Program Mission  

The mission of the program is to educate individuals to be socially responsible counseling professionals who will work competently, creatively and collaboratively with and within the community in an environment of diversity so that persons in the community including those with psychiatric and other disabilities are empowered to pursue personally important goals including career with success and satisfaction. We also seek to address New Jersey’s ongoing needs to prepare counselors with specialized expertise in providing counseling in community settings for people with disabilities of all types, including psychiatric, physical, sensory and developmental.

The program specializes in preparing students to deliver counseling and other services to people with serious mental health conditions. As part of addressing this need, the program seeks to develop counselors who have expertise in counseling individuals with serious mental illness including knowledge and skills in providing evidence-based practices for counseling and other services for such individuals. The increased availability of counselors with this expertise is expected to benefit persons with disabilities as well as their families and communities by providing community-based counseling services to enable such individuals to enhance their quality of life including their ability to manage their disability, live independently, get and keep employment, gain an education, and form social relationships and networks.

Additionally, students are prepared to consider the community as a client and deliver needed direct and indirect services in this context. To prepare students to address these needs, the curriculum emphasizes developing critical thinking, providing counseling services in an environment of diversity, learning and using evidence-based practices, and adhering to ethical standards. The mission of the program is consistent with that of SHP in serving both individuals and the community.

Program Objectives

Objectives for the degree program include:

1. Preparing at the master’s degree level highly qualified counselors prepared to work in a variety of community settings and provide services to persons from diverse populations in a multicultural and pluralistic society including persons with psychiatric and other disabilities
2. Increasing the supply of qualified professionals with special expertise in counseling persons with disabilities to provide community-based counseling services for New Jersey and the surrounding region. Seeking to address the long-standing shortage of master’s level counseling practitioners with this expertise to serve communities in New Jersey, we are the only university in New Jersey offering graduate counselor education in this specialization.  This includes increasing the supply of qualified practitioners throughout the state by offering the degree regionally at two campuses as well as online.
3. Evaluating and improving curriculum and other program elements to assure that standards of the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) including relevant specialization standards continue to be met.
4. Increasing awareness of this degree program in the counseling community as well as in the larger New Jersey community and surrounding regions to recruit and enroll adequate numbers of students.
5. Developing certificate programs and/or courses to meet the needs of counseling professionals who wish to upgrade their qualifications and credentials in various areas of specialization.
6. Providing a career ladder for individuals who have obtained a bachelor’s degree related to human services and are interested in completing professional preparation as a counselor.
7. Seeking funding including grants to assist students with tuition.
8. Expanding affiliations to provide students with a variety of counseling practice opportunities in the community.
9. Developing faculty practice with an emphasis on community service.

To accomplish the mission of the program and to prepare program graduates to work in a variety of settings including community agencies, government agencies, and other community-based services, we offer students broad knowledge of the counseling field including theory, research, ethical practices and decision-making, and a well-developed set of interpersonal and counseling skills. The curriculum educates students in the knowledge base of the field including current research combined with supervised clinical experience in counseling to practice that knowledge base. It is recognized that interaction between these elements is essential.

Counselors have extensive contact with other helping professionals, paraprofessionals, self-help groups, community leaders, and other members of the community. The faculty is committed to the development of program graduates who can work competently, creatively and collaboratively with individuals from a variety of backgrounds. As part of accomplishing this, students are encouraged to learn about existing community resources and make maximum use of them in their counseling as well as assess needs for resource creation or modification to meet identified community needs.

Program graduates are also prepared to work with the wider environment as consultants, advocates and change agents. Besides proficiency in working with clients to modify their behavior to accomplish goals, proficiency is developed to interact with the environment to negotiate and, if needed, modify the environment in the interests of providing high quality services to clients.

Faculty members seek to promote an open environment for the consideration and discussion of a wide variety of theories and points of view.   As part of this orientation, information and methodology from a range of disciplines are presented and discussed.  In promoting understanding of the complexity of human behavior, all the behavioral and social sciences need to be considered.  In teaching professional counseling skills, many faculty members have training and experience in cognitive and behavioral counseling approaches such as the Choose-Get-Keep approach for assisting individuals with mental health conditions to choose, get and keep goals of their choice in the community. 

Key tenets of this approach include active involvement of the individual in planning and goal setting, behavioral improvement in the environment of need in the community as a critical outcome, and a primary focus on improving competency to assume community-based roles.  The uniqueness of the individual is emphasized with choice, empowerment and growth identified as core values.  Services are individualized for the person’s needs and preferences as part of the counseling relationship with a focus on the identification and use of personal strengths. 

Through professional counseling practice, the process of finding or renewing purpose and meaning in life is enhanced as individuals gain or regain roles they prefer and value in the community.  Among the roles individuals are interested in attaining and maintaining are worker, student, independent community resident, and member of a social network.  As part of assisting individuals to attain and maintain valued roles, wellness and recovery approaches are addressed.  In planning the curriculum, faculty emphasize learning about evidence-based and promising practices for counseling and service delivery, in particular, practices designed to provide counseling and other services for individuals with serious mental health conditions.

The faculty encourages applications from individuals from diverse backgrounds interested in studying for this degree. We recognize the need for diversity as part of preparing to serve clients in our pluralistic society and welcome applications from a wide variety of personal, social, ethnic, cultural and educational backgrounds.

All Department faculty members strive to create an environment rich in opportunities, experiences, and knowledge that enhances the education of our students. We are committed to the highest standards of excellence in preparing the professionals of tomorrow. We seek out the latest research to inform our academic and professional practice, and share our knowledge in a stimulating, friendly and professional atmosphere.

Employment of substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors is projected to grow 19% from 2023 to 2033, much faster than the average for all occupations.

Employment of rehabilitation counselors is projected to grow 2% from 2023 to 2033, somewhat slower than the average for all occupations.

Bureau of Labor Statistics website

There is a high demand in New Jersey and the surrounding geographic area for counselors with knowledge and skills in these areas. Follow-up of program alumni three years after their graduation found that over 92% of those responding had established careers in the counseling field. The employment settings where most graduates work are community based, non-profit agencies providing mental health and other services to persons with disabilities, community rehabilitation provider agencies, and state vocational rehabilitation and other government human services agencies including the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

The Rutgers School of Health Professions M.S. Rehabilitation Counseling, Clinical Mental Health Counseling meets the educational professional licensing requirements of the following states:

AL, AK, AZ,, CO, CT, DE, GA, , HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MA, MI, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, WA, WI, WY, PR

The degree does not fully meet the educational professional licensing requirements of the following states: AR, CA, DC, FL, MD, MN, VA, WV. Please see additional information about these state’s requirements below.  An elective course (PSRT6024) in counseling children, adolescents, couples and families is available as part of the degree.  This course may meet requirements for coursework in the area of marriage and family counseling.  Students interested in licensure in a state in which this is a requirement should check directly with the licensure board of that state.

Students should be aware that states may have additional requirements for counselor licensure such as supervised post-master’s counseling experience.  Students should check directly with the licensure board of the state where they would like to be licensed for complete requirements of that state.

Updated: November 2024

AK -missing requirements: courses in Family & Relationship, Use of Technology in Counseling

CA – missing requirements: additional course in psychopharmacology, 10 contact hours in aging and long-term care, 18 contact hours in California law and professional ethics for professional clinical counselors (possible that graduate course work with suffice)

DC – missing requirement: course in Marriage and Family Counseling

FL – missing requirement: course in Human Sexuality

MD – missing requirement: course in Marriage and Family Counseling

MN – missing requirement: course in Family Counseling and Therapy

VA – missing requirement: course in Marriage and Family Therapy

WV – missing requirement: course in Marriage and Family Counseling

Online students are required to attend an on-campus residency of up to three days in New Jersey each year they are enrolled in the program. Dates for the residency are established at the beginning of each academic year. Online students must attend the required residency to be eligible to start the practicum-internship sequence.

Online students should be aware that practicum and internship experiences are completed in-person at an approved agency in New Jersey and the surrounding geographic area including downstate New York, eastern Pennsylvania including Philadelphia, Delaware, and Maryland. We are unable to arrange clinical placements in other areas of the country.

Accepted students receive an admission packet including an acceptance letter, requirements for graduation form, and directions to access the Admissions Checklist. Review the Admissions Checklist and follow directions for submitting the tuition deposit to reserve your place in the program and to obtain a Rutgers SHP email account and PIN number to register online for classes. Rutgers ScarletMail cannot be used for this purpose. You must check your SHP email account regularly as this is how the School and faculty communicate with students.

You must also complete the required physical examination and immunizations and submit documentation of meeting these requirements directly to Student Health Services.

All accepted students are required to attend the program’s full-day virtual New Student Orientation. You will receive information via email about registering for the Orientation. It is generally held on the Friday of Labor Day week.

Accepted students who have questions should contact the Office of Enrollment Management at (973) 972-5454 or by email at SHPadm@shp.rutgers.edu and Dr. Janice Oursler, Program Director, by email at ourslejd@shp.rutgers.edu.

Information for military and veterans is available by clicking here, select VA Certification.

For any questions regarding your SHP VA Certification contact the Office of Enrollment Management at 973 972-5454.

Applicants whose baccalaureate degree is not from the United States must submit an official copy of a transcript evaluation. Information about arranging an evaluation is available from the World Education Services, Inc. at www.wes.org. Contact the Office of Enrollment Management at (973) 972-5454 or by email at SHPadm@shp.rutgers.edu to learn about other acceptable agencies for transcript evaluation.

Applicants with a baccalaureate degree whose native language is not English are required to submit the results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Information about TOEFL may be obtained at www.ets.org/toefl.

Information for international students is available by clicking here.

This program focusses on educating students to be proficient providers of counseling services with a specialization in working with and within the community in an environment of diversity to empower people including those with disabilities to pursue career and related goals with success and satisfaction.

SHP as a leader in health professions education is ideally suited to provide this program. This 60-credit degree is designed to advance the career of those already working in the human services field as well as prepare people to enter the field. Professionals with graduate degrees in this area are in high demand in New Jersey and the surrounding region as well as nationally. Employment settings include community-based agencies, state and federal government agencies, the insurance industry, and private practice.

Professionals with graduate degrees in this area are in high demand in New Jersey and the surrounding region as well as nationally.  Employment settings include community-based agencies, state and federal government agencies, the insurance industry, business, and private practice.

Requirements for admission include:

• Completed Application for Admission form with application fee.
• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution.
• Written statement describing career goals, personal goals, and experiences as related to the program.
• Resume.
• Two letters of recommendation. Letters can be submitted electronically or mailed to the Office of Enrollment Management.
• Interview with faculty. Interviews are currently conducted virtually.

In addition to the academic requirements for the program, students must be able to perform the essential functions required for a career in the health services field. Applicants considering careers in the counseling field must be able to form effective interpersonal relationships both with individuals and in the context of small groups, engage in critical thinking, work with diverse populations, and follow ethical standards of the profession. As part of preparation to become counseling professionals, students must be open to self-examination and to personal as well as professional self-development. Students also must have technological competence and computer literacy including word processing, Internet search, and use of email.

You can apply online. Applications are accepted only online.

Yes, students who have not completed the admissions process to be accepted for the degree may take courses on a non-matriculated basis. Additionally, students who are interested in taking selected courses or enrolling in one of the Department’s certificate programs may attend as non-matriculated students.

A total of 12 credits taken as a non-matriculated student may be applied to the degree if the student is accepted for matriculation. For more information about Certificate programs, contact Dr. Janice Oursler by email at ourslejd@shp.rutgers.edu or Kristy Boyce in the Office of Enrollment Management, Success and Student Services by email at boyceka@shp.rutgers.edu.

Yes. The best source for financial aid information is at the Rutgers Student Financial Aid office. They can be contacted at 973 972-4376.

Yes. Rutgers University and the School of Health Professions offer a limited number of scholarship programs. Please note the scholarship application deadline is typically June 1.