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Students apply what they've learned in their M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Cornerstone University. Students apply what they've learned in their M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Cornerstone University. Students apply what they've learned in their M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Cornerstone University.
Master of Science in
Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Online

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Wall Street Journal ranks Cornerstone University as one of America's best colleges 2025.

Fully Online
with Two In-Person Residencies
Transfer Friendly
Transfer up to 75% of your program credits

Become A Licensed Professional Counselor with an M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling Degree

You can help bring hope, healing, and wellness to your community with a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Cornerstone University. This flexible, high-quality online program prepares you to become a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), offering support from graduation through licensure and into employment. Through a unique blend of scientific training, practical counseling skills, and a Christian worldview foundation, you’ll be prepared to serve others with purpose and compassion. Concentrations in Marriage and Family Therapy, Addictions Counseling, Christian Counseling, and Trauma Counseling allow you to choose pathways that fit your interests.

Benefits of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Master’s Degree Program

Prepare to develop advanced clinical skills that equip you for real-world success in counseling settings in this 60-credit hour program taught by our experienced licensed counselors. Our program offers:

  1. Concentrations in Marriage and Family Therapy, Addictions Counseling, Christian Counseling, and Trauma Counseling allow you to choose pathways that fit your interests.
  2. Dual Licensure Track allows you to become a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT). Cornerstone University is one of the only schools in the country to offer such a degree.
  3. Supervised field experience allows you to apply foundational skills in a broad range of real-world applications as you work with clients at counseling sites.
  4. Three-day in-person residencies offer valuable opportunities to engage with faculty and peers, receive hands-on guidance, and grow professionally and personally.
  5. Personalized Tracks allow you to choose a course load that works with your life and personal goals. Choose from six credit hours per term, nine credit hours per term, or twelve credit hours per term based on your needs!

Develop Market-Ready Skills for Clinical Mental Health Counseling Degree Professionals

Cornerstone’s master’s program exceeds CACREP curriculum requirements and fulfills state licensure requirements so students can build a strong resume with these essential skills:

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Clinical Assessment and Diagnosis – Ability to assess mental health conditions and develop accurate, evidence-based diagnoses.

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Individual and Group Counseling Techniques – Deliver therapeutic interventions tailored to diverse client needs.

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Crisis Intervention – Respond effectively to mental health emergencies, including suicide risk and trauma-related situations.

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Ethical and Legal Competency – Apply strong ethical standards and legal responsibilities in professional counseling practice.

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Treatment Planning – Design and implement personalized treatment plans that promote client growth and recovery.

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Addiction and Substance Use Counseling – Know substance use disorders and effective strategies for treatment and support.

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Client Advocacy and Collaboration – Advocate for clients and collaborate with families, healthcare professionals and community resources.

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Use of Evidence-Based Practices – Training in therapeutic models and interventions supported by current research and best practices.

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Integration of a Christian Worldview – A Biblically-grounded approach to counseling that fosters healing with compassion and purpose.

Courses

Cornerstone is ready to help you advance your current or future workplace goals. The courses below reflect the general education and industry-focused courses you will experience to achieve your degree.

Core Curriculum

COU-501: Counseling Theories

Survey the history and development of major counseling theories, including linear and systemic models. Evaluate diverse approaches and establish a personal theoretical orientation through study, interaction, and research.

COU-502: Counseling Ethics & Issues

Learn the professional roles, legal standards, and ethical codes guiding the counseling profession. Examine common legal and ethical challenges and apply a decision-making model using the ACA (2014) and AAMFT (2015) Codes of Ethics.

COU-503: Introduction to Counseling/Professional Development

Examine the history and philosophy of counseling, systemic work, professional roles and responsibilities, supervision and consultation theories, and diverse practice settings. Address collaboration across individual, group, and organizational contexts. Establish a counseling model that reflects multicultural competence and a Christian worldview.

COU-521: Foundations of Marriage & Family Counseling

Gain a theoretical and practical foundation for counseling diverse couples and families using a systemic approach to assess, treat, and intervene effectively.

COU-525: Social & Cultural Foundations in Counseling

Discover key theories and dynamics involved in counseling across diverse cultural contexts. Emphasize cultural awareness, counselor bias, and the development of culturally sensitive practices. Address current research on race, ethnicity, class, gender, age, marital status, sexual orientation, and disability.

COU-602: Clinical Assessments

Understand the role of assessments in improving mental health services. Develop skills in selecting, administering, scoring, and interpreting psychological, educational, and vocational statistical tools. Apply assessment data to support diagnosis, guide treatment planning, and promote behavior change and client wellness.

COU-643: Trauma-Informed Advocacy & Crisis Intervention

Prepare to respond to a range of potentially traumatic events, including suicide, homicide, school violence, natural disasters, terrorism, and trafficking. Emphasize ethical guidelines, professional protocols, and immediate interventions that address the psychological impact of crisis from a counseling perspective across individual, family, and community settings.

COU-653: Addictions Counseling: Treatment & Intervention

Learn counseling theories, techniques, and ethical standards for treating addictive and compulsive disorders. Review evidence-based models that support recovery, healing, and change. Focus on treatment planning, documentation, crisis intervention, clinical supervision, and the impact of intrapersonal awareness on the counseling process.

COU-661: Psychopathology & Diagnosis

Examine the neurobiological and medical roots of mental health and addiction disorders, emphasizing accurate, culturally informed diagnosis using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).

COU-662: Human Growth & Development

Trace human development across the lifespan through individual and family psychology. Analyze key developmental theories and examine factors that support or hinder flourishing within diverse cultural contexts.

COU-672: Treatment of Mental and Emotional Disorders

Create effective treatment plans and case conceptualizations, using trauma-informed and community-based strategies, while introducing common psychotropic medications for appropriate referrals.

COU-675: Technology-Assisted Counseling

Investigate best practices, ethical standards, and legal requirements for telemental health counseling. Review HIPAA-compliant technologies, emergency response protocols, and strategies for serving diverse individuals, couples, and families through digital platforms.

COU-680: Psychopharmacology & Neuroscience in Counseling

Analyze foundational neuroscience concepts, research, and practice issues related to psychopharmacology. Consider the psychological and physiological effects of medication in the treatment of mental disorders from a non-medical counseling perspective.

COU-700: Research Methodology

Apply foundational research designs used in counseling, including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Address research ethics, statistical analysis, needs assessment, evidence-based practice, and program evaluation.

View all of the courses for your academic program.

Academic Catalog
Degree Planning Guide

Clinical Curriculum

COU-610: Counseling Techniques

Explore key counselor behaviors, methodologies, and techniques for facilitating change, risk assessment, and crisis or trauma intervention for individuals, couples, and families.

COU-612: Group Techniques

Analyze the theories and dynamics of group counseling across various settings. Learn strategies for group formation, leadership, and facilitation, and gain hands-on experience by participating as both a member and leader in a counseling group.

COU-772: Counseling Practicum Lab

Complete a supervised clinical practicum alongside COU-782. Develop and assess counseling skills through self-evaluation and supervisor feedback in accordance with the Practicum and Internship Handbook. This course requires 100 hours of clinical experience.

COU-774: Counseling Internship I Lab

Complete a supervised clinical internship alongside COU-784. Demonstrate and assess counseling competencies through self-evaluation and supervisor feedback in accordance with the Practicum and Internship Handbook. This course requires 200 hours of clinical experience.

COU-775: Counseling Internship II Lab

Complete a supervised clinical internship alongside COU-785. Demonstrate and assess advanced counseling skills through self-evaluation and supervisor feedback in accordance with the Practicum and Internship Handbook. This course requires 600 hours of clinical experience.

COU-782: Practicum: Counseling Field Experience

Begin supervised clinical practice in a professional counseling setting. Cultivate skills in interviewing, assessment, case conceptualization, and documentation while working with individuals, couples, families and groups. Receive feedback through both self-assessment and supervisor evaluation throughout the experience.

COU-784: Internship 1: Counseling Field Experience

Expand clinical counseling skills through an extended supervised placement in a professional setting. Strengthen competencies in interviewing, assessment, case conceptualization, and documentation with individuals, couples, families and groups. Progress is assessed through self-evaluation and supervisor feedback.

COU-785: Internship 2: Counseling Field Experience

Advance your clinical counseling practice through continued supervised experience in a professional setting. Build on prior competencies in interviewing, assessment, case conceptualization, and documentation while working with diverse client populations. Ongoing evaluation includes both self-assessment and supervisor review.

Transfer Friendly

Transfer Course Credits

Cornerstone has a generous transfer student policy. Equivalent master’s level courses may be considered provided that a B or better has been obtained. Courses must also have been taken within the last seven years from an accredited university.

Please note, the following courses must be taken at Cornerstone:

  • COU-503: Introduction To Counseling/Prof Develop
  • COU-610: Counseling Techniques
  • COU-612: Group Techniques
  • COU-782: Practicum: Counseling Field Experience
  • COU-784: Internship 1: Counseling Field Experience
  • COU-785: Internship 2: Counseling Field Experience

Residency & Field Experience

Cornerstone is ready to help you advance your current or future workplace goals. The courses below reflect just a few of the focused courses you will experience that apply to a wide range of counseling roles.

In-Person Residency

Three-Day In-Person Residency

Strengthen your clinical skills and build meaningful connections during two immersive three-day, in-person residencies held throughout the program. These residencies offer valuable opportunities to:

  • Engage with faculty and peers.
  • Receive hands-on guidance.
  • Grow professionally and personally.

Students will complete the first residency in conjunction with orientation before the start of the program. The second residency will occur mid-way through, in conjunction with the COU-610: Counseling Techniques course.

Field Experience

Supervised Field Experience

The supervised field experience allows you to apply foundational skills in a broad range of real-world applications as part of the licensure requirement. Students work with clients at counseling sites, which can lead to employment upon degree completion and fulfillment of field experience. Our rigorous program includes 100 practicum hours (40% direct client contact), 600 clinical internship hours (40% direct client contact), and two on-campus residencies. Enhance your resume and networking opportunities with the guidance you need as you complete your clinical requirements. For those outside of our area, you may choose an approved site that is closer to your home.

Licensure & Continued Professional Development

You must become a Licensed Professional Counselor to work in any facility as a professional counselor within Michigan. We have designed the M.S. in clinical mental health counseling degree program to meet Michigan’s licensure requirements. Upon graduation, you will qualify to apply for your Limited License as a Professional Counselor (LLPC).

You might be curious about the differences between the LPC (licensed professional counselor), LMSW (licensed master social worker) and the LP (licensed psychologist). While each of these careers can have an outcome of doing the work of counseling, the identity of a clinical mental health counselor (LPC) is unique and distinctive with a focus on development across the lifespan, wellness, holistic health and empowerment of clients.

Michigan Counseling Licensure

Michigan Counseling Licensure

The M.S. in clinical mental health counseling program at Cornerstone University is designed to meet the educational requirements for the state of Michigan for the limited license professional counselor credential (LLPC). In Michigan, the limited license is known as a provisional licensure. Four steps need to be completed before applicants can progress from the “limited” license (LLPC) to the “full” license (LPC). These requirements are completed after students earn their M.S. in clinical mental health counseling degree. They are as follows:

  • Complete 3,000 hours working as a counselor.
  • Attend supervision for at least 100 hours with an LPC who has completed the supervision requirements outlined by the state of Michigan.
  • Pass the National Counselor Exam (NCE).
  • Allow no less than two years and no more than ten years to pass before applying.

Please visit the Michigan Board of Counseling for more information regarding Michigan state licensure.

Out-of-State Licensure

Out-of-State Licensure

If you are seeking to pursue licensure in other states, your Cornerstone faculty advisor will work with you to ensure you receive a tailored plan that meets your state’s requirements. See the list of participating states and licensure here.

Networking

Networking

As you begin your degree program, we encourage you to consider getting involved in professional organizations for counseling professionals. These organizations offer professional development opportunities related to the field of counseling.

CACREP Aligned

CACREP Aligned

Cornerstone’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling program not only meets — but exceeds — the educational and training standards required for state licensure. While some believe that CACREP accreditation is necessary to become a licensed counselor, this is a common misconception. In reality, both CACREP and non-CACREP programs can lead to licensure, as long as they fulfill the required coursework and clinical experience. To help clarify this and counter misinformation, we’ve created a helpful resource: CACREP Myths & Facts — a quick guide to understanding what CACREP is (and isn’t) when it comes to becoming a licensed counselor.

CACREP Myths & Facts

Clinical Mental Health Counseling Concentrations

Expand your career opportunities and gain specialized skills with optional concentrations in marriage and family therapy, addictions counseling, trauma counseling or Christian counseling.

Marriage and Family Therapy

Marriage and Family Therapy Concentration

Prepare to counsel couples and families using a systemic, relational approach. Through this 15-credit hour program, you will focus on family assessment, communication patterns, and therapeutic interventions to address emotional and relational challenges and pursue licensure. Allows for Dual Licensure in Michigan.

  • COU-520: Child and Adolescent Counseling – Explore developmental issues, strategies, theories, and methods for effectively counseling children and adolescents.
  • COU-720: Advanced Marriage & Couples Therapy – Develop clinical skills in systemic assessment, treatment planning, and interventions for premarital, marital, and couples counseling, with an additional focus on human sexuality, sex therapy, and affair recovery.
  • COU-730: Advanced Family Therapy: Assessment, Skills & Practice – Practical training with a focus on systemic family therapy theories, assessment, treatment planning, intervention and clinical skill development.
  • COU-779: Internship III Lab – Taken alongside COU-788, this lab supports continued evaluation of clinical counseling skills through self-assessment and supervisor feedback during the final internship placement.
  • COU-781: Internship IV Lab – Completed alongside COU-789, this lab supports continued development and evaluation of clinical counseling skills through self-assessment and supervisor feedback during the internship experience.
  • COU-788: Internship III: Counseling Field Experience – Supervised clinical practice in professional settings, building competencies in interviewing, assessment, case conceptualization, and documentation with individuals, couples, families, and groups.
  • COU-789: Internship IV: Counseling Field Experience – Engage in an extended supervised counseling experience within a professional setting. Strengthen skills in interviewing, clinical assessment, case conceptualization, and documentation while working with individuals, couples, families and groups. Clinical abilities are assessed through self-evaluation and supervisor feedback.

Addictions Counseling

Addictions Counseling Concentration

This six-credit hour program will equip you with with practical skills in assessment, treatment planning, and relapse prevention, preparing them to pursue licensure and work in clinical or community settings.

  • COU-651: Clinical Diagnosis & Assessment of Addictions – Cultivate diagnostic skills to conduct comprehensive evaluations and develop effective treatment plans for clients with addictive and compulsive disorders, integrating current research and a Christian worldview.
  • COU-652: Sociology of Addictions – Explore addiction counseling through sociological and systemic lenses, emphasizing cultural competence, case management, client education, service coordination, and community collaboration from a Christian worldview.

Trauma Counseling

Trauma Counseling Concentration

Through this six-credit hour program, you will learn to assess and treat individuals affected by trauma, including abuse, grief, and crisis through trauma-informed care, evidence-based interventions, and crisis response skills.

  • COU-642: Sociology of Trauma – Understand the sociological impact of trauma locally and globally, examining factors that affect a community’s ability to prevent and respond to traumatic events.
  • COU-644: Trauma Counseling & Recovery – Examine trauma and recovery through a Christian worldview, integrating current research with effective counseling theories for children and adults. Address issues such as abuse, violence, natural disasters, PTSD, and complex trauma. Emphasize strategies for emotional restoration, resilience, and coping, while also exploring vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue.

Christian Counseling

Christian Counseling Concentration

Through this 15-credit hour program, you will expand your clinical training through courses taken at Cornerstone Theological Seminary. Your courses will provide you with the biblical foundations to address emotional, relational, and spiritual issues through a Christ-centered lens while meeting professional counseling standards.

  • CTS-500: Christian Counseling Philosophy – Develop a comprehensive philosophy of counseling as discipleship through a Christian worldview, focusing on personal beliefs, counselor-client roles, and ethical and legal standards in pastoral settings.
  • MIN-500: Christian Spiritual Formation – Examine biblical Christianity applied to faith and practice in today’s culture, focusing on the communal aspects of spiritual growth and formation.
  • BBL-501: Biblical Hermeneutics – Learn the process of interpreting biblical texts to understand their original meaning and apply their significance today.
  • THE-550: Theology for Counseling I – Explore core concepts of the Christian worldview and how to integrate the doctrines of Scripture, God, and humanity into counseling practice.
  • THE-551: Theology for Counseling II – Study Christian worldview, applying doctrines such as sin, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the church, salvation, and last things — death, judgment, heaven, and hell — to counseling scenarios.

Influential Careers with a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling Degree

  • Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC/LLPC)
  • Mental Health Therapist
  • Substance Abuse Counselor
  • Marriage and Family Therapist
  • Crisis Counselor
  • Private Practice Counselor
  • School-Based Mental Health Counselor
  • Community Mental Health Counselor
  • Faith-based or Church Counselor
  • Behavioral Health Counselor

Tuition

Online

$3,390 per semester for full-time students

Cornerstone University is one of the most affordable private universities in the nation. Our team is ready to help you explore options for financing your education.

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Your Next Steps

Review application requirements and take the first step by applying today.

  1. Application submission — (choose the Speciality Master’s degree application)
  2. Minimum 2.7 GPA from an accredited undergraduate college or university
  3. Two recommendations
  4. Resume
  5. Virtual interview with counseling faculty

Note: Students must maintain a 3.0 GPA and receive a B or higher in each course.

Learn more by scheduling an appointment with an admissions counselor. Call 616.426.9924.

Cornerstone University

Hours

MON - FRI: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
SAT & SUN: Closed

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