Earn your Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling online
Prepare for a rewarding career providing compassionate and competent counseling services in clinical mental health settings such as mental health agencies, group practices, residential treatment centers, hospitals, university counseling centers or private practice. With 100% online coursework and experiential learning, gain the necessary knowledge and skills to use your calling as an exceptional licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) who improves the lives and mental health of individuals through holistic wellness. You will be equipped to empower others to make positive changes in their lives.
Faith-integrated mental health counseling program
In Northwestern College's online M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, you will be part of a community dedicated to the development of outstanding counselors who are called to serve others in diverse settings. Students integrate a Christian perspective with culturally sensitive and ethical clinical skills so they can courageously and faithfully provide compassionate care in pursuing God’s work of restoration and healing in the world.
Through NWC's M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling you will be equipped to:
- Apply ethical and legal considerations, behavior, and judgments in counseling situations
- Display multicultural awareness and sensitivity
- Demonstrate an ability to articulate a biblical world view and be able to articulate how your most important spiritual and religious values impact your counseling practice
- Display the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to serve and influence your communities, workplaces, and families
- Next steps
- Request information Apply
100% online coursework. 8-week courses. Experiential learning.
Through online, 8-week classes, students log into their courses to complete assignments each week on their own schedule. Most courses include 3-4 synchronous virtual class meetings arranged by the instructor. Practicum and internship experiences enrich learning and skill-building through offering services to actual clients in approved and supervised settings near where the student lives.
The master's in clinical mental health program is designed for working professionals to complete the program in just over two years (7 semesters) by taking two courses at a time.
Professional preparation
Northwestern's Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health is designed to prepare students to be outstanding counselors in the practice settings of their choice and is aligned with the standards and competencies of the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). The program plans to apply for CACREP accreditation as soon as the application is allowed (once the program has produced its first graduates). After successful completion of the counseling program, students will be prepared to pursue licensure as a professional counselor in their state and take the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Exam (CPCE).
Beginning July 1, 2026, all CACREP programs require an in-person experience twice during the program to observe and assess counseling skills and professional dispositions. Details to be announced in Fall 2025.
Program mission
The Counseling Program at Northwestern College is a Christ-centered community dedicated to the development of outstanding counselors who are called to serve both Christ and in diverse, multicultural, and global society with marginalized populations. Students integrate a biblical perspective with culturally sensitive and ethical clinical skills so they can courageously and faithfully provide compassionate care in pursuing God’s work of restoration and healing in the world.
Application requirements
No GRE required. No Application fee.
Application materials reviewed on a rolling basis.
Application materials will be evaluated as they are received. Following a review of all completed application materials, applicants will be invited to a virtual interview with a faculty member.
Official transcripts showing a degree from an accredited institution.
- Official transcripts are needed from your bachelor's degree institution as well as from any institution showing graduate credit if seeking transfer credit.
- No undergraduate transcripts are required of NWC alumni
Send official transcripts to onlineadmissions@nwciowa.edu or Northwestern College, Graduate & Professional Studies, 101 7th St SW, Orange City, IA 51041.
Minimum undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.
- Applicants with a GPA under 3.0 may be eligible for conditional admission on a case-by-case basis.
Write an 800 to 1000-word essay on the following prompt. The essay must be written in APA style.
Write about:
- Your counseling career goal(s),
- Your aptitude for graduate level online study, and
- Your potential success in forming effective counseling relationships with diverse populations.
Attach your completed essay to your online application or email to online@nwciowa.edu following submission of your online application.
Updated résumé can be uploaded and submitted with your application or emailed to online@nwciowa.edu following submission of your online application.
Two letters of recommendation are required.
- Letters can be from professional or academic reference.
- One of the references may also speak to the applicant's spiritual formation.
- Letters from family members are not accepted.
- Reference letters need to address the following:
- The student's career goal to be a counselor;
- The student's aptitude for online graduate-level study; and
- The students potential in forming effective counseling relationships with diverse populations.
- Letters can be uploaded and submitted with your application or emailed to online@nwciowa.edu following submission of your online application.
Background check must be completed through CastleBranch.
Preferred application process for Northwestern College graduates
Graduates of Northwestern College receive the benefit of a more streamlined application process and do not need to submit their NWC undergraduate transcripts. All other application requirements are required.
Learning Outcomes
- Demonstrate preparedness to enter the counseling field as clinical mental health counselors.
- Demonstrate the ability to apply ethical and legal considerations, behavior, and judgments in counseling situations.
- Recognize the impact of heritage, attitudes, beliefs, understandings, and acculturative experiences on an individual’s view of others.
- Demonstrate an understanding of biological, neurological, and physiological factors that affect human development, functioning, and behavior.
- Demonstrate the ability to conceptualize the interrelationships among and between work, mental well-being, relationships, and other life roles and factors.
- Demonstrate the essential interviewing, counseling, and case conceptualization skills necessary to be competent and ethical clinical mental health counselors.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the characteristics and functions of effective group leaders.
- Demonstrate knowledge of, and an ability to use assessments relevant to academic/educational, career, personal, and social development.
- Demonstrate knowledge of evaluation procedures for counseling interventions and programs.
- Demonstrate competence in utilizing an intake interview, mental status evaluation, biopsychosocial history, mental health history, and psychological assessment for treatment planning and caseload management as appropriate.
- Demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to serve and influence their communities, workplaces, and families.
- Demonstrate multicultural self-awareness and clinical competence.
- Demonstrate an ability to articulate a biblical worldview, and identify how their self-identified most important spiritual and religious values and beliefs impact their counseling practice.
- The program will demonstrate it effectively meets the needs of its key stakeholders.
Program Requirements
The 60 credit clinical mental health counseling program includes valuable hands-on learning in the practicum and internship courses. Students will apply theory and develop as clinical counselors by providing services to actual clients. They will also develop the skills and knowledge related to their counseling setting such as timeliness, documentation and site policies and procedures.
- The practicum experience requires completion of a minimum of 100 hours of which 40 hours must be direct client services.
- The Internship experience is a 600-hour experience of which 240 hours must be direct services to clients.
Courses
COUN 505 - Professional Orientation
This course introduces students to the field of counseling in diversesettings, including school and clinical mental health settings. The courseprovides a broad overview and survey of the counseling profession, includingits historical and theoretical foundations, the major professionalassociations of the counseling profession, and roles and responsibilities ofcounselors in a variety of settings and within and among the other mentalhealth professions. Students will begin development of a professionalidentity and will reflect on their calling to the profession of counselingand their vision for using their master's degree in the future. Studentswill begin the process of spiritual formation for counseling. (3 credits)
COUN 515 - Ethics
This course introduces students to legal and ethical issues relevant to thecounseling profession and equips students with an ethical decision-makingmodel for navigating ethical dilemmas and issues related to professionalpractice. Students will develop ethical sensitivity and utilize the ethicalprinciples, which serve as the profession's foundation for ethical behaviorand decision making, in evaluating case studies. An overview of the Iowastatutes which govern practice will also be provided. The goal of thiscourse is to get students to think about major issues related to theprofessional practice of counseling, while challenging them to formulatepositions on such issues, consider a biblical perspective, and appraise thevalues impacting counselors and the counseling profession. (3 credits)
COUN 520 - Social & Cultural Foundations
In this course, students will examine the psychological and sociologicalfactors that form self-concept and cultural identity, and consider how theseconstructs impact effective counseling with diverse populations. Studentswill begin a professional journey of developing multicultural competencethrough developing self-awareness, sensitivity to elements of diversity,knowledge of cultural values, and a commitment to the counselingprofession's core value of honoring diversity and embracing a multiculturalapproach in support of the worth, dignity, potential, and uniqueness ofpeople within their social and cultural contexts. Students will learn how toapply awareness and culturally competent skills and knowledge ininterventions and advocacy practices with diverse populations. Courseconcepts will be considered through a biblical world view which provides afoundation for understanding how God views all people groups. Prerequisite:COUN505. (3 credits)
COUN 525 - Human Growth & Development
One of the philosophies underlying the counseling profession that helps setit apart from the other mental health professions is a developmentalperspective; a recognition that many of the issues clients face in life aredevelopmental in nature. This course introduces students to theories ofindividual and family development across the lifespan, theories of learning,theories of moral and spiritual development, and theories of normal andabnormal personality development. The course also delves into factors andcircumstances that can impact a person's development; biological,neurological, and physiological factors, addictive behaviors, systemic andenvironmental factors, crises, disasters, and trauma, and culture. Studentswill develop a general framework for developing interventions based onclient developmental level and ethical and culturally relevant strategiesfor promoting resilience and wellness across the lifespan. (3 credits)
COUN 550 - Theories & Skills of Counseling I
This course is part one of a two-part integrated skills and theories seriesthat introduces students to the basic skills of the counseling relationshipand the major theories of personality and psychotherapy, and providesstudents an experiential opportunity to begin practicing and assimilatingthese skills in their counselor identity. In Theories and Skills ofCounseling I, students are introduced to counseling skills such asattending, active listening, empathy, questioning, observation, encouraging,summarizing, reflecting, and challenging. Skills are practiced with roleplay partners, video recorded and submitted to the professor for review andfeedback. Theories covered in Theories and Skills of Counseling I includePsychodynamic, Adlerian, Client-Centered, Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy,Behavior Therapy, and Cognitive Therapy. Modern psychotherapies areconsidered through a biblical world view. Prerequisite: COUN515. (3 credits)
COUN 510 - Assessment & Appraisal
This course introduces students to the field of counseling in diversesettings, including school and clinical mental health settings. The courseprovides a broad overview and survey of the counseling profession, includingits historical and theoretical foundations, the major professionalassociations of the counseling profession, and roles and responsibilities ofcounselors in a variety of settings and within and among the other mentalhealth professions. Students will begin development of a professionalidentity and will reflect on their calling to the profession of counselingand their vision for using their master's degree in the future. Studentswill begin the process of spiritual formation for counseling. (3 credits)
COUN 551 - Theories & Skills of Counseling II
This course is part two of a two-part integrated skills and theories seriesthat introduces students to the basic skills of the counseling relationshipand the major theories of personality and psychotherapy, and providesstudents an experiential opportunity to begin practicing and assimilatingthese skills in their counselor identity. In Theories and Skills ofCounseling II, students review counseling skills such as attending, activelistening, empathy, questioning, observation, encouraging, summarizing,reflecting, and challenging. Skills are practiced with role play partners,video recorded and submitted to the professor for review and feedback.Theories covered in Theories and Skills of Counseling II includeExistential, Gestalt, Interpersonal, Family Systems,Mindfulness/Contemplative, Positive Psychology, Integrative, andMulticultural approaches. Modern psychotherapies are considered through abiblical world view. Prerequisites: COUN515 and COUN550. (3 credits)
CMHC 515 - Marriage & Family
This course introduces students to the field of marriage and familycounseling. The course covers the history and development of the field aswell as the research foundations for the field and specific models andapproaches to treatment. Models covered include the Systemic and Strategicapproaches, Structural, Experiential, Intergenerational and Psychoanalyticapproaches, Cognitive-Behavioral, Mindfulness-based, Solution-Focused, andNarrative approaches, and the Gottman approach. A Christian perspective onmarriage and family interventions is incorporated into the coursework.Prerequisites: COUN550 and COUN551. (3credits)
CMHC 520 - Diagnosis & Psychopathology
This course provides students with an overview of psychopathology throughthe lens of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (5th ed.) of the AmericanPsychiatric Association. Fundamental clinical mental health counselingprocesses such as the diagnosis, differential diagnosis, and treatmentplanning processes are also explored. The course utilizes case studies,discussions, presentations, and reflection papers to assist students indeveloping an understanding of the importance of the clinical interview andthe mental status exam on the diagnostic process, and to help studentsexamine and reflect on disorder etiologies and the impact of culture,biology, neuroscience, and spirituality on the diagnostic process. AChristian perspective on understanding and treating mental health disordersis integrated into the course. Prerequisites: COUN550 and COUN551. (3credits)
COUN 555 - Crisis, Trauma, & Suicide
This course introduces students to the field of counseling in diversesettings, including school and clinical mental health settings. The courseprovides a broad overview and survey of the counseling profession, includingits historical and theoretical foundations, the major professionalassociations of the counseling profession, and roles and responsibilities ofcounselors in a variety of settings and within and among the other mentalhealth professions. Students will begin development of a professionalidentity and will reflect on their calling to the profession of counselingand their vision for using their master's degree in the future. Studentswill begin the process of spiritual formation for counseling. (3 credits)
COUN 605 - Skills II
This course is designed to give students practice experienceengaging in a counseling relationship over the course of six sessions, inthe practice setting most relevant to the client's future practice (clinicalmental health, school counseling, etc.). Students will review and utilizebasic counseling skills and continue developing their own individualcounseling approaches with an emphasis on integration of theoreticalorientation techniques, ethical practices, personality, spiritualintegration, and setting-specific practices, under the instruction andevaluation of the course instructor. This course is largely experientialand is focused on preparing students for their Practicum experiences. Students will engage in a multi-session counseling experience with alearning partner focused on solidification of basic counseling skills andgrowth of advanced counseling skills. Prerequisites: COUN505, COUN515,COUN520, COUN550, COUN551, COUN555 (prerequisite or concurrent), CMHC520 orSCO520. (3 credits)
CMHC 610 - Practicum
The counseling Practicum experience provides students with an initial experience in providing counseling services in the clinical mental health counseling setting. The Practicum experience requires a minimum of 100 clock hours of documented contact including indirect and direct service, and supervision both onsite (provided by a designated site supervisor) and in class (provided by your assigned faculty member). The Practicum course is a seminar-style class which supports students participating in their Practicum experience and which supports students in developing their basic counseling skills and in learning a variety of assessment and intervention techniques. Students are required to earn a minimum grade of a B in this course in order to move forward in the program. This course requires online students to attend weekly synchronous class meetings. The day/times of the meetings will be determined by the course instructor. Prerequisites: COUN505, COUN515, COUN520, COUN525, COUN550, COUN551, COUN555 and COUN605. (3 credits)
COUN 530 - Group Counseling & Group Work
This course introduces students to the theory and practice of groupcounseling, its development within the field of counseling, and itsutilization as an intervention in school counseling, clinical mental healthcounseling, and other settings. Group work requires some distinctunderstandings and approaches from individual counseling and as such, thiscourse focuses on the stages of group formation, group therapeutic factors,group facilitation skills, dealing with challenges particular to groupsettings, and utilizing the group modality effectively. Students will begiven the opportunity to participate in a group process, both asparticipants and as leaders. Because of this component, there will be asynchronous component to this course, where students will have to coordinatea day/time where they can consistently meet with their group to meet thisrequirement of the course. Prerequisites: COUN515, COUN550, COUN551,COUN605. (3 credits)
CMHC 575 - Psychopharmacology & Neuroscience
This course introduces students to the field of psychiatry and examines thetopic of psychopharmacology, or the treatment of mental health conditionsthrough prescribing of medications and psychoactive substances, and thetopic of neuroscience, or our current understanding of brain science and theimpact of the brain on human cognitions, emotion, and behavior. Studentswill work to be able to collaborate with multidisciplinary treatment teamsthat include psychiatrists and other medical doctors, and understand howpsychopharmacological and neuroscientific issues impact the work counselorsdo in clinical mental health counseling settings. The course is arrangedaround students working in groups with classmates to consider a series ofcase studies through the lens of psychopharmacology and neuroscience.(Prerequisite: CMHC520. (3 credits)
CMHC 615 - Internship I
The Counseling Internship experience provides students with experience inproviding counseling services in the clinical mental health counseling setting. TheInternship experience requires a minimum of 600 clock hours spread over at least twosemesters of documented contact including indirect and direct service, and supervisionboth onsite (provided by a designated site supervisor) and in class (provided by anassigned faculty member). The Internship course is a seminar-style class which supportsstudents participating in their Internship experience and which supports students in developingtheir counseling skills and in learning a variety of counseling and intervention techniques.Students are required to earn a minimum grade of a B in this course in order to moveforward in the program. This course requires online students to attend weekly synchronousclass meetings. The day/times of the meetings will be determined by the course instructor.In this course, students will increase competency in their clinical skills, caseconceptualization abilities, and ability to apply what they have learned in the program to the work theydo with clients. Students' caseloads and responsibilities will increase and they willcontinue to fine tune their theoretical orientations, increase awareness of their counselingstyles, and develop their counseling identities. Students will also continue to develop theirwritten and verbal communication and presentation skills, and peer feedback skills.Prerequisites: COUN505, COUN515, COUN520, COUN525, COUN550, COUN551, COUN555, COUN605 and COUN610. (3 credits)
COUN 580 - Career Development
This course provides an overview of career development theory, models,occupational information sources and systems, college and career readiness,and career assessment instruments for diverse populations. Students willconsider the relevance of career in the overall development of thecounseling profession, the interrelationship between work, mentalwell-being, relationships, and other life roles and factors, and specificcareer interventions in clinical mental health and school counselingsettings. The course will focus on the career decision-making process andhow counselors can use assessments and different career resources to gatherinformation tailored to help guide the client in the decision-makingprocess. Prerequisite: COUN510. (3 credits)
COUN 585 - Research & Program Evaluation
This course provides students with practical guidance for accessing andcomprehending published research articles with a goal of helping studentsincorporate an intention of understanding the evidence base for theinterventions they use with clients and a willingness to be life-longconsumers of counseling research. The course provides an overview ofimportant methodological concepts of research, measurement and statisticalconcepts, and quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods researchmethodologies. The course also examines program evaluation with a focus onunderstanding the need for, and strategies for utilizing program evaluationin diverse settings. (3 credits)
CMHC 620 - Internship II
The Counseling Internship experience provides students with experience in providing counseling services in the clinical mental health counseling setting. TheInternship experience requires a minimum of 600 clock hours spread over at least twosemesters of documented contact including indirect and direct service, and supervisionboth onsite (provided by a designated site supervisor) and in class (provided by anassigned faculty member). The Internship course is a seminar-style class which supportsstudents participating in their Internship experience and which supports students in developingtheir counseling ski and in learning a variety of counseling and intervention techniques.Students are required to earn a minimum grade of a B in this course in order to move forward in theprogram. This course requires online students to attend weekly synchronous class meetings.The day/times of the meetings will be determined by the course instructor. In this course,students will continue to hone their clinical skills, case conceptualization abilities,and ability to apply what they have learned in the program to the work they do withclients. Students will continue develop their theoretical orientations, increase awareness of theircounseling styles, and develop their counseling identities. Students will also continueto develop their written and verbal communication and presentation skills, and peerfeedback skills. Prerequisites: CMHC610 and CMHC615. (3 credits)
CMHC 570 - Foundations of Addictions Counseling
This course introduces students to the field of treating substance usedisorders. As such, it provides an overview of the major theories, issues,and modalities for treating addictive disorders and the major drugs ofabuse. Students will explore the impact of addiction on clients' lives, andconsider a holistic approach to recovery which includes biological,psychological, sociological, and spiritual dimensions. Students willexplore spiritual treatment approaches including the 12-step approachoriginating with Alcoholics Anonymous, and mindfulness meditation, andreflect on how spiritual approaches could support students' understanding ofand treatment of addictive disorders in practice. Prerequisites: CMHC520 orSCO520.(3 credits)
COUN 635 - Capstone
This course is intended to be a final summation of students' experience inthe clinical mental health counseling and school counseling programs. Assuch, it is intended to be taken during students' last semester of theprogram, where they can reflect back on what they've learned over theprevious semesters. Students will reflect on and integrate features frompsychology, theology, Christian spirituality, and the practice ofevidence-based counseling skills and methods as students work to continuerefining their individual counseling approaches that they will be applyingin school counseling and clinical mental health counseling settings.Prerequisite: COUN615. (3 credits)
