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Counseling Programs​​

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Counseling Programs​
Information ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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Counseling Programs

The faculty in counseling programs at RIC have been preparing mental health counselors in RI for over 10 years. You will enjoy our small classes and one-on-one attention from dedicated faculty members, many of whom are leaders in their field. Students who graduate from one of our counseling programs often go on to become school counselors, work in agency settings serving as advocates for people in their communities, or become licensed mental health counselors in the state of Rhode Island.

Counseling is one of the 30 fastest growing occupations in the country. Employment for mental health and substance use counselors is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations through 2016.

M.S. Clinical Mental Health Counseling

C.G.S. in Advanced Counseling

M.A. in School Counseling

Admission requirements for all Counseling programs

Graduate applications are available here. Please see theFeinstein School of Education Graduate Programs website for a complete list of application materials. In addition to the materials listed, applicants to the counseling programs in the Counseling, Educational Leadership, and School Psychology Department must have a minimum of 6 credit hours in Psychology or a related field.

Counseling Programs Mission Statement

The graduate counseling programs provide the academic requirements that prepare students to become licensed mental health counselors. Through a rigorous curriculum and supervised clinical practice, students learn to provide assessment, therapy, consultation, and prevention-oriented services to meet the diverse needs of individuals, families and groups in a variety of mental health and community settings. The faculty represent diverse training backgrounds, clinical experiences, theoretical orientations, and research interests. They are strongly committed to practice-based learning and teaching evidence-based and culturally responsive practices. Faculty value inclusive excellence and strive to foster a community of belonging for all students. Graduates are reflective practitioners who integrate theory, current research, ethical decision-making, and social justice principles to cultivate wellness (Updated October 2019).

Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program Objectives

The program objectives are aligned with CACREP standards and address the core areas of knowledge and skill development essential to counselor educator training. Our curriculum is designed to comprehensively address these core areas and to provide students with varied practica and internship experiences to help them translate their core foundational knowledge into clinical practice.

  1. Professional Orientation: To empower students in the development of a professional identity as counselors (Core Area 1; CHMC Area Foundations).
  2. Professional Orientation: To assist students in acquiring the necessary knowledge, skills, and dispositions to practice according to the NBCC Code of Ethics, legal precedence, and other appropriate standards (Core Area 1; CMHC Area Foundations).
  3. Developmental, Social, and Cultural Foundations: To assist students to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and dispositions for working with individuals, families, and groups from a variety of racial, cultural, ethnic, experiential and linguistic backgrounds across the lifespan (Core Area 2 & 3, CHMC Area Diversity & Advocacy).
  4. Career Development: To provide students with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for effective vocational counseling, understanding of career processes, and accessing career resources (Core Area 4).
  5. Helping Relationships: To assist students in developing a personal counseling orientation and style that is grounded in theoretical knowledge, evidence-based practice, systems theory, and attention to interpersonal process, and that is grounded in a wellness perspective (Core Area 5, CMHC Area Counseling, Prevention & Intervention).
  6. Group Work: To provide students with theoretical and research-informed approaches to group work, and to supervise them in their experiential learning as group members and leaders (Core Area 6).
  7. Assessment: To provide students with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for selecting, administering, and interpreting assessment tools (Core Area 7, CMHC Area Assessment).
  8. Research & Evaluation: To produce graduates who have an understanding of research methods, statistical procedures, needs assessment, and program evaluation and who utilize research to improve counselor effectiveness and client outcomes (Core Area 8, CMHC Area Research & Evaluation).
  9. Diagnosis & Case Formulation: To produce students who are skilled in diagnostic appraisal, mental status examinations, risk assessment, and bio-psycho-social case conceptualization, and are able to use these formulations to develop collaborative, evidenced-based treatment plans (CHMC Area Diagnosis).

Roles and Functions of Supervision

 

Models of Supervision

 

Feedback in Supervision

 

Putting the Super in Supervision: Purposes of Clinical Supervision

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Listen to Counseling faculty and students on Latino Public Radio (in Spanish)
discussing mental health.
Listen to Counseling student, Marlena Davis, speak about mental illness
as part of the Peace of Mind Speakers series.​​​​​​​​​

Page last updated: October 29, 2019