Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Admission Requirements

Procedure for Admission to the Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program

Course Requirements

Mission, Goals & Outcomes

Offered at Columbia, Richmond, Savannah, and Virginia Beach.

Program Overview

The Master of Arts program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at South University is intended to train professional counselors for evidence-based practice to meet the needs of a diverse population. This program highlights advanced theories, principles, and evidence-based practice within the counseling field. Students cultivate necessary skills for effective assessment and treatment, but also attain competence in navigating ethical, legal, and professional nuances.

The primary goals of the program are as follows:

1. Equip graduates with the clinical skills and knowledge for contemporary clinical mental health counseling assessment and treatment in a multicultural society.

2. Develop graduates to be critical thinkers who ground their counseling practice in theory and research related to a variety of clinical issues, populations, settings, and modalities.

3. Prepare graduates for the integration of technology in contemporary counseling practice and critical/analytical thinking regarding concepts and applications in the field.

4. Empower graduates to embody a strong professional counseling identity and commitment to ethical practice.

The program is designed to provide an opportunity for its graduates to achieve initial eligibility criteria to become licensed in their state and certified as a National Certified Counselor (NCC) by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC). The length of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program varies in accord with the licensing requirements of the states in which the program is offered. As a result, the program may not meet the licensing requirements of all states. The student should contact the licensing board in the state in which they anticipate seeking licensure to determine the appropriate program.

Program Student Learning Outcomes

Graduates will be able to:

1. Professional Identity and Ethics: Apply aspects of professional functioning to include ethical standards, legal implications, advocacy and social justice, counselor roles, and professional credentialing.
2. Social and Cultural Diversity: Demonstrate the ability to apply multicultural research and core theory to issues and relationships in the context of culturally competent counseling.
3. Human Growth and Development Through the Lifespan: Apply research and core theory to the needs of diverse individuals across the lifespan, to include atypical personality and neurological development, addictive disorders, family and social relationships, and crisis response.
4. Lifestyle and Career Development: Demonstrate implementation of research and core theory related to the processes of decision-making in career development and planning in the context of the psychology of work.
5. Counseling and Helping Relationship: Apply the major theories of change, consultation practices, diagnostic impressions, and evidence-based interventions to a diverse clientele for the delivery of effective and ethical treatment.
6. Group Dynamics and Group Work: Apply culturally appropriate group skills, techniques, and theory-based interventions in the context of group counseling dynamics while exploring effective facilitation styles.
7. Assessment and Appraisal: Analyze historical and current testing and assessment methods for implementing ethical and accurate appraisal of diverse clients by individual or group methods.
8. Research and Program Evaluation: Apply needs assessment, program evaluation, and research methods to ethical and effective practice and to add to the body of literature in the counseling profession.
9. CMHC Specialization: Plan, implement, and evaluate evidence-based programs and counseling approaches that are designed to treat psychopathology and promote optimal mental health.

Core Faculty

Columbia Campus Core Faculty

Katherine H. DeWitt, PhD
Program Director, Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Dr. Katherine DeWitt is an Associate Professor and the Program Director for Clinical Mental Health Counseling at South University in Columbia, South Carolina. Spending most of her professional life working in higher education as an academic and career counselor, Dr. DeWitt has worked closely with at-risk populations developing programs and resources to help first generation, under represented, and low income- college students persist to graduation and, for many of her students, on to graduate programs.  Dr. DeWitt’s clinical experiences have been working with adolescents in the juvenile justice system, as a case manager for teen dug court, and leading parent/family psychoeducational groups as part of a behavior intervention program for Richland County District II schools in Columbia, SC.  Dr. DeWitt’s research in Social Media engagement stemmed from her observation of the increasing integration of social media platforms in every aspect of daily lives, from the digital documentation of daily activities to becoming the primary sources of global news and information.  In helping professions where the relationship between the clinician and the client is the foundation of service and care, how the clinician is perceived digitally is as important as how they are received in person.  Dr. DeWitt’s research is expanding from examining social media engagement of counselors in training to practicing clinicians and supervisors.

Lanita Jefferson, PhD, LPC, LPCS
Full-time Faculty, Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Dr. Lanita Jefferson, Ph.D., LPC, LPCS is an assistant professor for South University Columbia SC campus. Dr. Jefferson also co-owns a mental health private practice in downtown Columbia SC. Dr Jefferson holds a Doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision from the University of South Carolina, a Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling from USC School of Medicine. Dr. Jefferson specializes in working with persons that have trauma, depression, and anxiety. Dr. Jefferson also specializes in clinical supervision to enhance the professional development in counselors in training. Her research interest includes implementing the use of hip hop in clinical counseling and single case research in counseling.

David Leach, PhD, LPC, CRC
Clinical Coordinator, Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Dr. Leach is an Associate Professor and Clinical Coordinator for the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at South University in Columbia, South Carolina. Dr. Leach has a clinical background in Rehabilitation Counseling having worked for South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Services with individual with profound hearing loss or deafness. Dr. Leach has also worked in programs sponsored by Mental Health America like Bridges Club House, a day program for individuals with mental health issues providing community integration services in the form of various groups in an effort to facilitate understanding of coping skills, independent living skills, and interpersonal skills. Dr. Leach has spent the last several years working with counseling students in the field mastering their clinical skills and preparing them for their futures as professional counselors.  Dr. Leach has research interests in Community integration services for individuals with disabilities and persistent mental health issues and vicarious trauma for helping professionals.

Dan Lawther, PhD
Full-time Faculty, Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program

Dr. Lawther’s background and experience are diverse.  His BA degree is in History and English from the University of Indianapolis, he holds a MA in General Experimental Psychology from Indiana State University, and a PhD in Counselor Education from the University of South Carolina.

He has variously worked as the Director of Housing at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Director of Cottage Life for the Midlands Center (SCDMR), the Director of the Charleston Evaluation Center (SCDJJ), Psychologist III for the Intensive Behavior Modification Program (SCDJJ), Assistant Coordinator for the Intensive Care Units (SCDJJ), Director of Staff Development (SCDJJ), and Training Director for First Corrections Corporation.  He has previous teaching experience at Limestone College and Webster University before beginning employment with South University.  Dr. Lawther is coauthor of “Institutional Programs” in L. Villeponteau and D. Kirkpatrick (Eds) The Correctional Learning System.

Dr. Lawther’s major area of interest has been developing programs for the oppositional and conduct disturbed adolescent.  To that end, he has presented programs for the Southern States Correctional Association and consulted with various program entities in Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, and the US Virgin Islands, St. Croix.

Career Outlook

These are some of the career options* you can explore when you have earned your degree:

• Mental Health Counselor

_{*South University does not promise or guarantee licensure, employment, or salary amounts.}

_{The South University, West Palm Beach (WPB) campus relinquished its Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) programmatic accreditation with the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP) on March 31, 2023. The program submitted the CACREP accreditation application for program consideration in December 2023.  South University, West Palm Beach is now in an “in process” status, as noted in the CACREP program directory.  CACREP accreditation is a multi-step process; the WPB application has been desk reviewed by CACREP reviewers and the program is currently writing the response to the addendum request made by the desk reviewer. If our addendum is deemed appropriate by the desk reviewer, the next step is to host a CACREP site visit where the site reviewers will evaluate the program and make a recommendation to the CACREP Board of Directors regarding the granting of accreditation.}

_{It is important to note that starting July 1, 2025, the state of Florida will require all graduates who apply to become Registered Mental Health Counselor Interns to graduate from an accredited CACREP program. Therefore, by selecting to enroll in the WPB CMHC program, you understand you are enrolling in a CMHC program that is currently seeking programmatic accreditation and is not currently programmatically accredited.  Further, you also understand that with our reapplication for accreditation submitted in December of 2023, we cannot guarantee you will graduate from an accredited program as the CACREP accreditation process can take 18 to 24 months from the time of application.  However, once the program receives accreditation, students will be able to apply to become a Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern and sit for the licensure exam while they accumulate the necessary hours towards full licensure.}

_{Graduates are required to sit for and pass the national certification exam and obtain a state license in order to work in the field.  (Exam names vary by program) Please refer to the State Professional Licensure Determination and National Certification/Licensure section of the University catalog for program and state specific information.  South University cannot guarantee each graduate will pass the required licensure examinations.  Outside agencies control the requirements for taking and passing certification/licensing exams and are subject to change without notice to South University. Students must pass the required licensure to work in their respective field.}

CMHC Program Guide

The Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program Guide contains information specific to students enrolled in the Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program at South University. It is the responsibility of all students to be knowledgeable about the policies, procedures, regulations and expectations contained within. If at any time there is a conflict between the Program Guide and the Academic Catalog, the Academic Catalog will take precedence.

This Guidebook has been prepared by the CMHC program. Information in it maybe be modified, supplemented or discontinued with or without notice.

To view the South University, Columbia Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) Program Guide, click HERE.

Sample Syllabi

Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling Course Syllabi Samples

The syllabi listed below represent the courses in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program.  They are provided for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as the “official” syllabus for the course.

CNS6002, Counseling Theory

CNS6018, Psychopathology

CNS6050, Lifespan Development

CNS6051, Diagnostics of Psychopathology and Treatment

CNS6161, Counseling Techniques

CNS6313, Professional Orientation and Ethics

CNS6425, Clinical Mental Health Counseling

CNS6509, Group Dynamics

CNS6529, Research and Statistical Evaluation

CNS6535, Clinical Mental Health Appraisal I

CNS6565, Multicultural Foundations

CNS6602, Lifestyle and Career Development

CNS6709, Couples, Marital, and Family Dynamics

CNS6775, Counseling Administration, Advocacy, Supervision and Policy

CNS6800, Human Sexuality

CNS6850, Psychopharmacology

CNS6901, Diagnosis and Treatment of Addictive Disorders

CNS7010, Pre-Practicum IA

CNS7011, Practicum IB

CNS7510, CNS7610, CNS7611, Internship IA, Internship IIA, Internship IIB

CNS7950, Child/Adolescent Psychopathology and Treatment

CNS7970, Crisis and Trauma