EMU Graduate Counseling Programs: Summer 2021 Newsletter

Welcome

Greetings, friends of EMU’s Graduate Counseling Programs!

The 2020-2021 academic year has come to a close, and we’re excited to share some program updates with you as we look ahead to next year and beyond. Alongside its many extraordinary and unprecedented challenges close to home and across the world, this academic year has brought ample opportunities for new growth and learning, deep engagement with our communities, and opportunities for innovation. 

Students in the MA in Counseling program have been hard at work this year. First-year students bravely set out on the path of counselor training by taking up the tasks of graduate academic work, engaging experiential learning, leaning into deep personal inner-work, forming as a cohort, and serving clients through their practicum sites. Second and third-year students continued their rigorous academic work, implemented multicultural advocacy projects, delivered capstone presentations, provided much needed clinical services, and participated in meaningful engagement with our communities. All of our students held grace for others in the program and trusted the process as we moved learning temporarily online and as they practiced unexpected new skills, such as providing counseling services over the internet, by phone, or while wearing a facemask. The students in the MAC program demonstrated incredible resilience, resolve, and grace this past year, and we’re so proud of the incredible work they have done.   

Many thanks to all of you who are connected to EMU’s Graduate Counseling Programs. We are grateful to be a part of such a wide and thriving network. As you look through this newsletter, please enjoy updates on our program, information on the launch of our new M.Ed. in School Counseling track, a celebration of a faculty publication, open house dates, and a celebration of our class of 2021! 

Program Updates

As the seasons change, space is made and cultivated for new shoots to emerge, blossom into fullness, and bear fruit. In this spirit, we make regular changes to the program as we listen to the needs of our students, review our program evaluation data, and feel the needs of our communities. This past year brought changes to our curriculum and solidified a strong foundation to launch our new M.Ed. in School Counseling track.

In response to student feedback and a review of our training ethos, we launched two new courses: COUN 530 Advanced Psychopathology, taught by Dr. Cheree Hammond, and COUN 610 Advanced Multicultural Counseling, taught by Dr. Jennifer Cline. Building on COUN 527 Psychopathology and COUN 607 Multicultural Counseling respectively, these courses provide students with the opportunity to engage in diagnosis and treatment planning at a much deeper level and to more fully embody multicultural knowledge, skills, and awareness that will support their work with clients. Since the large majority of our students begin working as counselors immediately after graduation, the skills, knowledge, and experiences they gain from these courses are instrumental in their capacity to provide healing to those they serve.

In addition to these curricular changes, we’re delighted to share with you that we will launch our Integrated M.Ed. in School Counseling this fall 2021! This new program track means that we’re beginning to outgrow our beloved moniker, MAC (MA in Counseling), and we’re now EMU’s Graduate Counseling Programs. Despite the name change, the spirit of our department carries on! Our trauma informed, resilience focused Integrated M.Ed. in School Counseling program track will prepare graduates to meet the needs of k-12 students through restorative justice practices, embodied counselor presence, and cutting edge research. Through our integrated model, school counseling students and clinical mental health counseling students will study and learn side by side. If you’d like to know more, keep reading! 

Is this program right for me?

If you are reading this, you are likely a person who feels the incredible weight of harm that is so often present for children and adolescents in the United States, and a person who seeks to do something meaningful to help. Perhaps you are a person who experiences genuine joy with kids and young people, and you have stayed connected to a playful sense of who you are: when you are working with children and adolescents, you know when it’s time to be silly as well as just how to be a “grown up”. You may feel the hurts profoundly, and you want to do everything you can - to learn the latest techniques, to practice with highly skilled and experienced practitioners, to be at the forefront of change - to make things better for kids. You see what is possible for children when they have warm and caring adults around them; you know deep in your bones that children are naturally joyful, curious, perceptive, diligent, creative, and engaging. It’s just that sometimes the hurts get in the way. You want to help to restore the beauty you know is there by helping to repair the hurts - while inspiring whole classrooms, schools, and school systems to do the same. It’s likely that human dignity, compassionate responsiveness, and wise action resonate with you as ways of being in the world. 

If you want to deepen and expand your love for kids and your skill at meeting them where they are, the Integrated M.Ed. in School Counseling might be just right for you. Our Integrated M.Ed. in School Counseling program will prepare you to meet the needs of children in K-12 schools. You will experience a cohort-based model of education integrated with our Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. You will learn trauma-sensitive and resilience-focused counseling skills alongside clinical mental health counseling students and how to specifically apply them in school settings. If you’re looking to make a difference in the lives of the children in our communities, please contact us for more information and read more about the spirit of our new program below.  

We invite you to talk with us about your interest. 

For more information, contact Amanda Williams, EMU Graduate Counseling Programs Administrative Assistant (amanda.k.williams@emu.edu), attend an open house in May or June, and visit our website: https://emu.edu/graduate-counseling/school-counselor