A Guide for Working Professionals: Info about Counseling Profession
Do you want to be a Licensed Professional Counselor [LPC]? Our CACREP-accredited MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling degree will prepare you for the LPC licensure process in Virginia and beyond. Located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, EMU's Graduate Counseling Program offers an in-person, cohort-based, and experiential model of education with faculty who have practical experience as clinicians. You will get real-world experience by participating in practicums and internships in on-campus and local community organizations, agencies, hospitals, and schools. You will graduate ready to launch a career as a professional counselor, doing depthful and healing work in the world!
See EMU's professional licensure disclosure.
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We strive to achieve the highest standards of training for clinical mental health
counselors, emphasizing applied clinical skill and professional readiness, counselor
identity formation, service to the underserved, multicultural development and awareness,
social justice through advocacy, reflective self-awareness, and celebration of diverse
spirituality and values within a community environment.
Are you ready to:
Information for Current StudentsRestoring Connections Lab
Program Evaluation Program Outcomes
EMU’s Graduate Counseling Program is accredited in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Students graduating with a CACREP-accredited degree can more often easily
achieve state counseling licensure and experience greater ease of license portability
between state licensing boards. Students with CACREP-accredited counseling degrees
are often considered exceptional candidates for doctoral programs.
For more information about the counseling profession, contact the American Counseling Association.
Research Interests: the intersection of technology and relationship, clinical supervision, pedagogy and
learning outcomes, and social justice issues.
Research Interests: children, adolescents, and families in education, social work, and counseling.
Research Interests: multicultural intervention, training, and prejudice reduction, pervasive developmental
disorders, and developmental psychopathology.
Research Interests: Spirituality and Religion, Multiculturalism, and Social Justice
Graduate Counseling Faculty
Director, CACREP Liaison; Associate Professor
Jennifer Cline
Associate Professor
Greg Czyszczon
Professor of Counseling
Cheree Hammond
Assistant Professor of Counseling; Professional Practice Coordinator
Tamika Jackson
The Master of Arts in Counseling department has received two four-year grants from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) program—$1.2 million (2017–2021) and $1.01 million (2021–2025). These grants have provided stipends for internship students serving in rural and medically underserved communities (nearly all internship students in recent years), funding for equipment such as iPads for clinical recording, expanded training opportunities, and more.
In January 2025, the department submitted a grant proposal for a competing continuation of $2.3 million over the next four years (Fall 2025–Spring 2029) and is thrilled to announce that this proposal has been awarded!
Qualifying internship students—U.S. citizens in their final year of training who complete an internship placement in a rural or medically underserved area and intend to continue serving such areas after graduation—will be eligible for a $25,000 stipend, paid quarterly during the final year of training in the EMU Graduate Counseling program. Funding will also be available for conference registration and travel reimbursement for each qualifying student.
Learn more about how the HRSA BHWET grant supports qualifying students here.
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