Academics Colleges College of Education Counselor Education Department

Counselor Education Department

In WSU Counselor Education Department programs, you’ll learn counseling skills, group facilitation, career development, and other competencies through coursework and engagement in the community.

We offer 4 programs that will give you meaningful knowledge and experience in your area of interest. Our programs feature:

Evening classes
Classes on Winona and Rochester campuses
Learning in online, hybrid, and in-person courses
Community-based learning experiences
Flexible internship opportunities throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and across the nation as available

Once you earn your degree, you’ll be well prepared to work in a wide range of professional counseling settings.

The Counselor Education Department partners with schools, mental health agencies, and area organizations to provide students with the authentic learning experiences they need to excel in a variety of counseling fields.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Counselor Education Department is to prepare school and clinical mental health counselors who can:

build professional relationships that empower individuals, groups, and families to accomplish mental health, educational, wellness, and career goals
provide socially conscious prevention, remediation, and growth-enhancing interventions to individuals, groups, and families within a multicultural and pluralistic society

Goals & Objectives

The Counselor Education Department engages in the quality preparation of school and clinical mental health counselors through core and track-specific curriculum. We aim to help counseling students meet the needs of individuals, groups, and families in agency, school, and community settings within a multicultural and pluralistic society.

To better assure a consistent and quality educational experience for all counseling students, the Counselor Education Department adopted program goals and objectives in accordance with the 2016 Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) standards in the following 8 common core curricular areas:

Professional Orientation and Ethical Practice
Social and Cultural Diversity
Human Growth and Development
Career Development
Helping Relationships
Group Work
Assessment
Research and Program Evaluation

Many of these objectives are also implemented in the Human Services Professional program and they are aligned to specific courses.

View the Counselor Education Department’s goal statements and program objectives (PDF) for the 8 core curricular areas as well as the Clinical Mental Health and School Counseling Program tracks.

Community Engagement Impact

WSU’s Counselor Education Department makes a big difference in our community and surrounding areas each year. Its internships and practicums have a significant economic impact.

These programs also increase community engagement through volunteer work.

During the 2021-2022 academic year, the Counselor Education Department’s impact on local communities was more than $350,000.

Summer 2021

4 part-time Clinical Mental Health Counselor Interns contributed $43,848 to the total impact

Fall 2021

14 Clinical Mental Health Counseling Practicum students and 9 School Counseling Practicum students contributed $105,116 to the total impact

Spring 2022

7 full-time Clinical Mental Health Counselors, 9 full-time School Counselor Interns, and 3 part-time Clinical Metal Health Counselors contributed $202,545 to the total impact

During the Fall 2021 term, students enrolled in CE 601: Foundations of Counseling volunteered in the following agencies: