Applications due Jan. 15 for program that meets educational requirements to become Licensed Mental Health Counselor

Aiming to address increasing societal mental health issues, and improve overall well-being in the community, the University of Rhode Island College of Health Sciences has introduced a new Mental and Behavioral Health Counseling master’s program in the Department of Psychology.

Adopting the practitioner-scholar model, the program provides students with generalist training in intervention, assessment, ethics, and supervision, in addition to core psychology studies. The program emphasizes practice-related research, empirically-based intervention models, and the integration of psychological science and practice, including a focus on psychometrics, the psychological measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and personality traits.

Students in the program are exposed to a variety of psychotherapies and treatment modalities, which they will have the opportunity to implement during internships at area hospitals, private practices and community health centers, preparing them well to attain the minimum 2,000 hours of post-graduate degree supervised counseling experience required for licensure as a mental health counselor in Rhode Island. They will work with diverse populations in experiential settings, with an emphasis on cultural values and other diversity factors that influence mental health and behavior.

This master’s program provides a workforce development path for many student in Psychology and related degrees that is part of meeting the greater need for mental health services in Rhode Island and in the region. Students will leave the master’s program with an understanding of core concepts required by the American Psychological Association, and having satisfied the educational requirements for a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Rhode Island, as well as several other states. They will attain the knowledge needed to pass the required National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination, sponsored by the National Board of Certified Counselors.

The two-year, full-time program begins during the summer semester in June 2025, continuing through an August graduation in 2027. Applications are due by Jan. 15, 2025. For more information and to apply to all the department’s programs, visit uri.edu/psychology/academics.