Question about Capella M.S. HS Mental Health

Hello,

I am on the verge of starting the Mental Health Counseling program at Capella and had two questions for this fine crowd:

1) Does anyone know if the fact that the degree is in Human Services specializing in Mental Health Counseling makes a difference? It seems strange that the degree is not directly a M.S. in Mental Health Counseling. I know they are CACREP accredited so they are doing something right. However, I want to make sure I don't spend all this time and money only to find out it makes a difference.

2) Has anyone had any experience, or know of someone who has experienced, the internship portion of the degree. I am curious about the level of assistance from the school as well as the quality of the internship.

Thank you in advance.

 

Also a follow-up question: How does the mental health industry view a degree from Capella? Do they recognize the CACREP and appreciate the degree or is it not well regarded?

 

Hi~

I will tell you what I know about the CACREP accreditation. My wife is a mental health graduate student at UNLV...they just went through their CACREP re-accreditation...apparently CACREP or CORE is required by most states to receive a license as an LPC...so its important.

Don't quote me, but i think there are requirements for so many hours of face-to-face class room instruction to receive a license as an LPC...


I don't know if Capella fits the criteria. So just be careful.

 

Thank you.

 

Spongedaddy: Please contact your State Board of Counselors (or whatewver it's called in your state - in Ohio, it's the State Board of Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage & Family Therapists) to find out the requirements to sit for your professional licensure exam.

 

Any school that has their Mental Health masters program (regardless what it is called by the institution) accredited with CACREP has a great program designed to meet most state license boards. CACREP is like APA to clinical psychology licensure. Most states measure and pattern their license requirements after CACREP standards. In some cases there might be some small variations in requirements for a particular state board. The student needs to be up to date on those, otherwise he/she will have to pick those courses, clinical hours, etc. up later.

CACREP is the "gold standard" of training in a mental health masters program.

 

Thank you.

As suggested I called the FL licensure board and was told that several Capella grads were approved for licensure here.

The only thing I cannot get people to say, and I understand the legal ramifications, is if the mental health profession will look down upon an online degree when it comes to getting a job. Obviously Capella is going to sell their program, so this is a tough question to answer.

 

Sponge...

You should not have any problem with a CACREP accredited masters degree, online or otherwise. Most who are looking to hire a clinician are primarily interested if you are licensed by your state. The CACREP is mostly a matter considered by the state board. Once you are licensed, that is what a prospective employer is interested. CACREP is simply a curl in the pig's tail that looks good. This type of thing is a lot bigger issue when dealing with Clinical Psychology licensure, especially when working for state institutions and agencies such as Veteran's hospitals and teaching at institutions of learning.

When you apply for state licensure, the board asks for transcripts, sometimes syllabi, regional accreditation, and if CACREP accreditation the better... otherwise they look for equivalency at this point. That is why they ask for the syllabi to determine if your courses are comparable to CACREP levels of competency. Most Mental Health programs out there, CACREP or not are very good and typically comply. Mine was not and I was still accepted due to equivalency.

Hope this helps.