Felician University’s Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology (MACP) Online Program Prepares Students to Provide Crucial Mental Health Services
Mental health counselors play an increasingly prominent role in today’s world by positively impacting the lives of countless people each and every day. Mental health counselors in previous generations focused on populations of clients who experienced extreme cognitive, behavioral, psychological, and emotional disorders. Modern mental healthcare, however, includes new approaches and technology to help a wider population of clients explore their behaviors, feelings, and emotions to better understand how they interact and relate to the world around them.
To help explain the importance of counseling today, we must first define what counselors do. According to the American Counseling Association, professional counselors help people gain personal insights, develop strategies and come up with real life solutions to the problems and challenges they face in every area of life. As trained and credentialed professionals, they accomplish this by getting to know clients by building safe, positive relationships and suggesting tools and techniques they believe will benefit clients with the goal of challenging them to find ways to improve communication skills, bolster self-esteem and promote their emotional and behavioral welfare.
Here are the steps to become a mental health counselor:
- The first step is to complete an undergraduate (bachelor’s) degree in any field.
- The next requirement is to earn an advanced degree in mental health counseling or psychology, such as the online Masters in Counseling Psychology (MACP) degree program offered by Felician University.
- Complete required practicum and internship hours which may vary by state.
- Once the previous steps are complete, graduates must pass licensure exams.
To identify and manage mental health issues, counselors use a variety of approaches which include:
Behavioral Therapy: Explore past learned behaviors, strengthen positive behaviors, and reduce problem behaviors
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Emphasizes the importance of underlying thoughts in determining how we feel and act
Psychodynamic Therapy: Focuses on unconscious processes and their impact on behavior
Positive Psychology: A new paradigm developed in the last 10 years, this approach emphasizes mindfulness, spiritual development, and empowering the potential of others. This approach is an educational focus of the Master’s in Counseling Psychology online program offered by Felician University.
Mental health counselors use these techniques, and others, to help diagnose and treat mental, behavioral and emotional disorders including:
- Addiction
- Depression
- Anxiety Disorders
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders
- Trauma Associated Disorders
While the mental health profession is growing, 1 in 3 people today still live in a geographic area with a shortage of mental health care workers. That helps to explain why mental health counselors are in such high demand and why the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects an 18% growth rate in counseling jobs between 2022 and 2032, equating to 71,500 new counselor jobs.
Felician University is helping to close the mental health care gap by offering an online Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology (MACP) degree. This program prepares students who already hold a bachelor’s degree for a meaningful career as licensed mental health professionals, specifically as licensed counselors, with the ability to serve diverse populations within society.
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