The mission of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program is to train competent, culturally aware, ethical counselors who will provide exceptional mental health services in both public and private settings to meet the needs of increasingly diverse communities.
The faculty believes that mental health counselors play an important role in the creation of a nurturing mental health environment, which fosters good mental health and family development. We are committed to developing highly qualified mental health professionals who are in the unique position to understand the needs of clients and their families and to design and coordinate mental health activities to meet those needs.
The Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at Southern University seeks to provide a variety of opportunities in which counselors in preparation will gain knowledge and experience in the following:
Program Learning Outcomes
Outcome 1: Professional Orientation and Ethics
Develop an understanding of the professional roles and ethical responsibilities of clinical mental health counselors in order to document and provide direct services and referrals in an ethical, professional manner.
Outcome 2: Human Growth
Develop knowledge of human growth in order to design and deliver prevention, educational, and support-based programming in response to community needs.
Outcome 3: Career Development
Develop knowledge of career development in order to design and deliver prevention, educational, and support-based programming in response to community needs.
Outcome 4: Helping Relationships
Develop theoretical and applied knowledge of helping relationships at the personal, group, and systemic levels in order to develop treatment plans, properly document services, provide consultation, and implement individual, group, and family counseling interventions.
Outcome 5: Social and Cultural Diversity
Develop an understanding and appreciation of social and cultural diversity in order to provide culturally sensitive services to all clients and to advocate for equity in other community-based services.
Outcome 6: Assessment
Develop knowledge of assessment principles, test instruments, and interview practices in order to provide responsible test administration and interpretation, case conceptualization, and diagnosis.
Outcome 7: Research
Develop theoretical and applied knowledge of research and evaluation practices in order to perform community needs assessments, program evaluation, and quality assurance.
Outcome 8: Group Processing
Demonstrate an understanding of group counseling and group work to include group development, dynamics, and counseling theories; group leadership styles; group counseling methods and skills, and other group approaches.