We love what we do! Dedicated faculty members lead our innovative, student-centered program and are committed to helping students grow in their academic, personal and clinical knowledge and skills. Our program:
For more information about our program, please see our current student handbook here.
First Year
Second Year
Third Year
Students who are full time move through the program engaged in a variety of learning experiences–including experiential, skills based courses, personal learning and academic knowledge acquisition. Students choose an emphasis of either clinical or mental health counseling, which are described in more detail below.
Licensure:
Licensure is required to practice in Wisconsin and completion of this program prepares students to meet licensure requirements in either clinical mental health counseling or school counseling in Wisconsin. UW-Whitewater has not made a determination of whether the program curriculum meets the educational licensure requirements in other U.S. states or territories. Licensure requirements by state can be found here. Information on state specific school counselor licensure requirements can be found here. The program works with students individually to ensure that students meet licensure requirements in their desired location.
The Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) emphasis (60 credit hours) meets the curriculum requirements for the National Board of Counselor Certification and prepares individuals to work with a variety of presenting conditions. Students who select this emphasis plan to work in such diverse settings as:
Individuals who complete the CMHC emphasis can pursue the following license options:
The school counseling emphasis (60 credit hours) meets the program requirements for Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction for the K-12 school counseling licensure in the state of Wisconsin. Students in the school counseling emphasis need to pass the PRAXIS II School Counseling Exam (Professional School Counselor #5421) and maintain a 3.0 GPA.
School counselors provide leadership in the implementation of comprehensive school counseling programs and multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) in elementary, middle and high schools. They use data to provide individual & small group counseling, consult with parents and teachers to create equitable systems for all students.
Students in both the CMHC and school counseling emphasis take the same core 48 credits of coursework that meet the CACREP standards, including:
712 Foundations of Counseling
715: Research in Counselor Education or Educational Foundations 740: Educational Research
716: Crisis Intervention and Trauma Counseling Across settings (school & CMHC specific sections)
718: Principles of Counseling
719: Appraisal Procedures in Counseling
720: Career Development and Information Services (school & CMHC specific sections)
721: Groups: Theory and Practice
722: Theories of Counseling
728: Mental Health Diagnosis in Counseling
731: Introduction to Marriage, Couples and Family Counseling
736: Counseling Across the Lifespan
741: Social and Cultural Foundations of Counseling
751: Professional Practices: Ethics and Consultation
793: Supervised Practicum
795: Counseling Internship (2 semesters)-600 hours
School Counseling Emphasis Coursework
Clinical Mental Health Coursework
Students in both emphases can choose 6 credits of electives in their programs, including: