Return to: School of Education & Human Development
Office: Lawrence Street Center, 701
Telephone: 303-315-6300
E-mail: academicservices@ucdenver.edu
Website: https://education.ucdenver.edu/
Faculty
Information about faculty in the Counseling program is available online at https://education.ucdenver.edu/about-us/faculty-directory
Degree
The Master of Arts degree in Counseling program prepares professionals for community/mental health agencies, private practice, public schools, and institutions of higher education. Students accepted into the Counseling program follow one of the four concentration areas. The clinical mental health counseling track follows state licensure requirements for Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC); the couple and family therapy/counseling track follows state licensure requirements for licensure as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and state licensure requirements for LPC; the school counseling track follows the requirements for both the LPC and Colorado Department of Education license as a school counselor; and the higher education and student affairs track follows the Counsel for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education standards but does not lead to any counseling license.
The clinical mental health, couple and family therapy, and school counselor tracks consist of 63 semester hours. Core courses that are common to all licensure areas of study are followed by courses specific to concentration area. The clinical mental health, couple and family therapy /counseling, and school counselor tracks require a practicum (150 clock hours) and an internship (600 clock hours). The couple and family therapy/counseling (CFTC) track requires 500 hours of clinical work, 40% of which must be relational (couple and/or family counseling/therapy) clinical hours. The CFTC track does not distinguish between practicum or internship in the collection of these clinical hours. For students in these tracks, the master’s degree is a three to three and a half-year program with course work for two-two and a half years followed by a 12-16 months of practicum and internship.
The higher education and student affairs track consists of 39 semester hours. Students in this track are required to complete a 600-hour internship. This master’s degree is a two to three year program with course work for one and a half to two years followed by a semester-long internship.
The clinical mental health, couple and family therapy, and school counselor tracks are nationally accredited by CACREP, the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. The program is currently working on getting the couple and family track accredited by COAMFTE, the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education. The program in higher education and student affairs aligns with the Council for the Accreditation of Standards (CAS).
Admission Requirements
Successful applicants to the Counseling program will have obtained a minimum 2.75 undergraduate GPA. Also, applicants will submit a current resume, a letter of intent, three letters of recommendation, and additional required materials. Applicants meeting these minimum standards may be invited to a half-day group interview that involves program orientation, small group interviews, a writing assignment, and a group exercise.
A prerequisite course in basic statistics (undergraduate or graduate level) is required prior to enrollment in the program or may be completed during the first semester in the program.
Application materials are available at https://education.ucdenver.edu/academic-services/admissions. All materials must be submitted online by the appropriate deadline: September 15 for spring semester and January 15 for fall semester.
Program Requirements
Students in the Counseling program are required to maintain at least a B (3.00) grade point average in all coursework attempted while enrolled. Courses in which grades below a B- (2.7) are received may only be counted toward the degree with faculty permission. Students receiving a C or below in any of the clinical skill building courses: COUN 5100, 5110, 5160, 5910, 5930, 6140, or 7100 will be required to repeat the course and follow any remediation plan that may be developed to meet the students’ specific needs. Students in clinical mental health, couple and family counseling/therapy, and school counselor tracks must also take a national comprehensive examination, the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Exam (CPCE), after completing all core courses. Students in the higher education and student affairs track must complete a comprehensive examination in the last semester of study. Students in any track may choose to conduct research and submit a thesis (research conducted under faculty advisement) instead of taking a comprehensive examination.
Counseling Core
COUN 5010 - Counseling Theories
COUN 5100 - Techniques of Counseling
COUN 5110 - Group Counseling*
COUN 5150 - Family Counseling/Therapy*
COUN 5330 - Counseling Issues and Ethics*
COUN 5400 - Career Development
COUN 5810 - Multicultural Counseling Issues for Individuals and Families
LDFS 6200 - Human Development Over the Life Span
- Introduction to Measurement
- Introduction to Research Methods
CPCE* to be taken after all Counseling core classes are completed.
*not required for students in the higher education and student affairs track
Total: 30 Hours
Additional Requirements for Clinical Mental Health Counseling (MA)
COUN 5160 - Techniques in Family Therapy
COUN 5280 - Addictions Counseling
COUN 5820 - Strategies of Agency Counseling
COUN 6250 - Mental Health Diagnosis
COUN 7100 - Advanced Theories and Techniques in Psychotherapy
Two Additional Electives (6 semester hours)
COUN 5910 - Practicum in COUN
COUN 5930 - Internship in Counseling
Total: 33 Hours
Additional Requirements for School Counselor License (MA)*
COUN 5280 - Addictions Counseling
COUN 5425 - Developing & Implementing a School Counseling Program: ASCA
COUN 5815 - Introduction to School Counseling
COUN 5915 - Practicum in School Counseling
COUN 6140 - Counseling Children, Adolescents and Their Parents
COUN 6230 - Developmental Counseling in Schools: Prevention & Intervention
COUN 6250 - Mental Health Diagnosis
COUN 5910 - Practicum in COUN
COUN 5930 - Internship in Counseling
The Professional School Counselor Praxis exam (5421) is required for the Colorado Department of Education license for school counselors.
Total: 33 Hours
*100-hour practicum is required in the schools (COUN 5915). Three hundred of the 600 hours of internship must be in a concentrated environment. Full-time experience consisting of at least a four-hour block of time each day is required. Students may not do their internship in their primary employment (agency or school setting). For school counseling, three hundred (300) hours of internship are needed at the middle and secondary level for a K-12 program. COUN 5150, 6140 and 7100 are necessary for students to work with school-related family issues, individual counseling and children’s counseling in practicum and internship.
Additional Requirements for Couple and Family Therapy (MA)
COUN 5160 - Techniques in Family Therapy
COUN 6170 - Issues In Family Studies
COUN 5180 - Counseling Couples
COUN 6000 - Introduction to Sex Therapy
COUN 6140 - Counseling Children, Adolescents and Their Parents
COUN 6160 - Advanced Assessment: Theory and Treatment in Family Systems
COUN 6250 - Mental Health Diagnosis
COUN 5910 - Practicum in COUN
COUN 5930 - Internship in Counseling
Total: 33 Hours
Additional Requirements for Higher Education and Student Affairs*
COUN 5050 - Foundations of Student Affairs
COUN 5500 - Diversity in Higher Education
COUN 5130 - Student Development Theory
- Leadership and Organizations
COUN 5070 - Higher Education Law and Ethics
COUN 5940 - Internship in Higher Education and Student Affairs
Comprehensive Exam
Total: 21 Hours
*Students who have completed higher education and student affairs courses as part of the Human Development and Family Relations undergraduate major or minor at CU Denver, will be allowed to use these courses to satisfy program requirements; but, they will not receive graduate credit for these courses. As such, these students will be required to take elective courses to reach the 39 credit hour requirement.
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