Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Huntington University’s CMHC program provides Christ-centered counselor training, equipping counselors to engage diverse cultural contexts through the cultivation of clinical skills, critical thinking, and academic excellence.  

Our program seeks to develop the personhood of the counselor through a dynamic process of engaging leadership and students in a variety of contexts, one’s own faith and relationship with Christ, and nurturing an emerging counselor identity through personal development and relationships with others.   

The objectives of the HU CMHC program are:

To provide students with experiential and didactic learning opportunities to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and dispositions to work with clients within a multicultural and pluralistic society and to:

1. Accurately apply the codes of ethics to a wide range of counseling dilemmas, clients, and contexts (Professional Counseling Orientation & Ethical Practice)

2. Demonstrate a keen awareness of the social and cultural foundations of individuals, families and diverse groups, emphasizing the application of proficient cross-cultural counseling skills (Social & Cultural Diversity).

3. Apply cognitive, personality and moral developmental concepts, theories, and optimal development strategies over the human lifespan (Human Development).

4. Understand and implement theories, approaches and assessments for lifelong career development, including career decision-making and the intersection of work with mental well-being, relationships, and other life roles and factors (Career Counseling).

5. Understand counseling theories, apply a model or models to their practice/context and demonstrate proficient counseling skills for working with a broad range of clients (Counseling & Helping Relationships).

6. Demonstrate an understanding of group dynamics, individual roles and behavior, processes, interventions and stages, and effectively apply counselor group leadership skills (Group Work).

7. Apply the principles of measurement and assessment, including selecting, administering, scoring and interpreting client evaluation methods. (Assessment).

8. Utilize a variety of foundational research methods, designs, statistical procedures, needs assessments, and program evaluations designed to improve counselor effectiveness (Research).

9. Develop an emerging professional identity as a mental health counselor through personal, reflective development, relationships with others, and professional growth opportunities. (Professional Identity of Clinical Mental Health Counselor)

10. Develop an understanding of the contextualization of the Christian faith into evidence-based, ethical and individual counseling practice (Integration).

11. Move towards an understanding of one’s own relationship with Jesus Christ and deepen attachment to God and others through self-awareness and relationships (Spiritual Formation).

The upcoming program start dates are August 19th, 2024, and January 13th, 2025. 

Huntington University’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling program can be completed anywhere with access to a computer and reliable internet, except for the 3-day on-campus Fall intensive (CN600). Courses require attendance for 4 live synchronous sessions online, which are scheduled in the evening, although requirements may vary per course.  When classes do not meet synchronously, students engage in online asynchronous discussions and learning opportunities. Practicum and Internship courses require students to attend supervision with a faculty member, and classes are scheduled either in the morning or evening for 1.5 hours per week, held online, synchronously.

Required Information:

1.    A completed graduate program application.
2.    Two recommendation forms, preferably including at least one academic reference.
3.    A professional résumé summarizing your life and work experiences.
4.    Official transcripts from the college or university awarding the highest degree you have completed. These transcripts must arrive via mail or electronic submission directly from the college/university. An undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.0 is desired.
5.    All prerequisite coursework with a minimum grade of a C or better. Students who have not met prerequisites may be accepted on a conditional basis, provided they complete prerequisites within the first year of graduate study. All prerequisites are available at Huntington University. 
•    Biblical studies - 3 credit hours
•    Psychology - 3 credit hours from Intro or General Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Clinical Psychology, or Personality Theories/Theories of Counseling.
6.    Complete the Counseling Application Questionaire

Mailing Address: 
Huntington University Graduate Programs
2303 College Avenue
Huntington, IN 46750

Students who begin in the Fall are required to attend a 3-day intensive experience on-campus at Huntington University. Students who join during the Spring will be required to take an online orientation in Session 1 of Spring and attend the 3-day intensive in the upcoming Fall semester. 

At Huntington University, success is part of the affordability equation. Tuition and fees are established each spring for the succeeding year. The current graduate tuition and fees list is available here.

Contact our admissions team to review scholarship opportunities and discount partnerships. 

The Office of Financial Aid is here to help with the process of paying for graduate school.

Your coursework will include a mix of lecture and practical clinical experience. A full list of the courses required for the Master of Arts degree in clinical mental health counseling is available here.

Registration for graduate students is open until one week prior to the first day of class. All students are registered by the Office of Graduate and Online Programs. More details about the registration process are available on the Registration and Advising page.

More information about the expectations for academic performance and integrity are available on the Academic Policies page.

All graduate clinical mental health counseling students must complete the following to be eligible for graduation and to meet the educational requirements for licensure.
•    45 credit hours of foundation coursework
•    6 credit hours of mental health concentration
•    9 credit hours of clinical training
•    Submit an application for graduation form by December 1 of the academic year of graduation
•    Attend the commencement exercises for the conferral of the degree
This is a total of 60 credit hours, which includes 700 hours of clinical experience (required for licensure). Half of these hours must be direct client contact.

All graduate programs must be completed within seven years. Failure to complete the program within the allotted seven years may result in a need to retake classes.