by taking two assessment classes. Because students will work with diverse clients, students learn strategies for identifying and eliminating barriers, prejudices, and processes of intentional and unintentional oppression and discrimination. The program includes a 100-hour practicum and a 600-hour internship in a clinical mental health setting. This option leads to licensure as a professional counselor.

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Cost & funding

Career opportunities

Graduates in this program will be prepared to work in a variety of professional counseling settings. The program meets the educational requirements for licensed professional settings including substance abuse, career counseling, multicultural affairs, and a variety of other traditional counseling settings.

Industry highlights

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment of mental health counselors is projected to grow about 17% from 2024 to 2034, much faster than the average for all occupations.