Master of Education in Counseling

Mission Statement: The faculty and staff of the Delta State University Counselor Education Program, through teaching, training, supervision, and experiential activity, develop ethical, competent, and culturally sensitive counselors who are prepared to work in school or community settings. Program faculty seek to strengthen the profession by modeling for students the professional expectation of continued growth and learning, interpersonal awareness, and practical application of sound principles and practices in their work as professional counselors.

1. Counseling students will develop and demonstrate an understanding of the life-long need to pursue counseling knowledge and professional development. Students will articulate the value of engagement in professional organizations for the purposes of advocacy, certifications, and accreditations.
2. Counseling students will develop an ethical awareness that results in behaviors that reflect an understanding of roles, responsibilities, supervision, and limitations as they collaborate and consult with other behavioral health professionals, school professionals, and systems.
3. Counseling students will verbalize the importance of counseling history and its ongoing influences on current practices.
4. Counseling students will examine biological, environmental, and systemic factors that affect human behavior, development, and functioning. Counseling students will develop strategies for promoting optimum development, resilience, and wellness across the lifespan.
5. Counseling students will utilize career theories that facilitate the client’s pathway to satisfactory work and leisure, including counseling skills that foster values clarification, knowledge of the work world, and personal wellness.
6. Counseling students will utilize critical thinking skills to evaluate the effects of power and privilege for clients. Counseling students will demonstrate decision making strategies to understand the impact of attitudes, beliefs, heritages, understandings, and acculturative experiences on the views of others.
7. Utilizing multicultural competencies and awareness, counseling students will adopt the counseling knowledge base and work-behavior areas to diverse client populations. This ability to make cultural adjustments will be shown specifically in the work-behavior areas of counselors including fundamental counseling issues, counseling processes, diagnostic and assessment services, professional practice, and professional development.
8. As they strengthen their commitment to grow deeper toward integrated practice, counseling students demonstrate foundational understanding of the intersection between counseling theory, counseling skills, and differentiated interventions.
9. Students are aware of their own worldview and its intersection with theories of counseling and development. From this perspective, students demonstrate a beginning verbalization of their own integrated theoretical approach.
10. Counseling students will display knowledge of the various models of group work, processes, and development to ensure effective, ethical group experiences with clients.
11. Counseling students will recognize the need to assess and improve their own leadership skills. They will demonstrate the ability to manage group dynamics within counseling venues.

Admissions decisions are based on the collective success of the following criteria.  All documents related to admission should be sent to the Office of Graduate Studies at grad-info@deltastate.edu.

1. Complete the Online Application with Graduate Studies
2. Minimum 2.75 GPA (cumulative) or 3.0 on last 60 hours of undergraduate work.
3. Typed essay that reflects the applicant’s rationale for pursuing a career in counseling and demonstrates an awareness of the following characteristics that are necessary for becoming an effective counselor:
   1. Ability to work well with others in a caring and authentic manner
   2. Awareness of cultural issues and of being non-judgmental
   3. Possession of integrity and ethical conduct
   4. Commitment to professional development. The essay is divided into 5 basic sections, each one designed so that the first few words of each segment are provided to get you started in the correct direction. Complete each segment (typewritten) until you are confident that you have provided clear and comprehensive responses.
      • My rationale for pursuing a career in counseling is best expressed as follows…
      • My ability to work well with others in a caring and authentic manner is best expressed and demonstrated by…
      • My awareness of cultural issues, and of the necessity of being non-judgmental, is best expressed and demonstrated by…
      • My possession of integrity and ethical conduct is best expressed and demonstrated by…
      • My commitment to professional development is best expressed and demonstrated by…
4. Three Professional References’ contact information with their name,  position with place of employment, relationship with student, email  address, and phone number
5. Group Interviews with faculty
6. Applicants who are non-native English speakers must have a minimum score of 90 on the TOEFL.

Upon completion, students are prepared for employment in the community, private practice, or agency setting.

Please visit the financial aid web page for tuition assistance and scholarship information. The current Graduate Academic Catalog has additional information on admission, degree requirements, programs of study, and more.

Every student is assigned an academic advisor upon admission. Advisors collaborate with students as they progress through the program. Advisors are available to assist students with adjusting to graduate school and to serve as mentors. Advisors will support students through continuous communication with the student and program faculty. Students will meet with their advisors at least once each semester to discuss their progress and needs throughout the program.

While academic advisors are present to support students, students are responsible for making sure they have met all graduation requirements. Students must familiarize themselves with the DSU Graduate Academic Catalog under which they entered the Counselor Education Program.

Courses Required for the Master of Education in Counseling

• CED 600 – Introduction to Counseling & Professional Ethics
• CED 601 – Counseling Theory
• CED 602 – Assessment Techniques in Counseling
• CED 604 – Counseling Pre-Practicum
• CED 605 – Group Counseling
• CED 606 – Career Development & Placement
• CED 609 – Counseling Practicum
• CED 610 – Clinical Mental Health Counseling Internship
• CED 616 – Social & Cultural Foundations
• CED 617 – Foundations in School Counseling
• CED 619 – School Counseling Internship
• CED 620 – Human Growth and Development
• CED 627 – Foundations of Clinical Mental Health Counseling
• CED 630 – Counseling Skills
• CED 635 – Methods of Counseling Research & Statistics
• CED 703 – Psychodiagnotics in Counseling
• CED 707 – Consultation and Counseling of Diverse Populations
• CED 711 – Crisis Intervention
• CED 712 – Counseling Children and Adolescents
• CED 715 – Marriage and Family Counseling

Counseling Laboratory Handbook contains policies for CED 604 Counseling Practicum. Field Experience Guide for DSU Counselor Education Students and Supervisors contains policies for CED 609 Counseling Practicum, CED 610 Clinical Mental Health Counseling Internship, and CED 619 School Counseling Internship. The Counselor Education Student Handbook contains the following:

• Description of the program
• Curriculum for School and Clinical specialties
• Program policies
• Internship requirements
• Schedule of class offerings
• Program of study for both specialties

Important Links
American Counseling Association
Mississippi Counseling Association
American Mental Health Counselors Association
American School Counselors Association
Mississippi LPC Board