Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Springfield College offers a Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, which prepares the student to become a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC). The program consists of a combination of the classes and internship required by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to obtain the LMHC designation. Offering both Master’s Degrees (M.S. or M.Ed.) and a Certificate of Advanced Study (CAS), the program is designed for students at the beginning of their graduate career, professionals wishing to expand their current clinical and theoretical knowledge base, and professionals who need additional course work or internship to meet state licensing requirements. The program can also be designed to include course work required by other states for licensure as a Mental Health Counselor.

The Clinical Mental Health Counseling program offers courses which provide the student with an opportunity to gain a comprehensive understanding of counseling theory, practice, and training in the skills necessary for providing counseling services in a variety of mental health settings including community mental health agencies, hospitals, crisis centers, and private practice.

The counseling practice and internship component of the program provide the student with a solid base of practical skills and experience in a supervised setting with additional faculty supervision. Special consideration is given to the student’s area of interest in designing the fieldwork and internship experience. The faculty in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program offer support and assistance in finding internship sites that enhance the skills of the students.

Contact Person:
Dr. Ann Moriarty
Telephone: (413) 748-3322
E-Mail: Anna_Moriarty@spfldcol.edu

Psychology and Counseling

The psychology and counseling programs in the Psychology Department fully encompass the College’s humanics philosophy, serving as a vital bridge to the understanding of the full range of human behavior-both in practical, real-life situations or in theoretical and scholarly study. Founded more than fifty years ago to address the stresses of a dynamic postwar culture, the College’s Psychology Department prepares graduate students to assume leadership roles in a variety of careers, including athletic counseling, college administration, clinical, school guidance counseling, industrial or organizational psychology, `and marriage and family therapy.

Many exciting new career opportunities are available for counselors and psychologists holding advanced degrees, particularly in the fields of educational counseling, community mental health care, counseling for the aging, and the growing areas of consulting, training, and marketing research.

Contact Person:
Dr. Ann Moriarty
Chair, Department of Psychology
Telephone: (413) 748- 3322
E-Mail: Anna_Moriarty@spfldcol.edu

The Programs and Curricula

The Springfield College graduate programs in psychology and counseling strive to meet ever-changing community and organizational needs by producing highly trained counselors, administrators, and human resource professionals with a keen sense of self-awareness, effective counseling skills, and knowledge of a wide range of helping strategies. The College’s emphasis on humanics is especially well-suited to preparing compassionate and insightful graduates who understand the interconnectedness of spirit, mind, and body.

The graduate programs combine content mastery and exceptional field training to produce scientist-practioners uniquely prepared to apply their knowledge of the human mind and the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social aspects of human behavior to real-life situations- helping people live better and more productively.

In each psychology program, the curriculum is characterized by two parallel themes: a practical understanding of people and why they behave the way they do, and a scholarly appreciation of the problems encountered in the discipline of psychology.

Students in the psychology and counseling programs must complete forty-eight to sixty semester hours of graduate course work, depending on the concentration. The programs are designed to allow flexibility for both full- and part-time students. Courses are often scheduled in evening and summer sessions, and individual work sites may be used for fieldwork/internship experience and credit. Working professional can often complete the requirements for a part-time master’s program in two years. Sample curriculum sequences for part-time study are available upon request.

The Psychology Department is housed in Locklin Hall, which includes a counseling laboratory with two-way mirrors, a new research and computer laboratory with biofeedback equipment, as well as classrooms and offices. The programs are enhanced by the on-campus presence of the Springfield College Counseling Center, the Center for Performance Enhancement and Applied Research, an Employee Assistance Program, a career center, and many college services and offices where graduate students can pursue supervised fieldwork in a convenient professional setting. Services at the Counseling Center include a wide range of remedial and preventative mental health services. The College’s athletic facilities provide training and study opportunities for athletic counseling students. In addition to campus resources, a wide array of schools, businesses, other institutions of higher learning, human services and counseling agencies provide for a wealth of mentoring, internship and professional opportunities.