Master of Arts in Counseling

M.A. Counseling: Clinical Mental Health

It’s your turn. Now is the time to earn your online graduate degree in counseling at the Townsend Institute at Concordia University Irvine. Through our CACREP-accredited program, you will gain marketable skills that can offer a professional advantage in your vocation. Students will acquire the skills to engage with a person struggling with issues like depression, anxiety, relational problems, or addictions on a deeply attuned level. You will also be trained to connect with the internal workings of a person’s brain and heart - where the root issues lie - such as isolation, lack of boundaries, shame, and feeling as if they have no voice. Learn how to help people move beyond coping to restoration. Gain competency in over 20 skills that use the transformative power of relationship, emotions, and cognitions to create profound and lasting change.

Students enrolled in the Townsend Institute now have the option to earn either a Master's Degree in Counseling: Clinical Mental Health or the Professional Townsend Competence & Character Growth Model Certificate (4 courses) or Advanced Townsend Competence & Character Growth Model Certificate (6 courses).

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How you’ll cultivate life-changing transformation:

The Master's in Counseling: Clinical Mental Health experience invites you to study directly with Dr. John Townsend and master clinicians who have decades of experience, and know how to bring healing, hope, and restoration - a life that flourishes! The Townsend Institute has earned a reputation for its relational approach to begin with character growth as a building block for positive change. Through the Townsend Institute’s online Master’s in Counseling: Clinical Mental Health program you will:

Understand how treatment goes beyond symptom removal to reshaping the individual, couple, or family, in profound and lasting ways that are transformative.
Access the transforming power of relationship, emotions, and cognitions by creating experiences that build new character structure.
Discover the therapeutic skills that “crack the code” for growth and healing in clients.
Gain diagnostic skills to determine which therapeutic approach will be most effective based on a person’s internal character structure.
Apply the latest neurological research on the healing process through a biblical lens.
Master treatment modalities such as depth psychology, family systems, cognitive behavioral therapy, attachment therapy, psychopharmacology, and positive psychology.

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Personally learn from Dr. John Townsend.

Dr. John Townsend on the Townsend Institute at Concordia University Irvine

Begin with a 4-day Kick-off Conference with your community of fellow students where Dr. Townsend will conduct a series of trainings to jump-start your Master’s program.
Connect with your cohort in a guided-process group experience to earn your first three credits, where you will learn to unpack key moments in your life story and grow your character.
Join a 3-hour virtual classroom bi-monthly where Dr. Townsend and one of the Institute Fellows personally give a training. The last hour is all Q&A for students.
Engage with Dr. Townsend’s exclusive training videos and podcasts created for each course.
Gain access to white papers written by Dr. Townsend for topic areas that draw on his decades of experience in counseling and relationship advice.

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Hear students describe the power of learning at the Townsend Institute.

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Start on your terms.

Term	Start Date
Summer 2021	August 9, 2021

Students can choose to begin in the Fall or Spring semester. The entire program will take two to three years. Students will take one or two 7-week online courses at a time for a total of 60 credits. Learning activities will involve approximately 10 to 14 hours of the student's time investment each week. Students working full time are suggested to take only one course at a time.

This program can lead to licensure in most states. It is the sole responsibility of the student, not the program, to obtain information regarding prerequisites for licensure as outlined by their particular state board of counseling. To obtain your state’s web address, view State Licensure Boards.

M.A. Counseling Earns CACREP Accreditation

The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), the national association that accredits master’s and doctoral degree counseling programs offered by colleges and universities, has granted accreditation to our Master of Arts in Counseling: Clinical Mental Health program at Concordia University Irvine in partnership with the Townsend Institute. The voluntary accreditation assures that graduates have met the majority of the educational requirements for licensure or certification as a counselor in most states. After a multi-stage external review process, our M.A. Counseling: Clinical Mental Health program, as well as its curriculum and faculty, were found to have substantially met the critical quality-related program requirements for accredited status.

CACREP accreditation assures our students that their degree in counseling is from an institution that has voluntarily met the standards set by the profession.

Dean Mike Shurance
Townsend Institute

Transformation through relational education.

To earn your Master’s in Counseling: Clinical Mental Health degree, you’ll be taking 60 units of classes and selecting which 6 units of electives are the best fit for you. You will be supported through virtual classroom sessions with your professors and classmates, and through experientially-focused assignments that connect you with fellow students.

Learn more about the Townsend Institute mission and vision statement and the 7 Program Learning Objectives that guide our program.

For more information about academic policies and resources, view the handbook.

Sample Courses

COUN 601: Human Growth and Development *
3

The study of individual and family development across the life span including normal and abnormal behavior with an emphasis on childhood and adolescence. An examination of neurobiological, affective, cognitive, personality, moral, psychosocial and faith development, as well as strategies for facilitating optimal development. Course also includes an understanding of developmental crises, disability, psychopathology, and situational and environmental factors that effect development. Various theories of development are addressed with a focus on psychodynamic, attachment, self and interpersonal neurobiological theorists. Prerequisite: COUN 600 (concurrent enrollment allowed).

COUN 603: Clinical Psychopathology and Diagnosis *
3

The study of the principles of the diagnostic process, including differential diagnosis, and the use of current diagnostic tools, such as the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual and the International Classification of Diseases. This course covers the impact of co-occurring substance use disorders or medical psychological disorders, established diagnostic criteria for mental or emotional disorders, treatment modalities and techniques, and placement criteria within the continuum of care. Emphasis is placed on the neurobiological and interpersonal conditions that create developmental deficits which underlie the mental disorders and their symptoms. Prerequisite: COUN 600 (concurrent enrollment allowed).

COUN 606: Foundations and Contextual Dimensions of Mental Health Counseling *
3

An investigation of the history, philosophy and cultural dimensions of mental health counseling, including the roles of identity of mental health counselors, ethical considerations and the training and credentialing of mental health counselors. Includes professional issues and practice guidelines for the mental health counselor, including conducting community needs assessments and creating and overseeing community interventions to address those needs.

COUN 611: Foundations of Crisis and Trauma Counseling *
3

This course is designed to provide students with the foundations of crisis counseling, including crisis theory; multidisciplinary responses to crises, emergencies, or disasters; cognitive, affective, behavioral, and neurological effects associated with trauma; brief, intermediate, and long- term approaches; and assessment strategies for clients in crisis and principles of intervention for individuals with mental or emotional disorders during times of crisis, emergency, or disaster. Specialized skills, methods and interventions for working with those suffering with traumatic stress and exploration of the impact of trauma on the individual, family and community.

COUN 613: Foundations of Addiction Counseling *
3

The study of Addictions counseling, including substance abuse, co-occurring disorders, and addiction, major approaches to identification, evaluation, treatment, and prevention of substance abuse and addiction, legal and medical aspects of substance abuse, populations at risk, the role of support persons, support systems, and community resources. The issues that contribute to various addictive behaviors, as well as various models of recovery.

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A deep bench of experience.

When you make a choice to invest in your future by continuing your education, you want to be sure your time is well spent. That’s where the Townsend Institute at Concordia University Irvine offers a distinct advantage. Here, you will learn from a group of extraordinarily talented author-teachers with extensive knowledge on who were are as human beings created in the image of God. We choose faculty with real-world experience and Fellows who bring deep understanding through the subjects they write on, and their ongoing research. They not only offer their expertise, but their availability to answer your questions as you work through the course material. Along with your cohort, you will journey together through a transformational experience in the MAC program.

Meet the Faculty

Meet the Fellows

Master of Arts in Counseling Tuition

Tuition/Fee	Cost
Application Fee	$50
Graduation Fee	Graduation Fee
Tuition	$615/Unit

*Tuition and fees are subject to change without notice

The Townsend Institute’s MAC program includes a 4-day Intensive at Concordia University Irvine at the start of the semester where you will connect with your cohort in a guided-process group experience to earn your first three credits. Students will incur travel* expenses to attend this required live session.

*travel costs depend on market fluctuations of currency rates and actual costs

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Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, but we encourage you to have all documentation in two weeks prior to the start of each term. If you have any questions about the admissions process or need any assistance, please don't hesitate to connect with us.

Application Requirements

An application with nonrefundable application fee of $50
One official transcript from a regionally accredited college or university that shows your confirmed bachelor’s degree. Official college transcripts must be sent in a sealed envelope.
Must have earned a cumulative GPA of 3.00 on a 4.00 scale.
Written essay (2 pages, 500 word minimum) addressing the following items:
- Personal, professional, and educational goals
- In your experience, what is the best way that a person grows or changes? You can add an example of a characteristic about yourself that you wanted to change and how you went about changing it.
- What parts of your personality do you feel are conducive to your potential success in forming effective counseling relationships?
- What is your capacity as a counselor to treat all those in need and show respect for cultural differences?
- What interested you in applying to the Townsend Institute as opposed to other programs?
Minimum of 2 professional reference required.
A current professional resume
Group interview with program faculty

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Paper Application

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Have questions about the Townsend Institute’s online master's degree in Counseling? Not sure how to get started? Fill out the form below, and one of our admissions counselors will get in touch with you.