Fees

$50 application fee

$250 Tevera fee (one-time)

$150 program fee per term (winter, spring, summer)

$150 graduation fee (one-time)

$590/credit tuition

Our mission is to train future counselors to be of service to others, which we view as the cornerstone of the counseling field. Your only prerequisite is the willingness to grow and change. We believe moving beyond tolerance to celebrating diversity is fundamental to your success in this program and as a counselor. You will gain the skills to build relationships that facilitate the process of healing with the ultimate goal of creating sustainable and equitable systems for ourselves, for our families, for our communities, and for the people we serve.

1. PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING ORIENTATION AND ETHICAL PRACTICE

Develop a professional identity that demonstrates alignment with the counseling profession’s ethical standards, roles, and responsibilities, including advocacy work.

2.  SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY

Acknowledge the impact of systemic oppression by developing a professional counseling identity and practice in which inclusion, choice, and self-empowerment are central components. 

3.  LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT

Apply theoretical models of human development across the breadth and depth of the lifespan from individual, familial, and community attachments to overarching systems of culture and society.

4.  CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Develop strategies for career development counseling using theoretical models that are inclusive of developmental, cultural, accessibility gaps, and ethical components of career decision planning and making.

5.  COUNSELING PRACTICE AND RELATIONSHIPS

Demonstrate ethical and evidence-based counseling skills including documentation, treatment planning, crisis intervention, and suicide prevention in the counseling process that support collaborative relationships toward the overall development of a personal model of counseling. 

6.  GROUP COUNSELING AND GROUP WORK

Apply theoretical foundations of effective group leadership skills in group counseling and group work including ethical group formation, implementation, and closing.

7.  ASSESSMENT AND DIAGNOSTIC PROCESSES

Demonstrate ethical selection and application of developmentally and culturally appropriate assessment and diagnosis, along a continuum from risk management to wellness.

8.  RESEARCH AND PROGRAM EVALUATION

Conduct and evaluate research that uses appropriate qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods to ethically inform and implement best practices of counseling and program evaluation.

9.  KEY PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITIONS

Demonstrate professionalism indicative of a future counselor who is learning to be confident and competent in holding professional boundaries that incorporate their own needs.

10.  CLINICAL MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING SPECIALIZATION

Demonstrate advocacy alongside clients in the systems of care they utilize; such as integrated behavioral healthcare professionals, community stakeholders, and reimbursement providers across the continuum of clinical mental health care.

11.  ADDICTIONS COUNSELING SPECIALIZATION

Apply systems-level thinking that is grounded in culturally and developmentally appropriate interventions toward the prevention, treatment, and recovery from substance abuse disorders.

The Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at West Virginia Wesleyan College plans to submit a self-study to The Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP) when we are eligible to do so in the summer of 2025. Our entire curriculum has been designed along the 2024 CACREP Standards, in addition to meeting the current requirements for state licensure in West Virginia. Applicants are encouraged to reach out with additional state-specific licensing requirements.

Program Overview

West Virginia Wesleyan College’s Master of Counseling program strives to train exceptional future counselors. To do so, we have created a core curriculum of 51 required credits that encompass the eight foundational knowledge and skill areas that support a professional counselor identity; professional orientation and ethical practice, social and cultural identities and experiences, lifespan development, career development, counseling practice and relationships, group counseling and group work, assessment and diagnostic processes, and research and program evaluation. Students will then have 9 credits (3 courses) to use toward a specialization or take electives in which they are interested. Courses will be offered in 8-week blocks, with students taking 2 courses per block as a full-time student, or 1 course per block as a part-time student. There are five blocks in total in an academic year (2 per spring and fall semesters, and 1 per summer semester). Students are required to earn a grade of B (3.0) or better in each of the graduate courses before proceeding in the program. A course with an unsatisfactory grade may be repeated only once in the program.

The 60-credit program is designed to be pursued in an online cohort model, giving students the opportunity to connect more fully with their faculty and peers as they progress through their counselor training. Courses will be delivered in a hybrid format of both synchronous and asynchronous distance learning, with students required to attend approximately 2-3 hours per week of instructional time synchronously. Students are required to attend a new student orientation when they begin the program. They will also attend in-person residencies on campus at Wesleyan at the start of the academic year in August, and virtually in January. Both residencies are scheduled at the end of the first week of classes for the term. The Counseling curriculum offers two areas of specialization: Clinical Mental Health and Addiction Counseling, which may require additional elective coursework to complete.

Program Director – Dr. Jen Randall Reyes

Education 

B.A. West Virginia University, International Studies, and German

M.A. The George Washington University, Mediation, and Conflict Resolution Specialization

M.A. West Virginia University, Community Counseling (CACREP-accredited)

Ph.D. Regent University, Counselor Education and Supervision (CACREP-accredited)

Dr. Jen Randall Reyes has been working in the field of mental health for 20 years. In the decade she worked as a licensed counselor in the state of West Virginia, her focus has been on advanced training and practice as a trauma counselor. Her career has spanned the foster care system, juvenile justice, community mental health agencies, supervision, private practice, and consultation, including local, state, and federal advocacy efforts. Working in experiential education and adventure therapy settings early in her career eventually led to a new goal of supporting other counselors in training on the journey to find their therapeutic niche. 

Jen loves teaching, supervision, research, and counseling equally. Yet, social justice and advocacy work remind her consistently why counseling matters. Counseling is not simply reducing symptoms; it is instead a focus on sustaining lasting and valuable changes that promote wellness at the individual, community, and systemic level. She is a storyteller by birth, having grown up in Buckhannon. Jen seeks to share narrative in ways that inspire her staff, students, supervisees, and clients to be agents of change rather than standing on the sidelines of their own lives. 

Core Counselor Education Faculty – Dr. Ariel Williams

Education

B.A. University of Michigan, Psychology and Criminal Justice 

M.A. Johnson State College, Clinical Mental Health Counseling 

Ph.D. University of Montana, Counselor Education and Supervision (CACREP-accredited) 

Dr. Ariel Williams is an Assistant Professor, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, and Nationally Certified Counselor.  She earned her Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from the University of Montana in 2019. Passionate about teaching novice counselors, Ariel strives to create inclusive, challenging, and inspiring classroom experiences.  She believes that strong relationships are at the core of learning, both in the classroom and in the counseling room.  Ariel works to provide students with direct, empathic support during the challenging process of gaining the awareness and skills necessary to be effective professional helpers.  

Ariel has been providing clinical counseling since 2012 and more recently has pivoted to practicing remotely through a telehealth platform with a holistic model of healing.  While she identifies as a generalist and enjoys the diversity of working with all different kinds of people and presenting concerns, Ariel has a particular interest and training in working with people who have experienced trauma.  Ariel uses her clinical experiences to inform teaching practices and is committed to staying up-to-date and informed by the most current research literature. Ariel’s research interests relate to the experience and process of counseling supervision, creativity in teaching and counseling, and counselor wellness. In her personal life, Ariel enjoys outdoor adventures and caring for her family and menagerie of pets. 

Practicum & Internship Coordinator – Dr. Christine Schimmel

Education

B.A. Glenville State College, Education

M.A. West Virginia University, School Counseling

Ed.S. Marshall University, Curriculum & Instruction

Ed. D. Marshall University, Curriculum & Instruction (Emphasis in School Counseling)

Christine Schimmel is currently the Associate Provost at West Virginia Wesleyan College where she is also a faculty member and full professor in the master’s program in counseling. Chris has more than 25 years of experience as a counselor educator, consultant, and author. Chris’ teaching and writing focus on the areas of creative counseling, group counseling, counseling children and adolescents as well as topics related to school counseling and youth mental health in rural areas. Chris has successfully garnered federal grant monies for projects from SAMHSA and the US Department of Education to support public school employees around youth mental health and to support and train a more diverse cadre of school-based mental health professionals in rural WV. Popular texts authored by Dr. Schimmel include Group Counseling: Strategies and Skills (9th ed.) and Counseling Children and Adolescents (6th ed.), two popular counseling texts used in many counseling training programs.

Application Deadlines:

Priority Deadline: October 15, 2024

Regular Deadline: November 1, 2024

Apply Now!

Admissions guidelines: Application for admission to the program is invited from anyone who holds a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university, regardless of undergraduate major. Prospective students should apply online:  CMHC Application

1. current curriculum vitae showing relevant work experience;
2. three completed professional recommendation forms or letters (preferably, two from an employer and one from a professor);
3. official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work (minimum of 3.00 GPA preferred);
4. an essay written in APA 7th edition guidelines to the following prompt:
   1. Please describe your interest and understanding of a professional counseling career, including related experience to date.
5. if a non-native English-speaking student, an official report of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL); and

applicants must also participate in an Admissions Day interview that consists of a group and individual interview with counselor education faculty following the review of written application materials. Based on the recommendations of the Counseling Admission Committee and the Counseling Program Director, the Academic Dean will make the final admission decision and notify applicants in writing of those decisions.