Gain practical skills through the highest standards of training and with faculty who are real-world practitioners.
Our Mission
We strive to achieve the highest standards of training for clinical mental health
counselors, emphasizing applied clinical skill and professional readiness, counselor
identity formation, service to the underserved, multicultural development and awareness,
social justice through advocacy, reflective self-awareness, and celebration of diverse
spirituality and values within a community environment.
What makes our program unique?
Dedicated, Dynamic Faculty
Our faculty members are experienced practitioners who are dedicated to mentoring students. Whether collaborating on research projects, engaging in reading groups, presenting at conferences or providing clinical supervision, faculty are committed to preparing strong clinicians.
Each student is paired with an advisor, and in addition to regular meetings each semester, each student receives continuous feedback regarding strengths and growing edges.
All faculty identify as professional counselors, contributing to active, engaging conversation about the work of counseling.
Ethical Standards in Counseling
Students learn the ethical standards of the counseling profession and the American Counseling Association. Faculty mentors guide students in forming a strong professional counselor identity by nurturing innate strengths while cultivating new skills and the capacity to hold the complexities of the human experience.
Cohort Model
Approximately 40 total students across three cohorts are enrolled in the program each year. Most students complete the program in three years, including summer coursework. Some pursue the intensive track option and complete the program in two years, also including summer coursework. Students in both tracks are considered full-time students. We also accommodate working professionals who need a part-time pace.
In fall 2024, fifteen students were admitted on the three-year track and 4 were admitted on the two-year track. In fall 2025, twelve students were admitted on the three-year track and 5 were admitted on the two-year track.
Program Features
The Graduate Counseling Program is a 60-credit, CACREP-accredited Clinical Mental Health Counseling program designed for people with busy lives. Many of our students work while enrolled, balancing professional and family responsibilities. Some commute from Roanoke, Winchester, Charlottesville, and Washington D.C. to participate in our program’s cohort model and experiential training.
Our two-day back-to-back course schedule (usually Tuesday/Wednesday or Wednesday/Thursday) is intentionally designed to accommodate even the busiest schedule.
Program highlights include:
- Practical skills and training
- Approaches to Psychotherapy that include:
- Humanistic/Existential
- Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP)
- Interpersonal Process (IPP)
- Psychoanalytic perspectives
- Contemplative practice and mindfulness
- Expressive Arts and experiential therapies
- CACREP accreditation
- Cohort model of training
- Continuing education (CE) each year for regional clinicians and practitioners
Two degree options
• Clinical Mental Health Counseling: a 60-credit, CACREP-accredited master's degree that prepares students for clinical practice and meets educational requirements for Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) licensure in Virginia.
• Dual seminary and counseling degree: a dual degree option enabling students to earn both the MDiv and an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in approximately one year less and at a lower cost than pursuing the degrees separately. This option is ideal for students preparing for vocational ministry and clinical work.
