Graduate Program Counseling: Clinical Mental Health

 Gain your master’s degree and jumpstart your career as a clinical mental health counselor. Our graduate program prepares professionals to work with a variety of clients within mental health agencies, community counseling agencies, employee assistance programs, day treatment, and inpatient hospital settings, and private practice.

Our master’s degree is organized around core foundation courses, an intensive on-campus practicum training clinic experience, interpersonal growth experiences, advanced theory and practice courses, and a culminating half-time field internship placement.

Our program consists of 90 graduate credits designed to meet CACREP national accreditation standards for professional counselors and the academic degree requirements to become licensed as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Oregon and other states.

Portland State University's Counseling programs are accredited by CACREP and the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practice Commission (TSPC).

Program objectives

PO1: Graduates will demonstrate skills and competencies related to foundational concepts of clinical mental health including: relevant history, theories, diagnosis and treatment planning, etiology of substance use and mental health concerns, and psychological assessment.

PO2: Graduates will demonstrate skills and competencies necessary for understanding the roles and functions of a clinical mental health counselor across a variety of mental health settings and with a diverse population of communities in accordance with legally and ethically sound modalities.

PO3: Graduates will demonstrate skills and competencies of practice by actively participating in direct clinical service, consultation, and clinical supervision.