Professional Mental Health Counseling Mission and Program Objectives

PMHC & PMHCA Program Objectives

Social Justice & Diversity

Students, as “self as counselor,” develop critical reflexivity through cultivating awareness of their own attitudes, beliefs, values, and worldviews, informed by their social locations. Students advocate with and on behalf of marginalized individuals by developing culturally sustaining clinical practices to alleviate the impact of injustices on client mental health and well-being. Students are knowledgeable, skillful, and aware social change agents who address injustice and create systemic change.

Clinical Skills

Students develop therapeutic communications skills, emphasize the client-counselor relationship, and facilitate and manage the counseling process with individuals, families, and groups. They apply diagnosis and evidence based practice in a collaborative process with clients to plan culturally responsive and sustaining interventions and treatment. They develop an understanding of a range of counseling theories and how to apply them to a wide range of clinical contexts. Students recognize the importance of incorporating a social justice approach that considers the social and systemic contexts to mental health and wellbeing.

Professional Counseling Identity, Knowledge, and Ethical Practice

Students develop a comprehensive understanding of professional counseling, including its history, philosophical foundations, roles, and functions. They also commit to upholding the ethical guidelines set forth by the American Counseling Association. Additionally, students acquire knowledge in the eight common core curricular experiences outlined in CACREP standards, enabling them to apply this knowledge effectively in clinical situations.