Clinical Mental Health Counseling Residency

The M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) program includes a residency experience designed to enhance students’ academic, clinical, and professional development. Residency provides opportunities for students to engage in experiential learning, develop counseling competencies, strengthen their professional identity, and build meaningful connections with peers and faculty.

Residency is an integral component of the CMHC program, offering structured opportunities for students to bridge classroom learning with professional practice. Through interactive workshops, skills-based training, case discussions, demonstrations, and collaborative learning activities, students gain practical experience that supports their preparation for practicum, internship, post-graduate clinical work, and professional licensure.

The CMHC program requires successful completion of two in-person residencies: Skills and Techniques Residency and Group Counseling Residency. These residencies are designed to support the development and assessment of foundational counseling skills and group facilitation competencies essential for effective clinical practice.

Residencies are offered in a combined residency week, where students can attend separately, twice within their program, or schedule the two experiences back-to-back. Each residency consists of two consecutive days of on-campus instruction and assessment, allowing students to complete one or both residency requirements during a single visit. Students may choose when to attend residency offerings based on their individual program progression and scheduling needs.

Both the Skills and Techniques Residency and the Group Counseling Residency must be successfully completed and passed prior to enrollment in MHC659: Mental Health Counseling Pre-Practicum. Residency performance is evaluated using program-established competency standards to ensure students have demonstrated the skills necessary for entry into supervised clinical training.

Specific residency schedules, participation expectations, and related logistical information are communicated by the department. Students are responsible for arranging transportation, lodging, and meals associated with attendance at residency and are expected to participate fully in all required residency experiences as part of their progression through the CMHC program. The waiving of this requirement will not be considered.