Online Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC)

Earn Your Online Master’s in Mental Health Counseling with Sacred Heart University

Accessible, Affordable. You Can Do This!

With nearly 90 percent of Americans placing equal emphasis on mental health and physical health,1 the need for qualified, professional mental health counselors is growing at an exponential rate. The CMHC degree is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) and is ideal for individuals seeking a career as a professional counselor. Sacred Heart’s flexible, online degrees with limited residencies enable you to balance your personal and professional responsibilities while gaining the skills and insights to create a positive impact for individuals and groups experiencing mental-health related concerns. Our program is asynchronous, low residency, and offered in accelerated and on-time scheduling. 

60 Total Credits

CACREP Accredited

GRE/GMAT Not Required

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How the Curriculum Prepares You for Success

The CACREP-accredited CMHC degree prepares you to develop a responsible, ethical approach to mental health counseling. You’ll engage with an esteemed faculty as you explore the latest counseling theories, evidence-based research, and tools for preventing, diagnosing, and treating mental health issues. You’ll develop core competencies in diagnosis and assessment, human development, cultural diversity, group processes, and career counseling.

Counseling Core Courses

Topics include human development, relationships, counseling theories, assessment techniques, career counseling, substance use issues, and crisis/trauma counseling.

Clinical Mental Health Counseling Core Courses

Topics include professional issues and ethics, treatment planning and integrative models of care, and the practice of clinical mental health.

Elective Courses

Topics include couples and family counseling, human sexuality, counseling special populations, psychopharmacology and psychopathology, and organizational models in clinical health settings.

Why Online Learning is Right for You

The advantages of online learning are obvious – you don’t have to pause your career or rearrange your life to earn the degree you need to take your career to the next level. Another key factor is fit – making sure a school feels right to you. Sacred Heart’s Center for Career & Professional Development will welcome you as if you had just walked through the door here in Fairfield. With an exclusive, online recruiting system of 10,000+ employers, one-on-one career counseling, resume workshops, and an active alumni network of more than 35,000, you can rest assured knowing that our campus reaches wherever you are.

Impactful Opportunities with a CMHC Degree

Earning your CMHC is a clear indication that you are dedicated to helping others. Fortunately, there’s no shortage when it comes to career options or the variety of environments in which a licensed counselor can work – private practice, public/private organizations, schools, government offices, hospitals, correctional facilities, and more. Our CACREP-accredited degree will prepare you to be a forward-thinking practitioner with the expertise to make a difference in the profession.

Top 5 Areas of Greatest Demand in Mental Health Counseling (avg. annual salary for top 10%)2

  1. Addiction Counseling ($53,000)
  2. Military Families and Culture ($124,000)
  3. Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling ($76,000)
  4. Crisis and Trauma Counseling ($130,500)
  5. Career Counseling ($74,000)

You Belong with SHU!

Our mission to prepare students for lives of professional success and personal and spiritual growth excludes no one. And it’s because of that mission and the spirited way we live it that students of different faiths, ethnicities, and socio-economic backgrounds have made SHU the launching pad for their dreams and ambitions.

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Sources

  1. “Survey Finds that Americans Value Mental Health and Physical Health Equally,” Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA). Retrieved April 2021 from https://adaa.org.
  2. “Job Salaries,” PayScale, Inc. Retrieved April 2021 from https://www.payscale.com.