Grand Canyon University (GCU) Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling Program Objectives

Program Objective One: The counseling programs provide learning opportunities for counselors-in-training to develop and apply the knowledge, skills, and dispositional values to become competent, ethical, and culturally responsive global contributors.

Counselor in Training/School Counselor in Training Shared Learning Outcomes: 

• Counselor Identity and Ethics:  Develop best practices and counselor identity as informed by ethical and professional standards and programmatic dispositional values.
• Diversity and Advocacy: Gain opportunities to practice ethically as advocates for social justice through exposure to multicultural counseling theories and experiential exercises that promote awareness of cultural bias and diverse worldviews. 
• Human Growth and Development: Acquire knowledge and skills to meet the diverse needs of individuals in the context of human growth and development.  
• Counseling & Helping Relationships: Cultivate counseling and helping skills by integrating counseling theories and research, engaging in community collaboration and outreach, and developing skills to apply in professional and therapeutic relationships.
• Group Counseling and Group Work:  Integrate theoretical foundations and consider dynamics and therapeutic factors to gain knowledge of theories, develop techniques, promote leadership skills, and facilitate the therapeutic group process for diverse clients.
• Research and Program Evaluation:  Acquire the knowledge and skills needed to  identify, evaluate, and utilize research to inform best practices in counseling. 

 Clinical Mental Health Counselor in Training Specific Learning Outcomes:  

• Career Development: Attain the knowledge that prepares them to demonstrate skills in vocational counseling and the relationship between roles in career, life, school, and mental health. 
• Assessment & Testing: Demonstrate and apply skills that adequately and consistently use assessments for diagnostic and intervention planning purposes. 
• Specialty Area for CMHC: Demonstrate knowledge and skills in conducting intake interviews, mental status exam, biopsychosocial history, mental health history, psychological assessment for treatment planning and caseload management, contextual factors, and competence in clinical mental health fieldwork.

 School Counselor in Training Specific Learning Outcomes:

• Career Development: Facilitate college and career readiness standards to support the development of students in P-12 settings.
• Testing and Assessment: Utilize assessment methods, research, and program evaluation to appraise effectiveness of comprehensive school counseling programs using outcome data to inform future practice.
• Specialty Area for SC: Develop an educator and counselor identity that integrates the GCU Professional Dispositions of Learners and upholds ASCA professional and ethical standards as licensed/certified school counselors by acquiring the knowledge and skills needed to plan, implement, and evaluate comprehensive school counseling programs based on research and national standards. 

Program Objective Two: The programs will recruit, enroll, and retain qualified applicants that reflect the demographic diversity of the multicultural and pluralistic societies in which they will serve.

Program Objective Three: Graduates of the program will complete curricular requisites in preparation to obtain licensure and secure employment in their respective specialty areas.

The program objectives are designed so CES learners will: 

• Teaching: Develop a personal, theory-driven teaching pedagogy, a universal curriculum design to cater to various learning styles, and utilize appropriate evaluation methods in alignment with adult learning theories and counselor education. 
• Supervision: Provide individual, triadic and group supervision in various contexts, assess the developmental level of supervisees, and conduct supervisory administrative responsibilities. 
• Mentorship: Act as a mentor and assist in screening, evaluation, remediation, upholding professional dispositions, and gatekeeping functions as a supervisor and counselor educator.  
• Counseling: Assess research-based counseling processes, blend relevant theories, and consider counseling implications of clients from different perspectives. 
• Leadership: Develop an evidence-based, socially aware leadership style to utilize in the role as supervisor, counselor educator, and counselor.   
• Advocacy: Integrate the role of advocate by using appropriate models and strategies to promote change at the individual, systemic, and policy levels.  
• Research: Choose appropriate designs (quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, action research) and form research questions that are culturally relevant, meaningful, and ethical.  
• Scholarship: Engage in professional writing for peer-reviewed journals, submit conference proposals, and be proficient in developing grant proposals. 
• Multicultural Awareness: Integrate social justice, diversity, inclusion, equity, and cultural sustaining practices and principles as a supervisor, counselor educator, and counselor.  
• Ethics: Understand relevant legal and ethical issues and responsibilities as a supervisor, counselor educator, and counselor.  
• Program Evaluation: Utilize a systematic process to conduct comprehensive assessments to evaluate the overall effectiveness and advocate for the betterment of programs.  
• Evidence Based Theories: Utilize relevant theoretical frameworks and models to develop a personal style when conducting roles and responsibilities as a supervisor, counselor educator, and counselor.  
• Technology: Utilize relevant and secure technological advancements as a supervisor, counselor educator, and counselor.