3 years ~ Evenings ~ Full-time enrollment, 12 hours per semester
60 Credit Hours ~ Part-time options available
The Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (MHC) offers a degree designed for students seeking graduate-level instruction in professional counseling that prepares the student to pass the Texas State LPC qualifying exam and provides an opportunity to integrate professional counseling competencies with spiritual, religious and ethical values.
The Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling offers a concentration in Latinx Counseling. The concentration prepares future Licensed Professional Counselors with the tools and experience necessary to provide the highest level of mental health care to America’s second fastest growing population. Please inquire with your Enrollment Manager to learn more about the courses needed to concentrate.
Learn more about Southwest’s MHC degree by reading the faculty blog, Encounter Magazine.
The vision of Seminary of the Southwest’s Masters of Clinical Mental Health Counseling program is to cultivate transformation through mutuality.
The mission of Seminary of the Southwest’s Masters of Clinical Mental Health Counseling program is to prepare counselors through a social justice oriented curriculum and a spiritually integrated foundation so that they can be builders of beloved community.
Through in-depth study of counseling theory and ethical practice in a multicultural society, as well as spiritual integration courses, students will experience formation and transformation in these three areas:
Being- Disposition Objectives
- Students will display a professional counselor identity in relation to self, including self awareness, openness, and a commitment to personal and spiritual well-being.
- Students will display a professional counselor identity in relation to others, including character, cultural empathy, and professionalism.
Knowing – Content Objectives
- Students will demonstrate knowledge of professional orientation and counselor identity, social and cultural diversity, human growth and development, career development, helping relationships, group work, assessment, research and evaluation, crisis and trauma, psychopathology, couples, parents and family systems and addiction, as well as clinical mental health counseling foundation, context and practice.
- Students will demonstrate knowledge of the influence of culture, religion and spirituality on clients’ and counselors’ worldview
Doing- Skill Objectives
- Students will perform the essentials tasks of a competent professional clinical mental health counselor.
- Students will commit to and engage in personal and spiritual practices capable of sustaining the vocation of a professional counselor
The MHC is a program of The Loise Henderson Wessendorff Center for Christian Ministry and Vocation at Seminary of the Southwest. Endowed by the Henderson-Wessendorff Foundation, the Center offers programs for working people who wish to enhance their spiritual lives and use their gifts in the service of God.
The MHC is also one of the few programs in Central Texas that is CACREP accredited. Learn more about what doors CACREP could open for you here.
The Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at Seminary of the Southwest offers distinctive Fellows programs. Click here to learn more.
Ask about the Campus Visit Scholarship
Questions?
Contact:
Grayson Dail, Enrollment Manager
[email protected]
Admission Policy
Please click here to read Southwest’s admission policy in the 2024-2025 Course Catalog.
Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (MHC)
Entry-level admission criteria for the Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling degree program include a completed application for admission, official transcripts with minimal GPA of 2.5 and undergraduate degree completion, and three (3) letters of recommendation. Applicants are further required to submit two written personal statements describing their learning and career goals, examples of their effectiveness in forming relationships and respect for cultural differences, and demonstrating their aptitude for graduate-level study.
MHC Program Faculty
Dr. Gustavo Bárcenas, Assistant Professor of Counselor Education
Dr. Gena St. David, Director of the Loise Henderson Wessendorff Center for Christian Ministry and Vocation and Assistant Professor of Counselor Education
Dr. Awa Jangha, Loise Henderson Wessendorff Associate Professor of Spiritual Integration in Counseling
Dr. Marlon Johnson, Assistant Professor of Counselor Education
Dr. Stephanie Ramirez, Associate Professor of Counselor Education and Coordinator of the Latinx Counseling Concentration Program
Dr. Maria Reyna Assistant Professor of Counselor Education
LPC Requirements:
The MHC curriculum provides the academic foundation, including the practicum/internship requirement, specified by the State of Texas for the credential of Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). While conforming to the State of Texas requirements, courses in the MHC program at the Seminary are taught from a spiritual integration perspective such that professional and spiritual competency is emphasized.
Requirements for the LPC license in Texas include:
- completion of a graduate degree as specified by the Department of State Health Services;
- a passing score on the State of Texas licensing examinations;
- a post-graduate supervised internship of 3000 hours.
Students and prospective students are urged to obtain current requirements for licensure from the Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors at (512) 834-6658 or at www.dshs.state.tx.us/counselor.
MHC Program Matriculation Requirements for Newly Accepted MHC Students
Before New Student Orientation:
- Accept the Offer of Admission.
- Confirm your plans to attend mandatory New Student Orientation.
- If you’ve moved (or will) since applying, update your mailing address.
- Contact the Enrollment Office with questions pertaining to Admissions, Financial Aid, Housing, and Special Learning Accommodations.
After New Student Orientation
- Sign and return MHC Handbook and Seminary of the Southwest’s Academic Code Acknowledgement Form.
- Verify your seminary email login.
- Entering Student Questionnaire
- Verify your Seminary of the Southwest Intranet login.
- Register for class(es).
- Pay tuition and fees.
- Verify your Populi login.
- Confirm your plans to attend Matriculation service and dinner program.
For questions contact [email protected]
Course Requirements for the MHC Degree (60 hours)
Click the link above to view course requirements for the MHC degree as listed in the course catalog. The counseling program at Seminary of the Southwest offers evening and weekend classes to accommodate working adults. Full-time students complete the degree in 2.5 to 3 years.
MHC Program Financial Aid Information
Financial assistance is available to students that demonstrate financial need and is awarded on a year-to-year basis. Types of financial aid assistance include:
- Institutional Aid: To qualify for consideration for a scholarship grant, an applicant must complete the Institutional Financial Aid Evaluation form and complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid ) online at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov. Please use school code: G03566.
- Outside Scholarships: The Financial Office strives to be a resource to seminarians and does its best to compile a comprehensive list of outside scholarship opportunities.
- Loans: Student loans are available to students in master’s-level degree programs through the William D. Ford Direct Loan Program made by the U.S. Department of Education. Students must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order to qualify.
Please reference the entire Financial Aid section of the SSW Website for more detailed information and/or contact [email protected], phone: 512-472-4133
Bishop Dena A. Harrison Fellows Program is an innovative partnership between the Episcopal Health Foundation and Seminary of the Southwest. Our Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling (MHC) graduates may apply for a two-year paid internship serving at a mental health facility in East Texas.
MHC Program Methods of Instruction
To achieve the objectives and address the content areas for each MHC course, the instructor will employ a variety of teaching interventions including audio/visual media, lecture, assigned reading and facilitated reflection, large and small group discussions, experiential activities such as role plays, writing assignments designed to facilitate synthesis of the course material and the development of personal, professional and spiritual practices to sustain an ethical, competent vocational practice of professional counseling.
MHC Program Accreditation Status
The seminary has been accredited by the Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) since 1958 and by the Southern Association of Colleges (SACS) since 1983. The MHC program at Seminary of the Southwest is achieved accreditation status in 2017 from the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), a specialized accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
In addition to these accreditations, Seminary of the Southwest also belongs to the Council of Southwestern Theological Schools, the American Theological Library Association, the Texas Counseling Association, and Association for Spiritual, Ethical and Religious Values in Counseling.
Annual Clinical Mental Health Counseling Degree Program Assessment Report
Click the link above to view the latest report on how effectively the MHC program is preparing our students to meet the mental health care needs in the community.
Professional Counseling Organizations:
American Counseling Association http://www.counseling.org/
American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy http://www.aamft.org/iMIS15/AAMFT/
Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council https://www.bhec.texas.gov/
