Prestigious accreditation a mark of excellence for ASU counseling programs
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The Master of Counseling immersion degree at Arizona State University has earned accreditation from the Masters in Psychology and Counseling Accreditation Council, a nationally accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
The council recognizes U.S. programs that provide science-based training in counseling and psychology programs grounded in culturally responsive practices and a commitment to the public good. ASU's program is the only one in Arizona to have the accreditation.
“This accreditation is meaningful because it affirms our program is top-of-the-line for training and educational experiences, and it has been vetted and approved by an esteemed body,” said Jennifer Pereira, clinical professor in the School of Counseling and Counseling Psychology in the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts.
“It confirms that our faculty has the appropriate education, training and expertise that's needed to develop highly competent scientist practitioners.”
What sets ASU's program apart
Clinical courses are taught by licensed psychologists or licensed professional counselors who are qualified supervisors and have undergone rigorous training to provide supervision.
For more information
If you are interested in receiving counseling services at the Counselor Training Center, visit the center's website for more information.
Clinical faculty also supervise and train students during their time in the program's Counselor Training Center — an in-house resource rarely found at other institutions. Students complete 100 hours of applied clinical work in the center where they work with real clients from ASU and the broader community.
Hanna Ghabhain is in her final semester of the Master of Counseling immersion program and says her time in the Counselor Training Center was one of her most valuable experiences.
“During practicum, I was in a tight-knit group with five other students. We each saw a small caseload of four clients under supervision, which provided ample time and space to focus on building our skills as counselors in a focused environment before going to an internship where our caseloads would be significantly higher,” Ghabhain said.
After completing their required hours in the center, students are matched with an internship site where they accrue 600 hours of experience over the course of two semesters. The School of Counseling and Counseling Psychology has partnerships with more than 50 clinics across the Valley that meet its high standards of excellence.
Ghabhain’s was matched with a private practice called Fit Mind Wellness, and following graduation in December, she will formally join the practice as a licensed associate counselor, where she will provide care to adult clients who experience complex post-traumatic stress.
Pereira says many graduates are offered employment at their former internship sites.
“In a field that is highly competitive, where students have a lot of options for mental health training and educational training, students look for a program that has been properly vetted and approved with faculty that has expert training,” Pereira said. “We are able to recruit fantastic faculty, pull in amazing students, and that supports our communities even more, so it’s a cyclical process.”
Looking foward
Bolstered by this accreditation, the school is well-positioned for continued expansion in a field that is rapidly growing.
Most recently, the Master of Counseling degree has expanded its offerings with an online modality, as well as a school counseling concentration, opening pathways for graduates to become K–12 school counselors and addressing a statewide school counselor shortage.
The school also provides counseling education from the undergraduate level to the doctoral level.
The counseling psychology doctoral program, established in 1972, is accredited by the American Psychological Association and is one of the nation’s oldest accredited PhD programs.
The bachelor’s degree in counseling and applied psychological science is the first and largest of its kind in the country, offering concentrations in substance abuse and addictions, sport and performance counseling, and counseling military members and veterans.
Deepening the school’s impact, the Counselor Training Center also offers services in Spanish and online, and will soon open a second location at the Polytechnic campus to serve a larger audience. Soon, it will launch an assessment clinic to screen for ADHD and learning differences.
“We are invested in our students and their growth, and we believe in our commitment to excellence and community, and I believe that’s why we were accredited by MPCAC,” Pereira says. “It puts us in a position of consistently assessing and evaluating what we are doing and moving the needle. We are continually asking ourselves, ‘How can we be doing this better?’”
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