Clinical Mental Health MS

Clinical mental health counseling is the provision of professional counseling services, involving the application of principles of psychotherapy, human development, learning theory, group dynamics, and the etiology of mental illness and dysfunctional behavior to individuals, couples, families and groups for the purposes of treating psychopathology and promoting optimal mental health.

The master of science degree in clinical mental health counseling is designed for persons seeking employment in an agency counseling setting. The 60-credit-hour program qualifies students for New York State Licensure - Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC). Individuals can also apply for national certification as a professional counselor (NCC) and as a clinical mental health counselor (CMHC).

CONFIDENCE, CLARITY of direction, and a heightened sense of PURPOSE. Since its beginnings in 1856, Niagara University has lived its mission. Today, our University Community looks to St. Vincent de Paul, Catholic priest and reformer, innovative educator, and organizer of charitable and systemic responses to poverty for its contemporary EDUCATIONAL, CATHOLIC and VINCENTIAN vision. We were one of the first universities to offer service learning, a program now called IMPACT, providing tutoring, non-profit capacity building, and other change-producing projects in the community. Thousands of NU students have participated since the program's inception and more than 70 classes include project based learning activities as an integral part of their syllabi. We have a Career Services process called PATHWAYS that guides students all the way through their undergraduate careers and into the future. We offer a Poverty Minor and a Leadership Minor, in which students—regardless of major--acquire the knowledge, skills and practical experience needed to be effective in combating poverty and leading transformation. We provide grants to faculty who research to find causes and solutions to poverty. We offer scholarships to students who are committed to local service work and systemic change. Our students, faculty and staff stand with the poor in some of the most disadvantaged areas in our community and in our world including Haiti, Peru, Guatemala and Panama.