The clinical mental health counseling concentration in Radford University’s Department
of Counselor Education prepares emerging counselors through an experiential, contextual,
and systemic curriculum, infused with foundational and current counseling-related
research, counseling and human development needs of clients from diverse backgrounds
and culturally diverse populations, and clinical and outreach activities.
The program helps students develop a strong counselor professional identity through
ethical and competent practice as well as expanding self-awareness. Students serve
as professional mental health counselors who practice in community agencies and other
clinical mental health settings.
Objectives
Students preparing to work as clinical mental health counselors through our program
will gain the professional knowledge, skills, and practices necessary to address a
wide variety of circumstances within the clinical mental health counseling context.
Our program provides these foundations through the following objectives to:
- Recruit qualified applicants ensuring equal consideration of candidates from diverse
and underrepresented populations, (e.g., racial, ethnic, sexual, disabled, economic
minorities, etc.);
- Provide experiences that inform and facilitate professional identity through personal
and professional growth;
- Teach the effective application of legal and ethical standards specific to clinical
mental health counseling practice;
- Assist students in developing multicultural counseling competencies (e.g., awareness,
knowledge, and skills) to meet the needs of a pluralistic society;
- Teach the core counseling skills and strategies that are foundational to clinical
mental health counseling;
- Contribute to the clinical mental health counseling profession through professional
engagement (e.g., membership in professional organizations, participation in conferences,
participation in advocacy and social justice initiatives);
- Provide students information and support in the licensure process;
- Provide connections to mental health and other relevant community partners
- Support students in their identification of appropriate post-graduate employment opportunities;
- Maintain CACREP accreditation standards specific to clinical mental health counseling; and
- Evaluate the clinical mental health counseling concentration through recommendations
from program faculty, current and former students, advisory board, and additional
stakeholders; and through the analysis of critical data derived from student learning
outcomes.