Clinical Mental Health Counseling (M.S.)

Students in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program must successfully complete a 100-hour Practicum and 600-hour Internship in a mental health counseling setting. Students can choose to remain in one setting or split their time between two settings, though most students prefer to stay at the same setting. A mental health provider licensed under the New Hampshire Board of Mental Health Practice will be designated to provide individual supervision at the internship site on a weekly basis. Students interning out of state need to be supervised by mental health providers licensed in the state in which they are practicing. In addition to their field experience, students are required to attend a weekly University-based internship seminar. Typically, the practicum occurs over one semester, and the internship over two semesters. Students must complete their internship experience within two calendar years.  New Hampshire state licensure law only requires 600 hours of internship, but students may choose to complete a 900 hour internship to meet the requirements of other states (such as Maine).

Licensure as a Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) in New Hampshire has three main requirements.  The first is the completion of a 60 credit masters degree in clinical mental health counseling, ideally from a CACREP-accredited program.  The second is the successful completion of the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Exam (NCMHCE), which is taken after degree completion.  The third and final requirement is the completion of 3000 hours of post-masters clinical work in a counseling environment, which must occur over 2-4 years, be supervised by a LCMHCE, and be pre-approved by the NH Board of Mental Health Practice. Additional rules, forms, and details can be found on the NH Board of Mental Health Practice website.

Each state has its own licensure rules, although most follow this general structure. For more information, please contact the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program coordinator, Dr. Mike Mariska.

For the 2022-2023 academic year, approximately 70 students were enrolled in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program.

In the 2022-2023 academic year there were 21 graduates of Plymouth State University’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling master’s degree program.   Over the past several years, approximately 76% of initially enrolled students completed the program in 3-4 years.

Clinical Mental Health Counseling students take the PSU Counseling Comprehensive Exam (CCE).  During the 2022-2023 academic year, 100% of all students successfully passed the exam on the first attempt.

The NH State License Exam is the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Exam (NCMHCE).  During the 2022-23 academic year, informal polling of students indicated an continuing 75-80% pass rate on the first attempt.  Formal polling of students will be added to future surveys of alumni.

Among all program graduates, the current three-year job placement rate remains at approximately 100% of those actively seeking positions.

The linked report below is compiled on a yearly basis, and outlines the assessment data gathered for both the CMHC and School Counseling programs, an analysis of this data, an overview of current program strengths, and specific plans for change in response to this data over the next academic year:

2022-23 Counselor Education Assessment Report