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2012-2013 Graduate Programs Academic Catalog

15

Overview

The College of Counseling (COC) has designed

the Master of Arts in Counseling (M.A. in

Counseling) program to facilitate the growth of

Christian students into well-qualified, healthy clin-

ical mental health counselors. The training model

focuses on the heart (personal and spiritual

development), the head (research and profession-

al knowledge) and the hands (effective interper-

sonal and clinical skills).

Graduates of the COC are awarded the Master of

Arts degree in Counseling and are eligible to

apply for national certification through the

National Board for Certified Counselors as well as

South Carolina State Licensed Professional

Counselor Intern (LPC/I) certification. Within this

graduate degree program students can focus on

individual, group, marriage and family counseling.

Students are prepared to work with clients facing

a broad range of mental, emotional, relational and

spiritual challenges. As clinical mental health

counselors, graduates are biblically informed and

professionally knowledgeable in the conceptual-

ization and practice of diagnosis, treatment, refer-

ral and prevention. Graduates of this program

work in settings such as private practice, com-

munity-based mental health centers, hospitals

and other treatment facilities, as well as in church

and missions related ministries.

Postgraduate Certificate in Marriage

and Family Counseling

The COC also offers a Postgraduate Certificate in

Marriage and Family Counseling. A separate

application process is required to be accepted

into this program. This advanced training and

experience emphasizes a systems model.

Graduates of the certificate program are eligible

to apply for South Carolina State Licensed

Marriage and Family Therapist Intern (LMFT/I)

certification.

Admission Requirements

In addition to satisfying the general admissions

requirements for the CIU Graduate level pro-

grams, students applying to the Master of Arts in

Counseling program must satisfy the following:

1. Applicants must have completed a bachelor’s

degree from a regionally accredited college or

university with a minimum overall 3.0 GPA on a

4.0 scale, or 3.0 GPA in their major field of

study, or a minimum 3.0 GPA for the last 60

credits in their undergraduate degree.

Students with a lower GPA may document

their ability to succeed in a graduate program

by one of the following:

a. score above the 50th percentile on the GRE

(verbal reasoning, quantitative reason and

analytic writing), or

b. complete a minimum of nine graduate-level

credit hours from a regionally accredited

college or university with a minimum B-

grade in each course.

International applicants must have completed

the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s level

degree.

2. Applicants must have a minimal understanding

of the language and concepts of psychology to

be successful in the program. Therefore the

following undergraduate courses with a mini-

mum 2.7 (B-) grade (or a score of 50 on the

CLEP or 55 on the DANTES examinations) are

prerequisites for full admission:

a. Introduction to Psychology or General

Psychology

b. Developmental, Lifespan Developmental or

Human Growth and Developmental

Psychology within a social science or

educational program

Applicants without these courses can be

conditionally accepted pending successful

completion of the courses. However, appli-

cants are strongly encouraged to complete

COLLEGE OF COUNSELING

MASTER OF ARTS IN COUNSELING