Counseling MS
Why this program?
You believe that mental and emotional wellness is the key to a healthy society. You believe that external factors greatly affect a person’s well-being, and you want to learn how to help achieve true and lasting wellness. You want to do more than counsel; you want to advocate and help your clients understand and process the issues they face, while helping them to develop healthy coping mechanisms. They are a guide on their clients’ journey. Pair this degree with post graduate certificates in Adventure-based Counseling, Nature-based Counseling, or Expressive Arts Therapy to enhance your learning and future practice. Students who complete the Master of Science in Counseling are also eligible to apply for the Education Specialist degree in Experiential Counseling.
What can you do with this degree?
Our graduates in this program become a licensed professional counselor and go onto careers where the main focus is counseling and helping clients to live healthy, balanced, and fulfilling lives.
What will this program look like?
Our Masters of Science in Counseling Program is a limited residency program, with a majority of the coursework completed online. There are minimal in-person requirements, such as attendance at a three-day residency (colloquium) on the Prescott College campus during the student’s first year in the program. Our curriculum filters through the lens of social and environmental justice; our learning approach is interdisciplinary and student-centered. Integrate global and local social issues into your practice, while you focus on your academic and professional goals. Discover the ways multi-generational and transcultural woundings contribute to mental and emotional concerns. Learn to use power and privilege to give voice to those who have none. Add an area of concentration: Human Sexuality Counseling; Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling; Social Justice in Counseling; and Somatic Counseling.
Accreditation
- The Master of Science in Counseling is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counselor and Related Educational Programs (CACREP).
- Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association. The Higher Learning Commission has approved Prescott College to offer all of its degree titles via distance education.
The Prescott College Master of Science in Counseling program issues an annual report each year. To view our annual report, click below. You can also view the program’s vital statistics.
Key Program Information
Delivery Method
Online*
Number of Credits
60
Cost Per Credit
$830
Spring 2025 Priority Application Deadline
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Spring 2025 Final Application Deadline
Friday, November 15, 2024
Orientation Starts
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
*Online program format also requires attendance at a 3-day colloquium on the Prescott College Campus.
Admissions & Apply
- Elective courses: Up to 14 elective courses offered
- Emphases offered in Human Sexuality Counseling; Marriage, Couple and Family Counseling; Social Justice in Counseling; and Somatic Counseling
- Post-graduate certificates offered in Adventure-based Therapy, Nature-based Therapy, and Expressive Art Therapy
For further details about the Master of Science in Counseling Program, please read through the current Student Handbook
Click to view state licensure information regarding the counseling program.
A Message from the Associate Dean
Stacey L. Carrillo, PhD, NCC
Associate Dean for Counseling & Related Programs
Dr. Stacey Carrillo has utilized her counseling background working in higher education for over 25 years. She has significant experience working at a university career counseling center that served a diverse student population and in a clinical training facility as a counselor and clinical supervisor. She has also utilized her counseling education working in human resources management with a focus on training and development, employee relations, and organizational change. As a faculty member she has helped students explore various social and cultural identities, and how these identities affect the therapeutic relationship, as well as helping students understand the intersection between career development and wellbeing.
Faculty at a Glance
PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT
MS in Counseling Featured in Forbes’s List of the Best Online Mental Health Counseling Options
Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling
Prescott College’s online program, Master of Science in Counseling, was featured in Forbes’s list of the best online mental health counseling options!
Liz Simmons of Forbes wrote, as the reason why they picked Prescott College, “You can earn a CACREP-accredited MS in counseling with a specialization in clinical mental health counseling from Prescott College, physically located in Prescott, Arizona. The program offers the following areas of emphasis: human sexuality counseling; marriage, couple and family counseling; social justice in counseling; and somatic counseling. You can also add a graduate certificate in expressive arts therapies, adventure-based counseling or nature-based counseling. The online degree requires a six-credit internship and a three-credit practicum.”
Are you interested in being part of our community?
One thing we all have in common is our passion – passion for helping others, passion for the environment, passion for social justice and a passion for a different kind of learning experience.