The Clinical Mental Health endorsement is designed to provide students with the necessary academic and field experiences to fulfill requirements to sit for licensure examinations from both the Ohio Department of Education as a Licensed Professional School Counselor and with the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, and Marriage and Family Therapy Board as a Licensed Professional Counselor.
This endorsement is not an additional counseling degree but students who are in the School Counseling concentration may elect to add the Clinical Mental Health Counseling endorsement for licensure. The endorsement has additional requirements beyond the School Counseling Concentration. Completing the Clinical Mental Health Counseling endorsement and School Counseling concentration indicates that students have satisfied all coursework requirements in both school and clinical mental health counseling, including appropriate counseling Practicum field experiences and two separate and distinct 600-hour Internship field experiences in both school and clinical mental health counseling settings.
MAC candidates who complete all of the curriculum requirements for both program concentrations are eligible to hold/sit for licensure exams as both Licensed Professional School Counselor and Licensed Professional Counselor.
The process for becoming licensed in each of these areas is outlined above.
The process of becoming eligible for both licenses requires completion of curriculum in both programs. Candidates whose primary concentration is school may take either practicum (COU 580 or COU 594 ); students whose primary concentration is clinical mental health counseling are required to take COU 580 . *Note: COU 594 is not an acceptable practicum experience for a clinical mental health licensure. Once candidates have completed the appropriate coursework, practicum, separate and distinct internship experiences of 600 hours each in both appropriate school and clinical settings, passed both the OAE and NCE, and provided the necessary documentation as outlined in the preceding two sections, they will be issued their licenses as described above.
Candidates seeking the clinical mental health counseling endorsement or school counseling endorsement to meet licensure requirements must (1) have declared a distinct primary concentration; and (2) completed coursework and field experiences required for licensure by the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, and Marriage/Family Therapy Board, courses listed in the School Counseling Licensure Program and field experiences required by the Ohio Department of Education. Students completing the Licensure Endorsements must consult with their Academic Advisor to develop a specific plan geared toward their individual needs. Students adding the School Counseling Endorsement for licensure are permitted to take either the Practicum in School Counseling or the Practicum in Clinical Counseling. However, students adding the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Endorsement for licensure must take both the Practicum in School Counseling and the Practicum in Clinical Counseling.
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