25 courses with the subject MHC, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
MHC 610Social & Cultural Foundations
This entry level course meets state licensing degree requirements and explores social and cultural diversity in counseling, including diverse racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural heritages and sexual identities and socioeconomic statuses. It includes the study of history and current issues of equality as applied to socially marginalized groups, and personal reflection on the impact of one’s own attitude, beliefs, worldview, and racial and cultural identity on the counseling process. Strategies for employing culturally competent counseling in individual, group, and family modalities, including specific behavioral skills and application of various theories of racial and cultural identity development, are discussed along with the role of the counselor as an advocate for the members of marginalized groups.
This entry level course meets state licensing degree requirements and introduces students to major counseling theories that inform case conceptualization and practice in clinical settings. Students will learn to distinguish between counseling interventions based upon client need and evidence-based research practices. Students will also examine how a counselor’s self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-care impact both treatment and establishing a strong therapeutic alliance. Key counseling theory concepts are introduced through readings, lecture, videos, and small group exercises. Students will become familiar with the central tenets of each theory and engage in practical application and skill development exercises.
This entry level course is designed to introduce foundational and emerging issues of the counseling profession. Attention will be given to understanding the purpose of counseling and the process of becoming an effective helper. It includes coverage of advocacy and multicultural counseling, licensure, professional associations, ethical/legal issues, crisis intervention, supervision, research, and the counseling process with diverse applications, settings, and specialties. This course will provide opportunities for students to identify ethical issues, beliefs, and values they presently possess, and those needed to become an effective counselor. The settings, practices, ethics, and other issues confronting the counseling profession will be explored. Lastly, the student will be provided with an in-depth understanding of the current version of the American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics and state professional counselor licensing act and regulations. Return to Table of Contents Nichols College 2026-2027 Catalog 170
Given the growing need for distance-based care, this Learning Path explores the concepts related to telehealth counseling, distance supervision, and private practice. To help ensure quality care for your clients, topics covered include an examination of the professional ethics and standards of practice, including the challenges and responsibilities supervisees, counselors, and supervisors face in providing telehealth counseling. Additionally, you will explore your suitability for running a counseling private practice, the steps necessary for establishing it successfully, and the business and operational factors related to running a counseling private practice.
This course meets state licensing degree requirements and is designed to provide students with a supervised counseling practicum experience that totals a minimum of 100 clock hours over the full academic semester. At least 40 clock hours of direct service are completed with actual clients that contributes to the development of counseling skills. The course places precedence on development and co-facilitation of different groups, such as therapeutic support groups and psycho-educational therapy groups. Themes that may be included are: trauma, grief and loss, coping skills, anxiety, depression, mindful based relapse prevention, harm reduction related to substance abuse, process therapies groups.
This course is limited to matriculated students in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program.
MHC 645Positive Psychology
Positive Psychology is the scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive. Positive Psychology focuses on how to live a meaningful and fulfilling life, cultivate what is best within people, and enhance people’s experiences of love, work, and play. This class is a participatory seminar based on short presentations and discussion. We will discuss assigned readings, audiovisual materials, and discoveries gleaned from experiential exercises. Participants are expected to carefully review readings before class and contribute actively to seminar discussions.
This course is designed to help students understand the major theories of development, understand how heredity and the environment play a role in development and gain an understanding of how individuals develop from biosocial, cognitive, and psychosocial frameworks through the lifespan. Students will learn the relationship between these theories and gain skills to apply this knowledge in the conception and development of biopsychosocial assessments in the clinical setting.
MHC 655Mindfulness in Counseling and Psychotherapy
Learning and practicing mindfulness is a wonderful way for therapists to cultivate a nonreactive, non-anxious presence with our clients and to access our inner knowledge and wisdom needed to respond effectively to clients’ needs. The concepts and applications of mindfulness are also useful for our clients in their daily lives and in addressing psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, stress, addictions, etc. This course will focus on the principles and practices of mindfulness in counseling and psychotherapy as they apply to the “self-development” of the therapist and therapeutic applications with clients.
Address issues related to counseling gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, non-binary + clients. These include issues of sexual and gender identity development, coming out, homophobia, heterosexism, cissexism, family and relationship issues, intersectionality, youth, aging, spirituality, as well as ethical and professional issues in working with LGBTQ+ clients through affirmative counseling/therapy.
The directed study option allows students to work independently on a topic of interest under the close supervision of a faculty member. Given the nature of the directed study that focuses on personalizing learning, students are involved in co-creating a course syllabus with a faculty member. In the co-creation procedure, students are able to contribute to establishing what content and topic is covered. The directed study may consist of independent readings on a specific clinical intervention combined with practice implications, comprehensive case study, a research study, or the development and application of a program evaluation. This course is aimed at students who want to explore and/or expand upon based knowledge of a topic of interest in the field of counseling. The student must submit a directed study proposal to be approved by the faculty member who will provide supervision and the Dean of the Graduate School. The directed study will result in a formal paper.
This course meets state licensing degree requirements and introduces students to the most widely used psychological testing and surveys. Emphasis is placed on the basic skills necessary to understand the complexities involved in the ethical use of assessment measures for both clinical and research purposes.
This course meets state licensing degree requirements and is designed as a comprehensive overview of mental disorders and treatments. Students will acquire a working knowledge of the DSM classification system, the diagnostic categories, and the primary treatment options for the major mental disorders. Diagnostic treatments, etiology and pathogenesis, epidemiology, clinical course, and psychopharmacology are also examined.
This course meets state licensing degree requirements and is study of the philosophical and theoretical bases of the helping process. Includes the study of major counseling theories, basic helping skills, and applications to diverse populations. Also includes professional issues related specifically to the counseling process. Return to Table of Contents Nichols College 2026-2027 Catalog 171
Theories and associated techniques of couples and marriage counseling will be explores. In addition, specific developmental issues and social and political factors affecting couples will be examined. A range of therapeutic modalities will be surveyed.
This course meets state licensing degree requirements and is designed to provide prospective counselors, psychologists, and processionals in related professions with an intellectual and personal understanding of the principles of leadership, membership, and development in groups, including awareness of how one’s personal and interpersonal psychological and social styles affect personal and professional behavior in groups.
This course introduces students to the theory, assessment techniques, and intervention strategies used in the practice of family systems counseling. The focus of the course will be on building a theoretical base for understanding and applying family systems counseling strategies and techniques. Didactic and experiential learning will provide students with the opportunity to apply and integrate knowledge and skills.
This course is designed to provide a supportive, structured learning environment for acquiring substance use and addictive behavior counseling skills. The role played by this course within the program is to provide students with an understanding of correlates of physiological and psychological effects of drugs and the significance of treatment planning in diverse settings. It helps the student use the knowledge of individual, group, and family counseling strategies as they are applied to behavior change and relapse prevention. Students learn about the diagnostic criteria of substance use and addictive behavior, models of etiology, and approaches to treatment.
This course introduces working with populations who have experienced trauma. The focus of the course is to assist counselors in training to become familiar with the symptoms, evaluation, and treatment processes associated with trauma. The course requires basic knowledge of crisis intervention, assessment, and counseling skills.
MHC 765Research Analysis, Design, & Program Evaluation
This course meets state licensing degree requirements and provides students with the skills necessary to critically evaluate counseling and clinical research literature. Students are introduced to the nature of scientific psychology, the process of research inquiry, and the role of the mental health counselor as a knowledgeable research consumer. Students are also introduced to the application of descriptive and inferential statistics, reliability, and validity to the research endeavor. At the completion of this course, students will be able to read and understand research reports in the literature as well as critically examine literature that is non-empirically based. Students will also understand the process for designing their own research and program evaluation.
This course meets state licensing degree requirements and will examine the world of work, life career development, career decision- making theories, the process and techniques of career counseling and the interrelationship between career and life balance issues and mental health; these issues will be discussed using multicultural and social justice frameworks. Attention will be given to career issues related to issues of diversity including (but not limited to) gender, class, cultural differences, disabilities, and challenges related to a changing work environment.
The First-Year Residency weekend is required for all students and will occur during the summer session of the first year and is non- credit bearing. It will focus on providing students with a series of panel discussions and small group activities about the current issues and trends in the field. It will be led by the program’s faculty and augmented by local professionals.
The Counseling Internship I provides for the development of advanced counseling skills via direct service interventions with clients in an approved clinical setting. This course requires a minimum of 300 click hours of supervised experiences to include a minimum of 120 hours of direct service work with clientele, 15 hours of individual supervision by an on-site clinical supervisor and 25 hours minimum of group supervision from on-campus faculty supervisor (minimal total of 40 hours of combined individual and group supervision). Return to Table of Contents Nichols College 2026-2027 Catalog 172
Only for Clinical Mental Health Counseling matriculated students who have completed entry and core level coursework.
MHC 791Internship II
The Counseling Internship II provides for continued development of advanced counseling skills via direct service interventions with clients in an approved clinical setting. This course requires a minimum of 300 clock hours of supervised experiences to include a minimum of 120 hours of direct service work with clientele, 15 hours of individual supervision by an on-site clinical supervisor and 25 hours minimum of group supervision from on-campus faculty supervisor (minimal total of 40 hours of combined individual and group supervision). MHC 790.
Only for Clinical Mental Health Counseling matriculated students who have completed entry and core level coursework and
MHC 795Oral Comprehensive Exam
The Oral Comprehensive Exam (OCE) is required of all students in our MHC program and will be conducted in either the Fall or Spring semester during the final year of study (Oral Comprehensive Exams are not conducted in the summer). The OCE is designed to provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in counseling as well as evidence of their ability to show that they can effectively integrate theory, practice, and research bases on both their coursework and internship experience.
