Masters Degrees in Counseling

Program facts

Faculty and students in Marquette's CECP program have certainly made a name for themselves in the Milwaukee community. Here are just some of our noteworthy accomplishments and avenues for future student learning.

 


Our mission and philosophy

Our master’s degree in counseling programs include a variety of courses, practicum and training experiences that offer comprehensive preparation for professional practice as a counselor in various clinical and school settings. Training in counseling begins in the first semester, practicum usually begins in the second semester of the first year, and internships continue into the second year.

The mission of the Marquette University Master of Arts in School Counseling and the Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling programs is to provide exemplary counselor education based upon the integration of professional counseling knowledge and practice. The program is designed to prepare counselors to be outstanding practitioners, leaders and advocates who are trained to meet the needs of diverse clients and students.

Our programs use a developmental perspective that emphasizes growth and development, improving individuals' quality of life, and focusing on strengths and resources, in addition to psychological deficits and problems. The ability to diagnose and treat psychopathology is an essential skill in our graduates. Additionally, we emphasize prevention and the need for proactive systems interventions. For example, fighting poverty, racism and other destructive societal and community influences are more important in certain contexts than applying individualized counseling interventions.

Our commitment to diversity and social justice

Our program faculty, staff and students believe it is our responsibility to actively engage in creating a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive world.  We value and embrace diversity across all forms of identity.  We acknowledge the complexity of diversity as it relates to privilege and the disparities of racial and social power impacting our society.  It is our duty to dismantle discriminatory systems, and we are committed to doing so through our research, practice, and service.  As members of an academic community, we believe that diversity enriches our educational and professional growth, as well as our communities.  We dedicate ourselves to increasing self-awareness, growth, collaboration, relationship-building, and ongoing education.  In our quest for racial and social justice, we advocate with, and for, those in our communities whose voices deserve to be heard.  We are committed to taking personal and group responsibility for racial and social justice, and to hold one another accountable.

Program Learning Objectives

1. Apply knowledge of bio-psycho-social-cultural foundations of behavior and evidence-based counseling approaches to diverse individuals and groups.

2. Apply professional, ethical, and legal standards in their counseling practices.

3. Assume advocacy roles for the mental health care of underserved individuals and groups in urban settings.

4. Integrate self-awareness, counseling roles and reflective practices into a professional counseling identity.

5a. Lead the development and implementation of critical interventions of a Comprehensive School Counseling Program in culturally diverse, urban PK-12 schools.

5b. Provide clinical mental health counseling prevention and treatment services for diverse individuals and groups in community settings.

Marquette University Jesuit tradition

Our counseling programs also exist within the context of the Jesuit educational tradition. This includes assisting students to develop a care and respect for self and others consistent with the Jesuit tradition of cura personalis, or care for the person, and service to others.

This 450-year-old tradition emphasizes a care for the whole person and the greater community, a tradition that is also very consistent with the history and emphases of counseling psychology. This orientation is also consistent with the mission and vision of the College of Education at Marquette, the graduates of which "will be 'men and women for others' who have a commitment to transforming social inequities in their schools, institutions and communities and who exhibit Marquette's hallmarks of excellence, faith, leadership and service."

Who should apply to our program?

Students with a bachelor's degree who wish to pursue a license-eligible degree in the field of counseling, or who anticipate pursuing a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology should apply to this program.

Students with a variety of backgrounds are admitted to our programs. Some enter with a bachelor’s degree, others have completed some graduate courses, others have a master’s degree in a mental health field, and a few have even had doctoral degrees in another field but wish to retrain as counselors and counseling psychologists. All applicants must have at least attained a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university.

More about the counseling program

"Marquette’s School Counseling Program has given me so many unique opportunities to learn and to grow as a professional. I could not be happier with my internship experiences, and the training that I received from the highly qualified and supportive staff within this department."

Meet Desiree | Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at Marquette University from Marquette University on Vimeo.

karisse callender
Karisse Callender, Ph.D.

Director of Counselor Education            

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