Online M.Ed. in Counseling and Development

2 years to complete

Deliver Excellence in the Mental Health Field

Winthrop University's Master of Education in Counseling and Development program is online, empowering you to learn when it's best for your schedule. Here, experienced faculty members offer careful guidance and support while you learn to work with clients, which starts early in your very first practicum. Class sizes are kept purposefully small, so you can get to know your cohort through group discussions and case presentations while engaging in meaningful learning.

The master's in counseling program is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). This means you'll graduate as a competent and ethical mental health professional who's ready to pursue licensure.*

The program prepares you for the following exams:

Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
National Counselor Exam (NCE)
National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Exam (NCMHCE)

To ensure you're prepared for the role you want, you'll choose a concentration aligned with your career goals, either School Counseling or Clinical Mental Health.

Program Fast Facts

60 credit hours
2 years to complete
CACREP Accredited

Why Choose Winthrop's Online Counseling and Development Degree?

Rigorous Curriculum: Coursework is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).
Hands-On Experience: You'll complete a total of 700 hours of practicums and internship experiences under the careful guidance of a fully engaged faculty.
Concentration Options: Choose a concentration that aligns with your career goals, either School Counseling or Clinical Mental Health.
Close Connections: Learn within small classes and a cohort learning model so you can build close relationships with peers and faculty.

Select a Career-Focused Concentration

Selecting a concentration allows you to gain deeper knowledge and build specific client-care experiences that align to the role you want in the mental health field. You'll choose to graduate with a master's in school counseling or a master's in clinical mental health.

School Counseling

Be ready to provide P-12 students with support for their academic, career, and personal, social and emotional growth. Take these courses to complete your degree with a master's in school counseling.

Foundations and Ethical Issues in School Counseling
- Understand trends in school counseling and the roles and functions of the professional school counselor. A major portion of this course is the study of ethical practice, which will cover ASCA and ACA codes and standards, as well as legal issues in counseling practice.
School Planning, Consulting, and Supervision
- Learn how to plan, organize, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive school counseling program including consultation and supervision models, practices, and processes.

Clinical Mental Health

Help people address issues that interfere with their ability to cultivate and lead a productive life. Take these courses to complete your degree with a master's in clinical mental health.

Foundations and Ethical Issues in Community Mental Health
- Examine organizational and administrative structures of human services agencies as well as staffing patterns, clientele, consultation and interagency relationships. Get an overview of the role and functions of mental health counseling and consultation in the community context, with special attention to prevention, and mental health service delivery systems. A major portion of this course is the study of ethical practice, which will cover AMHCA and ACA codes and standards, as well as legal issues in counseling practice.
Clinical Mental Health Program Planning, Consulting and Supervision
- Learn how to plan, organize, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive clinical mental health counseling program including consultation and supervision models, practices, and processes.

Program Learning Outcomes

The Counseling and Development curriculum in our master's program is aligned with CACREP standards and is compatible with state certification in school counseling, national counselor certification, and state licensure for professional counselors. Within the program, you'll learn to work as an ethical and effective counselor with the skills to:

Have and maintain a professional counseling identity.
Use Multicultural Counseling Competencies.
Apply human development theories as they apply to the counseling process.
Use career assessments to discover client needs and growth.
Assess the implementation of group counseling procedures.
Use qualitative and quantitative assessment in practice.
Design a research methodology that will be used to inform their practice.

Pursue a Counselor Role to Help Others

With your choice of a clinical mental health or school counseling concentration, our online master's in counseling degree delivers the education and hands-on experience you need to step into professional counseling roles. By the time you graduate, you'll be able to provide counseling services to P-12 students, couples and families, those struggling with addiction, and more.

While counseling positions overall show continued growth, some positions are growing faster than others. Substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselor positions are expected to grow more than three times the national average between 2022 and 2032 at 18%.¹

Get Started Now!

If you’d like to deliver on your desire to help others, please contact a program manager toll-free at 833/257-1704 or request more information about Winthrop University's online M.Ed. in Counseling and Development degree program.

Source & Disclaimer

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors." Retrieved Feb. 5, 2024, from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/substance-abuse-behavioral-disorder-and-mental-health-counselors.htm.

*Professional Licensure Disclosure
Requirements for professional licensure in counseling vary from state to state. Winthrop’s School Counseling program is designed to meet SC and NC licensure requirements for school counseling and may not meet requirements from other states. We are unable to make a determination about whether or not our program will lead to licensure in other states. Before beginning any academic program that leads to licensure, we strongly recommend you contact the state licensing board where you wish to seek licensure to determine whether the program you are considering will meet that state's licensing requirements.

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