Master of Arts in Counseling — In Person and Webster University Online
Grad school just got more affordable. For a limited time, Webster is waiving the $50
app fee and offering a $500 scholarship to all May applicants.
Exclusions Include: Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice (DNAP)
Counselors empower clients of all ages to make positive, healthy changes in their lives. They make a difference for individuals, couples, groups and communities every day using empathy and critical thinking.
At Webster University, our Counseling MA features a flexible degree path that allows you to learn in person or in a convenient online format, on a part-time or full-time basis. Our Counseling curriculum is culturally inclusive with a professional focus, ensuring that you develop the knowledge and skills needed to launch or advance your career in the field of mental health and human services.
When you earn your Counseling master’s from Webster, you can be confident that our global perspective and focus on quality education means you’ll graduate ready to help your community thrive.
Webster’s Counseling master’s degree provides a comprehensive understanding of different counseling approaches. You’ll also gain practical experience in helping clients assess their emotional difficulties, develop insights into their own challenges and make lifestyle changes. Our program cultivates deeper self-awareness and interpersonal communication skills — essential for helping others.
Our curriculum covers a wide range of topics, including human development, counseling theory and techniques, trauma, substance abuse and family counseling. You’ll also complete hands-on learning practicums, and you can select electives that support your personal and professional goals.
MA in Counseling with an Emphasis in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, ’21
Webster’s Counseling master’s degree combines classroom education with hands-on field experience, developing the necessary theory and skills to work with individuals, couples, families and children in a variety of mental health settings.
Collaborate with faculty on research projects that incorporate research methods and program evaluation skills commonly used in the counseling profession.
Learn from faculty members with professional experience as counselors. Our diverse faculty are practicing clinicians who take a real-world approach to learning and will guide you in developing the cultural awareness necessary to serve the needs of a rapidly changing population. The small class sizes in our Counseling MA ensure one-on-one attention and collaboration. Our professors serve as mentors eager to support your career goals and connect you to opportunities.
Our Counseling master’s degree is flexible and customizable based on your interests and career goals. Complete coursework at one of our U.S. locations or via an online program to support a career in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Or complete your degree in Geneva, Switzerland and focus on Community Counseling. Study full-time and advance your career quickly or balance your schoolwork with your current professional obligations by taking just one course at a time.
Webster’s Counseling MA is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) at our campuses in St. Louis (Webster Groves), Missouri, and Columbia and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Our Webster University Online program is also CACREP accredited. Our Counseling MA program in Geneva is accredited by the Swiss Association for Counselling/Die Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Beratung (SGfB).
Webster's Master of Arts in Counseling supports the development of students as competent counselors, and is designed to prepare individuals for a career in this growing profession. The innovative curriculum combines classroom education and hands-on field experience to provide you with the theory and skills you need to work with individuals, couples, families and children in a variety of mental health settings.
Our diverse faculty members are practicing clinicians who take a real-world approach to learning and guide students in developing the cultural awareness necessary to serve the needs of a rapidly changing population.
[Music]
Text on screen: Program Spotlight: Counseling (MA)
Text on screen: Muthoni Musangali, PhD, LPC-MO, BC-TMH, NCC, Chair and Associate Professor, Professional Counseling
Muthoni Musangali: The goal of the counseling program is to prepare students who will become professional counselors, who are competent and well prepared to work with diverse populations.
Text on screen: Ashlee S. Student
Ashlee S.: I’ve learned that counseling is not only a process in trying to help others and like the helping professions, but it's also like a personal process in dealing with things that you've been through in your own life.
[Footage of Ashlee in a classroom smiling and talking with other students]
Because of the relationships that I made in the smaller classes, I feel like that helped me a ton.
Text on screen: Practicing for Success: Learning Clinical Skills
Text on screen: Hemla D. Singaravelu, PhD, LPC, Professor, Professional Counseling
Hemla D. Singaravelu: A large component of our teaching includes a didactic component and experiential component. We focus heavily on the experiential component because this is where students learn their clinical skills.
[Footage of students giving presentations, as well as participating in client-counselor roleplay with each other, while Hemla oversees and guides students]
Purposeful speech, roleplays based on specific scenarios that mimic real life clients scenarios. And that is actually a major focus of how students develop.
Text on screen: Sherry H. Student
Sherry H.: Focusing on not so much what you might get in an undergraduate classroom where you're taking notes and you're trying to prepare for a test.
[Footage of Sherry participating in a classroom discussion, footage of students in a classroom engaging in conversation]
But really how it applies to working with clients, really moving more into seeing ourselves as professionals and developing a professional identity.
Text on screen: Real-World Experience: In the class. In the Field.
Singaravelu: So all of our faculty members are licensed clinicians. As such, they are able to impart a lot of the clinical knowledge in the classroom setting.
[Footage of a professor teaching in a classroom and engaging one-on-one with a student]
Musangali: Students are working to become licensed professionals. It's important that they are trained by licensed professionals as well.
Text on screen: Daniel B. Student
Daniel B.: You really are amongst like-minded individuals, especially your professors that have experience in practicing counseling.
[Footage of Daniel participating in a classroom discussion]
Musangali: Field experience in the counseling program is really the hallmark Our students have to have experience working out in the field where they're applying the theories that they have learned with actual clients.
Text on screen: Serving Diverse Communities: A Multicultural Approach to Counseling
Singaravelu: One of the things we take pride in in our department is actually trying to train students to be multiculturally competent.
Musangali: Social Justice, multiculturalism, diversity and equity are all part of who we see ourselves as a program.
[Footage of various classrooms in the Counseling Department]
Text on screen: Mona J. Student
Mona J.: I've always wanted to help people, I just didn't know which pathway would be the best for me until I found a Webster's counseling program.
[Footage of Mona engaging in classroom discussion]
These courses have really shown me that helping marginalized communities is really what I want to do with my life. Being in this program has really solidified that.
[Webster University logo animates on screen]
Text on screen: webster.edu
[Outro music]
Find out more about the overall Counseling MA curriculum, electives, learning outcomes and more.
Explore our catalog for more details about courses and admission requirements for the MA in Counseling degree.
This program is offered in St. Louis (Webster Groves), Missouri, in Columbia and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and in an online format through Webster University Online.
A Counseling MA provides the knowledge, skills and credentials to pursue a rewarding career as a counselor. You can work with individuals or groups at a counseling agency, gain licensure to open your own private practice, or even pursue a doctoral degree in Counseling to teach future counselors at colleges and universities around the world.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, overall demand for mental health counselors is projected to grow 23% from 2020 to 2030. Graduate with your Counseling MA to prepare for positions like:
Take the next step toward earning your Counseling master's degree. We are here to help you get started.
Learn more about our academic programs and our main campus and locations.
Connect with our admissions counselors and academic advisors.
Apply to Webster and take the next steps for financial aid and scholarships.
If you have more questions about the program, your application or other enrollment-related inquiries, contact our Admissions Office.
Call 314-246-7800 or 800-753-6765 or send an email to admit@webster.edu.