Clinical Mental Health Counseling [Post-Master’s Certificate]

Location(s): In-person/hybrid

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The Post-Master’s Certificate in Clinical Mental Health Counseling provides opportunities for counseling program graduates to gain the knowledge and skills for working in community-based mental health centers, hospitals and other treatment centers, and private practice. Upon completion of this program, students will have gained the advanced clinical competencies necessary to work with clients presenting a range of mental and emotional disorders and the skills necessary to promote mental health and wellness. The certificate program provides additional training for graduates of 48-semester hour counseling programs who seek employment in states that require 60 credit master’s degrees.

Students must complete a minimum of 13 credit hours; however, exact coursework requirements will be determined based on the student’s previous master’s level coursework. All students will be required to have completed (within the last 15 years) a CACREP-accredited 48 semester hour master’s program in school, college, or community counseling.

Program Admission

Admit Terms and Deadlines

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; students may start the program in the Fall or Winter. See Application Deadlines.

Minimum Graduate School Requirements

For full admission, applicants must have 1) Earned a four-year baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or an equivalent degree from a non-U.S. institution, 2) a minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average of 2.7 on a 4.0 scale, or 3.0 in the last half of the undergraduate program. Conditional admission may be available to applicants not meeting minimum admission requirements.

Program Requirements

Applicants must also meet the following program requirements. Requirements may be more stringent than the minimum graduate school requirements.

A master’s degree from a CACREP-accredited program in a regionally accredited institution of higher education. The master’s degree must have been obtained within the past 15 years.
Evidence of academic potential for continued graduate-level study. Evidenced by a graduate grade point average of 3.3 on the previously completed master’s degree.
Personal Statement A one-page narrative statement focusing on the applicant’s motivation and rationale for seeking a certificate in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and their background and goals related to professional studies.
Résumé A focused summary of relevant educational, career, and/or life experiences.
Three Recommendations Request recommendation forms from three professional supervisors and/or supervising professors that address the applicant’s professional work quality. Applicants may request recommendation letters in addition to completing the recommendation form. Applicants are encouraged to ask recommenders to submit a recommendation letter if this could enhance their application materials. Recommendation forms and letters must come directly from your reference.

Application

Your application will be submitted using GradCAS, a Centralized Application Service (CAS) hosted by Liaison. After reviewing the admission requirements, please review the application instructions and select the appropriate application.

- Go to 2023-2024 GradCAS to apply to a program beginning in Summer 2024, Fall 2024, or Winter 2025.

- Go to 2024-2025 GradCAS to apply to a program beginning in Summer 2025, Fall 2025, or Winter 2026.

Domestic Applicants Within the application, applicants will follow the instructions to submit official transcripts from the institution(s) that granted their bachelor’s and graduate degrees.

If the bachelor’s degree-granting transcript does NOT list 30 or more credit hours with an overall GPA of 3.0 or over OR list 60 or more credit hours with an overall GPA between 2.7 and 2.99, the applicant is required to submit transcripts from all previously attended institutions. The University may ask applicants to submit additional transcripts after applying.

International Applicants Before applying, applicants must review the international application/process deadlines at emich.edu/international as they may differ from general program requirements.

For additional information regarding the application process, please see Graduate Admissions or International Admissions.

Department Information

Leadership & Counseling 304 Porter, 734.487.0255

Kimberly Kappler Hewitt, PhD, Department Head

Advisor Information

Quentin Hunter, PhD, 304 Porter, 734.487.0255

Degree Requirements: 22 hours

Required Core: 13 hours

Course requirements may be waived based on a student’s prior graduate work and/or professional experience; please see an advisor for additional information.

Required Cognates: 9 hours

COUN 515 Crisis Intervention 3 hrs
COUN 574 Couple and Family Counseling 3 hrs
COUN 575 Addictions Counseling 3 hrs

Restricted Elective Courses (optional)

To be determined with advisor

COUN 570 Diagnosing and Treating Depressed Clients in Counseling 2 hrs
COUN 591 Special Topics 2 hrs
COUN 651 Counseling with Children 3 hrs
COUN 653 Counseling Adolescents 2 hrs

Additional Information

For more information about the program, admissions, etc., contact the department head.

Critical Graduation Information

Each graduate student is responsible for fulfilling the requirements or their equivalents of the Eastern Michigan University catalog in force at the time of their initial registration or a subsequent catalog, including the one in effect at the time of their graduation.

Graduate Certificate requirements must be completed within three (3) years of first enrollment in a course applicable to the certificate. Dually enrolled students (certificate and master’s program) must complete both degrees within six years of first enrollment in the master’s degree.

In the event a student does not complete the graduate certificate degree requirements within three years of the date of their original registration, the student may be required to have their credits re-evaluated by the academic department(s) of their degree in keeping with catalog requirements in force during the year of their graduation.

The following are the minimum requirements for all graduate certificate degrees awarded by Eastern Michigan University. Some programs require more than the minimum in one or more areas below.

A graduate certificate must require a minimum of 12 credit hours.
No more than six credits of independent study courses and 12 credit hours of special topics and independent study courses combined may be applied to a graduate degree.
Residency Requirement - For students admitted to a graduate certificate program, at least nine graduate hours beginning the semester of acceptance and enrollment into the program must be earned at EMU. Students completing multiple certificate programs must have a minimum of 9 unique credit hours per certificate.
Application of completed certificates toward prior degree credit - Only credits from one completed graduate certificate may be applied to a master’s or specialist degree in a relevant field of study, as determined by the Graduate School and with the approval of the degree-granting academic department, and be included in the residency hours of the master’s program.
The Graduate School does not permit the use of undergraduate courses (499 and below) to meet degree requirements on graduate programs of study.
Students must maintain a 3.0 cumulative GPA in all graduate-level courses taken at EMU and in their program of study to remain in good academic standing and be eligible for graduation. Students do not need to be registered for classes during the semester of graduation.