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2024-2025 Graduate Catalog
Mental Health Counseling - Rehabilitation, MS
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 Return to: Graduate Degree Programs
Graduate Coordinator: Paige Dunlap Email: pdunplap@ncat.edu Phone: 336-285-4381
Department Chair: Caroline Booth Email: csbooth@ncat.edu Phone: (336) 334-7916
The Mental Health Counseling - Rehabilitation program is a 60-hour program accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs Education (CACREP) as a Clinical Rehabilitation program. This and is designed to prepare culturally competent counselors who specialize in working with persons with physical, developmental, cognitive, psychological, and neurological disabilities and/or illnesses. The program is accredited as a Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling program. Rehabilitation Counseling students are equipped with knowledge, skills, and experience to empower persons with disabilities through the counseling process. Students are further equipped with unique competencies to provide effective rehabilitation counseling services within a cultural context.
Certification and Licensure
Students are prepared to take the National Counseling Examination (NCE) of the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) prior to graduation which is administered twice annually. Students who pass the NCE prior to graduation are recognized as board eligible by NBCC. Students are also prepared to take the Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) exam. Students who complete all requirements for graduation are eligible to apply for Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor licensure through the North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors (www.ncblcmhc.org). As counseling licensure laws vary by state, students seeking to practice outside of the state are encouraged to familiarize themselves with licensure requirements in their intended area of practice. Please note that presence of a criminal background can impact counseling endorsement and licensure eligibility.
Additional Admission Requirements
- Statement of purpose: Describe your career goals relevant to the specific counseling degree program you have selected. Please include a detailed discussion of a) your rationale for choosing this particular career in professional counseling, b) why you feel prepared to become a professional counselor, and c) how you will respect diversity and cultural differences in your future counseling work.
- GRE Score (optional, not required)
- Three professional letters of recommendation from persons who know the applicant in either an academic or supervisory capacity. Letters from family members, acquaintances, and friends are not acceptable.
- A current resume or curriculum vita which includes research interests, publications, academic honors, professional and volunteer experiences relevant to intended program of study, and other work experiences
Program Outcomes:
- Critical Thinking: Students will develop skills and attitudes of effective thinking that employ the use of thoughtful reflection and logical inquiry to draw evidence-based conclusions as they relate to community counseling.
- Oral Communication Skills: Students will demonstrate proficiency in communicating in individual dyads and small and large group settings and in appropriate use of grammar to communicate counseling findings, while avoiding sexist language, doublespeak and clichés. Evaluation occurs during the benchmarking process. Students must receive a satisfactory rating from the majority of faculty to earn a satisfactory rating. Faculty will evaluate 100% of the student population.
- Written Communication: Students will demonstrate proficiency in academic and scientific writing, which includes avoiding digressions, consistent tenses, using the active voice and citing sources as well as findings, professional documentation, and report writing with emphasis on APA publishing guidelines.
- Cultural Self-Awareness and Sensitivity: Students will demonstrate awareness of self-including knowledge of macro, micro, and meso ecological systems.
- Cultural Competence: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the cultural context of relationships, issues, and trends in a multicultural society.
- Ethical Practice: Students will demonstrate understanding and application of relevant professional ethical standards.
- Professionalism: Students will demonstrate professional maturity, integrity, and discipline consistent with professional standards of practice.
- Research and Design: Graduate community counseling students will demonstrate proficiency in designing quantitative, qualitative, single case designs, action, and outcome-based research, as well as co-occurring and support software packages (e.g., SPSS). Students will understand ethics surrounding Human Subjects Social and Behavioral Science research procedures and Responsible Conduct in Research.
- Research Evaluation: Students will demonstrate proficiency in evaluating empirical and non-empirical research. Students will be able to review the professional literature and glean from the review relevant information for both research and practice. Students will be able evaluate research and its application to field experiences. Students will develop a research paper that reflects their knowledge of this content. The specifics of the research paper along with the grading rubric are presented in the achievement summary.
- Statistics: Students will demonstrate proficiency in basic statistics methods including scales of measurement, measures of central tendency, indices of variability, shapes and type of distributions, correlations, reliability and validity. Students will apply supportive software packages (e.g., MS Excel, SPSS).
- Technological Competence: Students will demonstrate proficiency in implementing best technology practices.
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Pass
- comprehensive exam
- The CPCE examination is a standardized test developed by the Center for Credentialing in Education (CCE) of the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) and is the required test for all counseling master’s students. Upon completion of all required curriculum courses (not including electives), students will apply to take the Comprehensive Examination. Students must complete and submit the Application for Comprehensive Exam form and be cleared by their advisor in the semester in which they intend to take the exam.
- Students may take the Comprehensive Examination (CPCE) no more than twice and must pass the Comprehensive Examination in order to graduate. Should a student not receive a passing score on the first attempt, the student must take the examination in a subsequent semester.
- A recommendation for academic dismissal will be sent to the Graduate College for any student who fails the CPCE twice
Electives:
Select 9 credit hours with approval of advisor
Practicum and Internships
All students complete a supervised field experience practicum of 100 hours. Internships COUN 785 and COUN 786 involve supervised professional experiences in settings appropriate to the student’s vocational objectives. The internships will provide practical work in the student’s area of specialization. Internships include 600 hours of field experience. Students must complete a minimum of 240 hours of direct services with clients. Each week, students receive one hour of individual supervision from their site supervisors and one and an average of one-half hours group supervision from their university supervisors during seminar weekly. Students in all field experience placements are required to create program-appropriate audio recordings and/or participate in live supervision of their interactions with clients for review by their University Supervisor. Students must purchase professional liability insurance for the duration of all field experiences. Consistent with counseling licensure, internship site, and employer expectations, criminal background checks will be required of all students in field experience. Dismissal from a practicum or internship site based on student performance/behavior will result in an automatic failure for the respective field experience course and automatic benchmarking review.
Double Major (Mental Health Counseling - Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling - Clinical)
Regulations on pursuing double majors are presented elsewhere in the catalog and must be followed. The student will be required to complete requirements of both programs. The programs require the following unique (minimum 18 credit hour requirements):
Mental Health Counseling - Rehabilitation:
Mental Health Counseling - Clinical:
Double Major (Mental Health - Rehabilitation and School Counseling)
Regulations on pursuing double majors are presented elsewhere in the catalog and must be followed. The student will be required to complete requirements of both programs. The programs require the following unique (minimum 18 credit hour requirements):
Mental Health Counseling - Rehabilitation:
Program Specific Academic Policies
Endorsement
The Department stipulates endorsement for employment or credentialing only in the program area in which a student received training.
Program Academic Eligibility
A student will be required to maintain semester GPA of at least 3.0 at the end of every semester irrespective of total attempted hours otherwise the student will be placed on probation for one semester. If the semester GPA and/or the cumulative GPA at the end of the probationary semester remains less than 3.0, the student will be dismissed.
The courses below contain a Key Performance Indicator (KPI). Successful completion of the KPI (70% or higher) is required to pass the class.
Program Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards of Practice
As pre-professional counselors, graduate students abide by the code of ethics and standards of practice as described in the Ethical Standards of the American Counseling Association (ACA), the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC), The American Psychological Association, the Student Handbook, the Graduate Catalog, and Department of Human Development and Services Ethical Conduct Policy.
Consequences of violation of the codes of conduct or ethical standards of practice include but are not limited to one or more of the following:
- Dismissal from the program
- Removal from the course or the field placement and a grade of “F” or “U”
- Referral to authorized campus authorities for further discipline.
Program Academic Progression and Retention Standards
The academic progression and retention standards for counselor education programs are in keeping with Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) standards, the American Rehabilitation Counseling Association (ARCA), Ethical Standards of the American Counseling Association (ACA), the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC), The American Psychological Association, the Student Handbook, the Graduate Catalog, and Department of Human Development and Services Ethical Conduct Policy.
The Benchmarking Review Process
Once each academic semester a benchmarking review of all enrolled students is conducted. The benchmarking committee is comprised of all full-time tenured and tenure-track counseling faculty and is chaired by a faculty member. Adjunct faculty members are also invited to attend the benchmarking review.
Reviews are conducted using the Benchmarking Assessment Rubric which focuses on academic performance, ethical behavior, and professional disposition. Each student will be notified in writing by the Department Chairperson regarding the outcome of the benchmarking review and a copy will be placed in the student’s file. Students who receive an unsatisfactory evaluation will be placed on notice, provided with a remediation plan and given one semester to implement the remediation plan in order to improve their behavior/performance to a satisfactory level. Failure to satisfy benchmarking remediation will result in a recommendation for program dismissal. Students can receive a maximum of two unsatisfactory benchmarking evaluations during their time in the program. A third unsatisfactory evaluation will result in a recommendation for program dismissal
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