Counselor Education with Specialization in School Counseling, MS

Counselor Education & Family Therapy

Program Brochure
Program Annual Report 20-21

Admissions Contact

Graduate Recruitment & Admissions
(860) 832-2350
graduateadmissions@ccsu.edu

Academic Contact

Peg Donohue
Associate Professor
Counselor Education & Family Therapy
School Counseling Program Coordinator
Counselor Education & Family Therapy
Co-Coordinator for Advocacy - Center for Excellence in Social and Emotional Learning
Counselor Education & Family Therapy
Henry Barnard Hall
22502
860.832.2264
peg.donohue@ccsu.edu

Downloadable Version

Counselor Education with Specialization in School Counseling, MS

Central to Empowering Youth.

Central’s MS in Counselor Education with a concentration in School Counseling prepares you to assist school-aged children to reach their full academic, social/emotional, and college/career potential. Your training will include identifying and supporting students in need of targeted and intensive intervention, planning school wide universal prevention activities, and working cooperatively with multi-disciplinary teams, teachers, parents, and administrators. School counselors serve as change agents and leaders who help to create equitable and culturally sustaining systems in schools. Graduates from our program are well prepared to meet the challenges of supporting mental health in schools.

Accredited by The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Program (CACREP) and meets licensing standards of the Connecticut State Department of Education.

Program Features

  • Starts every June or August
  • 60- to 63-credit program
  • Attend full- or part-time
  • Flexible class schedule, helpful for working adults
  • Practicum (100 hours over 15 weeks - year 2)
  • Internship (700 hours over 10 months - year 3)
  • Access to state-of-the-art clinical counseling laboratory
  • Financial aid is available

Program Objectives

CEFT students in all specialty areas will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate core knowledge appropriate to the profession (3.A.1)
  2. Demonstrate competencies and application of culturally sustaining approaches and strategies across all counseling service modalities. (3.B.9,3.D.7; 3.B.4, 3.E.7, 3.F.8, 3.G.5, 3.G.7)
  3. Demonstrate advocacy and leadership skills (3.A.5; 3.B.1; 3.B.10; 3.H.8)
  4. Demonstrate appropriate knowledge and skills of counseling techniques and interventions (3.E.1. - 3.E.19; 3.E.21.; 3.G.7.; 3.H.2.; 3.H.7.)
  5. Demonstrate knowledge and skills to address client trauma (3.E.20.; 3.G.14.; 3.B.4.; 3.C.13.; 3.D.2.)
  6. Demonstrate application of knowledge of current ethical and legal codes (3.A.8.; 3.A.10.)
  7. Demonstrate the ability to collaborate with other professionals (3.A.3.; 3.E.12.)
  8. Demonstrate dispositions appropriate to the profession (3.A.8.; 3.E.11.)
  9. Demonstrate excellent communication skills (3.E.8.; 3.E.10.)

School Counseling students will be able to:

  1. Design and evaluation of school counseling curriculum, lesson plan development, diverse classroom management strategies, and differentiated instructional strategies (5.H.5)
  2. Demonstrate understanding of school counselor roles as leaders, advocates, and systems change agents in PK-12 schools (5.H.6.)
  3. Advocate for comprehensive school counseling programs and associated school counselor roles (5.H.8)
  4. Demonstrate understanding of school counselor roles and responsibilities in relation to the school crises and management plan (5.H.9.)
  5. Demonstrate understanding of strategies for implementing and coordinating school-based interventions (5.H.13)
  6. Demonstrate understanding of strategies to promote equity in student achievement and access to post-secondary education opportunities (5.H.19.)

Did You Know?

Central’s program has a 100% employment rate within 6 months of graduation.
Employment of school and career counselors and advisors is projected to grow 11% from 2020 to 2030, faster than the average for all occupations.
Source: bls.gov

Learning Outcomes

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of theory, practice, and ethical standards relative to the practice of student development in higher education.  
  2. Demonstrate appropriate counseling, advising, and group facilitation techniques for use with students, staff, and faculty in higher education.  
  3. Demonstrate the ability to collaborate with colleagues throughout their institutions for purposed of creating and assessing learning experiences for students.  
  4. Identify a wide range of world views based on culture of life experiences, including their own, and use this understanding to communicate effectively across cultural and personal differences.  
  5. Demonstrate knowledge of federal and state laws pertinent to roles and functions of student affairs and to the responsible management of colleges and universities.