Online Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Make a positive impact on the mental health of individuals and society

YOUR FUTURE STARTS HERE

Complete the form below to learn more about our online programs and how to get started.

By submitting this form, I consent to the University of Oklahoma (OU) and its agents contacting me about educational opportunities via automated calls, text messages, and/or email at the number and email provided. Message and data rates may apply. Consent is not required to attend the OU or to receive information by other means. For details on how OU collects and protects your information, review the Privacy Policy.

At a Glance

The online Clinical Mental Health Counseling master’s program from OU Online is a 60-credit-hour program designed by the University of Oklahoma’s Department of Human Relations. You can complete the program in as few as 30 months while gaining the skills to become a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)*.

This transformative degree equips graduates to support individuals, families, and communities while addressing systemic changes. The curriculum blends academic rigor with real-world relevance, emphasizing professional responsibility, cultural responsiveness, and ethical practice.

100% Online

Time to Complete:

30+ Months

Credit Hours:

Time Commitment:

10 to 20 Hours Weekly

start dates

Fall, Spring, & Summer

cost

The master’s in clinical mental health counseling online delivers a strong return on investment. You will build advanced skills and expertise that position you for leadership roles, career advancement, and higher earning potential in the mental health field.

Tuition and fees for the program total $50,700 ($845 per credit hour). Costs for books and additional materials are not included.

YOUR FUTURE STARTS HERE

Complete the form below to learn more about our online programs and how to get started.

By submitting this form, l consent to the University of Oklahoma (OU) and its agents contacting me about educational opportunities via automated calls, text messages, and/or email at the number and email provided. Message and data rates may apply. Consent is not required to attend the OU or to receive information by other means. For details on how OU collects and protects your information, review the Privacy Policy.

About the Online Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling

The online Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling is a 60-credit-hour program built around a dynamic curriculum shaped by principles of social justice and multiculturalism. In addition to flexible asynchronous coursework and live online class sessions, students attend two immersive, weeklong residencies on the OU campus. Each residency includes a full-day, in-person course designed to deepen learning and build community.

Students also gain hands-on experience through a 100-hour practicum and a 600-hour internship, completed in person to meet state licensure requirements*.

To graduate from the program, students must complete:

51 credit hours of required coursework while maintaining a minimum 3.0 GPA
A 100-clock-hour practicum, including 40 direct hours, with timely completion of all assignments and positive evaluations from both the practicum professor and onsite clinical supervisor
A 600-clock-hour internship, including 240 direct hours, with timely completion of all assignments and strong reviews from both the internship professor and the onsite clinical supervisor
Completion of two in-person Residencies
Weekly virtual attendance is mandatory for Practicum and Internship courses.
A passing score on the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Exam (CPCE), or another comprehensive exam approved by faculty on a case-by-case basis

*This degree is approved by the Oklahoma Board of Behavioral Health Licensure and meets the educational requirements of becoming an LPC in Oklahoma. Licensure requirements vary by state, and students outside of Oklahoma should review the state licensure board requirements for their state.

Residency Requirement

Where: These will take place on our OU campus or our HSC campus in Oklahoma City
How: Residency will occur over a two-day period (All day Friday and Saturday). This will be an in-person experience and is mandatory for all students.
When:
- The first residency will take place during your first 18 credit hours in the program
- The second residency will occur during our Practicum/Internship summer semester

Download the Academic Year 2023/2024 Program Evaluation Outcome Report (PDF)

Download the CMHC Program Update (Word)

What Can I Do with a Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling?

Earning an online Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of Oklahoma positions you for meaningful career growth in a high-demand field. This degree opens doors to impactful roles where you can make a difference in the lives of individuals, families, and communities. Accelerate your career in roles such as:

Marriage and Family Therapist
Behavioral Disorder Counselor

Substance Abuse Counselor
Mental Health Counselor

Industry Insights

Median Pay for counselors and therapists is $59,190 to $63,780 per year
Job Outlook: Employment for counselors and therapists is projected to grow 16 to 19 percent through 2033
Job Openings: More than 55,000 job openings for counselors and therapists are expected each year through 2033

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Program Outcomes: From Classroom to Counseling Practice

OU’s online Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling program empowers students to assess and respond to the complex needs of individuals facing mental health challenges and crises.

Through this program, you will:

Prepare for the National Counselor Exam by earning a qualifying degree, completing clinical hours, and developing practical skills aligned with today’s mental health demands
Explore counseling topics that connect directly to your professional interests through research and applied learning
Identify and understand a wide range of psychopathological conditions
Examine how various medications influence mood and behavior
Address varied client experiences that impact mental health
Build a strong professional identity as a clinical mental health counselor serving a variety of communities in clinical, administrative, professionally responsive, and leadership roles
Practice within the ethical scope defined by the Oklahoma State Board of Behavioral Health and the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics, ensuring effective clinical outcomes and reflective professional growth
Gain counseling expertise across the lifespan, including case conceptualization, assessment, diagnosis, treatment planning, outcome evaluation, and documentation in individual, group, and career counseling settings
Become a skilled consumer of research, using evidence-based practices and theory-driven interventions to inform your work and evaluate programs
Integrate theories of human behavior and mental health into counseling strategies that support the wellness of varied populations across individual, group, and career contexts

Course Details

The Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling offers a comprehensive foundation in the field while preparing students to lead with empathy, adaptability, and cultural intelligence. You will learn to embrace a variety of perspectives across age groups, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds, and develop the agility to thrive in an ever-evolving mental health landscape.

Course Structure

You will earn 60 credit hours across 20 courses. All courses feature required live evening lectures from 7-8 pm CT or 7-8:30 pm CT.

You’ll take 3 courses at a time during Spring and Fall semesters, one 16-week classes and two 8-week classes (no more than two at a time). During the Summer semester, you’ll take two courses, one 14-week course and one 8-week course.

You can expect a time commitment of 10 to 20 hours on average per week until you reach your practicum and internship semesters. Once you begin clinical classes, many sites require interns to be in attendance for 20 hours to ensure direct hour requirements are met.

*During your final 3 semesters, you will complete a Practicum and Internship. These typically require approximately 20 hours per week at your chosen site, in addition to class time and coursework.

Practicum

100-hour practicum in 3rd semester

Internship

600-hour internship (300 hours each course) in the 7th and 8th semesters - Internship I and Internship II

Residency

In addition to asynchronous coursework and live online class sessions, students will attend two two-day residencies on either the OU campus in Norman or the HSC campus in Oklahoma City (beginning summer of 2026)
During each residency, students will complete experiential components of selected courses by coming to campus and meeting all day over a two-day period.
This residential experience is a required part of the program
Students will need to cover their own travel expenses

Core Courses

Group Counseling in Human Relations
Credit Hours: 3
Examines a variety of group counseling models, types of groups (process, solution-focused, action-oriented), the role of the group counselor, group members, and techniques and strategies for facilitating group work.

Ethical Issues in HR Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
This course surveys ethical, legal, and professional issues facing human services workers.

Research for Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
This course examines techniques involving quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods methodology will be introduced and applied to clinical mental health counseling settings. Special attention will be given to program evaluation and techniques in applying research methods to clinical practice.

Counseling Theories in Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
This course emphasizes skills training in counseling approaches utilized by human relations practitioners. The skills training is organized according to basic counseling and psycho-therapy theories, including psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, existential-humanistic, multicultural, systemic and integrative approaches.

Career Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
Explores conceptual and functional tools for enhancing career development of children, youth and adults in both counseling and corporate human resource relationships. Class participants can experience a variety of career assessment tools including interest in inventories, personality assessments and values clarification exercises. Career counseling strategies for a variety of life situations are discussed.

Multicultural Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
The model of multicultural understanding followed in this course is intended to increase the understanding of culturally diverse groups. This class is both practice and theory oriented. Emphasis will be placed on providing a broader knowledge base and developing the skills to counsel individuals from various cultures.

Assessment and Evaluation in Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
An examination of the major individual, marital, and family assessment strategies and instruments. Students will receive training in the use of both testing and non-testing approaches to assessment and appraisal. Attention will be given to the relationship between assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning.

Human Growth and Development
Credit Hours: 3
This course will explore development through the human life span from a psycho-social approach and will examine theoretical approaches from the mid-twentieth century to recent theoretical perspectives. In this context, the expanding social realm of the developing individual will be discussed along with research in a variety of areas related to social development including cognitive and social neurosciences.

Required Focused Courses

Clinical Practicum
Credit Hours: 3
This course includes supervised practical experience at approved practicum sites. Emphasis on counseling theory, practice skills, professional identity, and theory and technique integration. Weekly conferences on counseling issues, practice development, and professional identity.

Addiction Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
Explores how addiction affects physical, psychological, and social functioning in individuals and communities. The dynamics of addiction, treatment, and the recovery process are explored. Attention is given to the emotional, physical, psychological, and sociocultural aspects of addiction.

Counseling Skills in Human Relations
Credit Hours: 3
Introduce students to the helping professions and provide them with a basic mastery of important counseling skills in human relations.

Diagnosis in Human Relations Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
Introduces students to the diagnostic systems of mental disorders outlined by the American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization. It also covers principles and techniques of interviewing which produce a correct diagnosis.

Couples and Family Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
This course explores different methods and theoretical approaches for counseling intimate interpersonal relationships and families.

Counseling With Children, Adolescents, and Families
Credit Hours: 3
This course will explore various theories, modalities, and practices working with young children, adolescents, and their families. Students will be introduced to theories of development; individual, group and family therapies, and a meta-theoretical framework of social construction.

Advanced Counseling Skills
Credit Hours: 3
An advanced study of various counseling approaches with opportunities for demonstration and evaluation of each student's counseling skills. Designed to provide the student with advanced exploration and analysis of current counseling practice. Students will be expected to demonstrate the ability to analyze, synthesize, critique, and discuss, in verbal and written form, the key concepts of traditional and contemporary counseling practice.

Crisis Intervention and Trauma Counseling
Credit Hours: 3
Designed to facilitate knowledge and skills related to crisis intervention and trauma counseling. Focuses on individuals, families, and groups facing mental, physical, developmental, occupational, residential, and environmental crises, as well as the methods of assessment and intervention.

Psychopathology
Credit Hours: 3
Provides an in-depth review of a broad spectrum of psychopathological conditions. The focus of the review will include the etiology, prevalence and incidence, signs and symptoms, and criteria for differential diagnoses. The emphasis of this review will be on comparing different theoretical perspectives of each disorder.

Introduction to the Counseling Profession
Credit Hours: 3
This course introduces the graduate student to the practice of Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC), utilizing instructor(s) from the LPC field. This course covers the history, development, and implementation of licensed counselors.

Counseling Internship I
Credit Hours: 3
The internship is 300 total hours of direct and indirect on-site work experience at an agency, organization, business firm, institution or other professional or industry setting to fulfill the requirement for a Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling. The Internship provides extensive supervised on-the-job experience in a setting within the counseling profession.

Counseling Internship II
Credit Hours: 3
The internship is 300 total hours of direct and indirect on-site work experience at an agency, organization, business firm, institution or other professional or industry setting to fulfill the requirement for a Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling. The Internship provides extensive supervised job experience in a setting that is within the counseling profession.

Why Choose OU Online for a Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling?

OU Online delivers high-quality, affordable undergraduate and graduate programs in a flexible online format—backed by the reputation of a top-tier public institution. The mission of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program is to shape ethical, compassionate practitioners equipped with the knowledge, skills, and professional disposition to serve a variety of populations. Graduates are prepared to make a lasting impact in both private and public mental health settings, advancing wellness and equity across communities.

Faculty Expertise

The Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling is built on the foundation of world-class University of Oklahoma faculty mixed with professors of practice providing valuable instruction. By linking industry experts with our online programs, we offer the most advanced curriculum and prepare students for future career success.

Meet Our Faculty

Robust Student Support

OU Online offers robust student support services, including academic support, online tutoring, mental health counseling, and an online career development center. The program accommodates the needs of working professionals, allowing you to expand your skills while maintaining full-time employment.

Global Alumni Network

With more than 250,000 alumni across the world, becoming a Sooner means you’ll have access to a strong network of counseling professionals to accelerate your career. As a Sooner, you’ll be part of a powerful network of leaders working in the field across the world, helping you expand your counseling career.

Flexible Format

The Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling is delivered in a fully online, flexible format designed for working professionals around the world. Earn your degree in as few as 30 months while maintaining full-time employment and managing personal commitments. Study from anywhere and gain the specialized knowledge needed to thrive in today’s mental health landscape.

Tailored Experience

Move through the program at your own pace with other people who share your passion for counseling and your drive to make a difference. You will engage in meaningful online discussions with faculty and peers, build lasting professional connections, and grow your network in the mental health field—all while developing the skills to thrive in multiple types of counseling environments.

Cost & Financial Aid

Earning a Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling is a powerful investment in your future—and OU Online is committed to making that investment accessible and transparent.

Tuition and fees for the program total $50,700 ($845 per credit hour*). Books and additional materials are not included.

Financial aid, scholarships, and employer tuition assistance may be available to help reduce your out-of-pocket costs. Our dedicated financial services team will support you every step of the way—so you can stay focused on your education and career goals.

For questions about financial aid for your online program, contact the Online Aid office at onlineaid@ou.edu or call 405-325-2929.

A nonrefundable deposit of $350 is required upon admission to secure your place in the program. This deposit guarantees your spot in your first semester of courses and will be applied toward your first semester’s tuition.

* Please be aware that tuition and fees may change, as determined by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.

Transfer Credit

This program does not accept transfer credit.

Mission

The mission of the OU Online graduate program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling is to develop ethical and sensitive practitioners with the counseling knowledge, skills, and dispositions to work with individuals, groups, and families from a broad range of backgrounds in private and public mental health settings, improving mental health and holistic wellness across communities. The CMHC program’s purpose is to develop students in the following domains:

Counseling Awareness, Knowledge, and Skills: Understanding and application of counseling competence at a level considered proficient for licensed professional counselors. These competencies are aligned with areas of foundational and specialty counseling curriculum as required by CACREP and proficiency on the comprehensive exam.
Ethical Disposition: Application of ethical practices, sensitivity, and professional disposition with individuals, groups, and families from a broad range of backgrounds in accordance with the OU Student Rights and Responsibilities Code of Conduct, the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics, and multi-state licensing standards.

The CMHC program’s mission is undergirded and supported by the overall mission at the University of Oklahoma – to provide the best possible educational experience for our students through excellence in teaching, research, and creative activity, and service to the state and society.

Course Objectives

The objectives of the OU Online CMHC program are based on current knowledge concerning the counseling and human development needs of a varied society. Developed in collaboration with current and former students, personnel from cooperating agencies, various accrediting agencies, and colleagues in this and other university settings, the counseling faculty identified the following objectives for providing excellence in counselor education:

Comprehensive Professional Identity
- Help students establish and enhance a professional identity as a clinical mental health counselor assisting a variety of communities in clinical, administrative, professionally responsive, and leadership roles.
Ethical Practice
- Ensure students adhere to professional counselors’ ethical scope of practice, including knowledge, skills, and dispositions, consistent with the Oklahoma State Board of Behavioral Health rules and regulations and the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics to support clinical outcomes and maintain a reflective professional practice.
Counseling Excellence
- Equip students with effective counseling knowledge, skills, and dispositions across the lifespan, including case conceptualization, assessment, diagnosis, treatment planning, planning and measuring outcomes, and documentation within individual, group, and career counseling paradigms.
Empirical Foundations
- Train students to be responsible consumers of research to inform practice, including program evaluation, evidence-based practices, and theory-based interventions appropriate to their designated counseling setting and professional theoretical orientation.
Theoretical Foundations
- Teach students to incorporate theories of human behavior and mental health through integration with individual, group, and career counseling to help diverse populations’ mental health and wellness.
Professional Practice
- Equip students with the knowledge and skills to enter the counseling profession and practice within a variety of settings.

Take the Next Step

To apply to the online Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, you must hold a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university, or the international equivalent. Applicants should have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 or a graduate GPA of 2.8 to be considered for admission.

Application Process

Complete an online application at https://gograd.ou.edu/apply/
Have an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 or a graduate GPA of 2.8
Provide official transcripts from all institutions attended
Submit a current resume
Submit three letters of recommendation
One being a character reference
Submit one personal statement demonstrating graduate-level writing
International students must submit a TOEFL score

Application Timeline

The admissions committee follows a rolling admissions process, reviewing applications as they are received. While admissions may remain open until two weeks before classes begin, some programs may set earlier deadlines. Once your application is complete, the committee aims to provide a decision within two weeks—so you can plan your next steps with confidence. A nonrefundable deposit of $350 is required upon admission to secure your place in the program. This deposit guarantees your spot in your first semester of courses and will be applied toward your first semester's tuition.

Step 1

Contact an Enrollment Coach to discuss your qualifications and interest in the program.

Step 2

Complete the online application.

Step 3

Provide supplemental materials, including a resume, personal statement, three letters of recommendation, two writing samples, and transcripts from all institutions attended.