Clinical Counseling, MS

Program Coordinator: Leigh Atherton (4425-J Health Sciences Building; 252-744-6290; athertonw@ecu.edu)

The master of science in clinical counseling is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Education Programs (CACREP) in clinical mental health counseling. The clinical counseling program is designed for students whose career goals are in clinical mental health and/or substance abuse counseling. Clinical mental health and substance abuse/addictions counselors work in a variety of public and private mental health and substance abuse settings, serving outpatient and inpatient programs, drug detoxification centers, hospitals and clinics, partial hospital or day-treatment programs, employee assistance programs, and drug prevention programs.

Each graduate is eligible for licensure as a professional counselor (LPC) in North Carolina after two years of post-master’s degree, supervised counseling experience. Graduates also meet all academic and training requirements for licensure by the North Carolina Substance Abuse Professional Practice Board. Students must work for one year, post-master’s degree, in a substance abuse counseling position to become eligible for licensure as clinical addictions specialists. East Carolina University’s master’s degree in clinical counseling program is one of the few nationwide where graduates qualify for licensure with one year of post-master’s professional experience, instead of the two years needed by graduates of other programs.

The program requires 62 s.h. as follows:

Required courses:

Personal Experiential Counseling Requirements

Students in the clinical counseling and rehabilitation counseling programs are required to participate in personal counseling and experiential activities. These include participation in a small personal growth group, a group counseling course, counseling pre-practicum and practicum courses, and an option of individual personal counseling by the student counseling center or from another mental health professional to meet part of an optional requirement in the counseling practicum course. All of these personal counseling experiences are oriented toward increasing personal and interpersonal growth of the student in order to become a competent professional clinical counselor.