The specialization in clinical mental health counseling will prepare counselors to address a wide variety of wellness, prevention and mental health concerns. This concentrated graduate program is tailored for graduates to meet current educational requirements to pursue licensure in the state of Tennessee as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) or as a Licensed Professional Counselor-Mental Health Service Provider (LPC/MHSP). Students outside the state of Tennessee may also be eligible for licensure within their home state after completion of our degree program. Counseling program faculty are available to advise prospective students about that process and to determine licensure eligibility prior to admission into the program.
The Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program is CACREP accredited.
Fall enrollment : February 20
Spring enrollment: October 8
The Counseling Program Admission Committee adheres to the 2024 CACREP Standards in its admission procedure. Specifically, Section 1.J.:
Entry-level admission decision recommendations are made by the counselor education program and include consideration of each applicant’s
To assist the Committee in making these decisions, applicants are required to complete the following process:
An online application must be submitted and the following materials will be required in the online application prior to committee review by the Counseling Admissions Board.
The Admission Committee will review each application packet and determine whether the applicant has met initial requirements to be considered for admission. The applicant will be contacted in order to schedule a virtual interview with a committee member. After the interview the Admission Committee will make a final determination of acceptance and the applicant will be notified.
Admission is dependent upon submission of these documents and a positive review by the Counseling Admission Committee. All supplemental materials listed above must be submitted to the College of Education, Health, and Behavioral Sciences Graduate Programs. Materials should be emailed to cehbsgp@ut.utm.edu; transcripts should be sent to Graduate Studies.
Office of Graduate Studies
227 Administration Building
Martin, TN 38238
The Clinical Mental Health (CMH) concentration is designed to prepare students to work as ethical, skilled counselors in a variety of clinical settings. Preparation includes helping students transition from learning theories and concepts to applying them with specific clients. The specific course curriculum aligns with the 2024 CACREP Standards for Clinical Mental Health programs. In addition to the eight common core courses of the counseling program, students are required to take courses that introduce them to the profession of clinical mental health counseling as well as courses that focus on the identification and treatment of mental health disorders.
The mission of the University of Tennessee at Martin's Master of Science in Education with a major in counseling is to prepare socially ethical and competent professionals in clinical mental health and school settings. We aspire to develop counselors who are technically skilled, personally aware, empathic, and accepting of the cultural and social differences of their clients or students.
The UTM Counselor Education Model is designed to develop counselors who are enhancers of human development and believe counselors should know how to improve learning through the use of a wide variety of materials including human and technological resources. Therefore, embedded within and intertwined among components of the conceptual framework are the commitments to diverse learners and the use of technology as an additional communication tools to enhance student learning.
The Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Programs (CACREP) has identified eight common core curricular areas that are required of all counselor training programs. After completing the graduate degree, our students should be prepared to enter the counseling profession confident in their ability to meet the standards of their chosen professional specialization. The following broad student learning outcomes have been developed to reflect the eight common core areas:
Students will demonstrate sufficient knowledge of content within the eight common core curricular areas (professional orientation and ethical practice, social and cultural diversity, human growth and development, career development, helping relationships, group work, assessment, and research and program development).
Students will demonstrate effective counseling skills in their coursework and during their field experiences.
Students will adhere to the ethical code of their counseling professional association when completing coursework and field experiences.
Students will demonstrate knowledge of their specialty area (clinical mental health counseling or school counseling).
Each academic year the Counseling Program develops an Annual Report that complies with CACREP Standards. The report documents important data for both the Clinical Mental Health and School Counseling specialty areas.
