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Master of Arts in Counseling: Professional Counseling

Do you want to learn how to make a positive impact on the lives of others and become a licensed professional counselor? At Ottawa University’s graduate school, our Master’s in Counseling program can help you build the knowledge and skills you need to help people overcome issues in a variety of areas.

We believe in developing well-qualified, caring and competent professionals who understand ethical guidelines and strive to uphold the values communicated to them during their counseling studies. Upon graduation, our students will be able to diagnose, treat and communicate with their patients effectively. In addition, they will acquire the basic skills needed for management and practice development.

Through an internship opportunity in a community agency setting, you will learn to provide behavioral health services first hand, under the supervision of a licensed professional counselor. This experience will serve to refine your theoretical understanding of subject matter as you apply your lesson in the field.

On-site in Arizona

As a Master’s in Counseling student at Ottawa University, you can pursue your degree in one of these areas:

• Christian Counseling
• Expressive Arts Therapy
• Gerocounseling
• Marriage and Family Therapy
• Treatment of Trauma, Abuse and Deprivation
• Professional Counseling

At Ottawa University’s graduate school, our programs are designed to meet the education requirements of the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners in Professional Counseling. However, final decisions on licensure are left up to individual state licensing boards.

Online with Partial Residency

If you’re looking for an online Master’s degree program in counseling, consider choosing Ottawa University. Through a combination of online coursework and a residency component held at our Ottawa, Kansas, campus during the summer months, you can develop the knowledge and skills you need to become a confident and compassionate counseling professional.

Degree Requirements

To make completing your coursework easier, we’ve divided our online counseling degree into a recommended yearly schedule, which includes a field placement component consisting of nine semester credit hours, completed in eight terms, for a total of 900 client contact hours. During the field component portion of this program, you will work in a community behavioral health agency for around 15 hours per week and get hands-on, in-person experience.

To be eligible to start field placement, you must have:

1. Completed no less than 18 semester credit hours
2. Taken and earned no less than a “B” in the following four courses
   1. Counseling Theories
   2. Professional and Ethical Issues in Counseling
   3. Counseling and the Helping Professions
   4. Advanced Psychodiagnostics, Treatment Planning and Program Evaluation
3. Be in “good standing,” academically. You cannot be on academic probation or considered as provisional acceptance status

If you’re looking for online counseling degrees, our counseling program could be right for you. At Ottawa University, our online graduate program in counseling is designed to meet the education requirements of the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners in Professional Counseling. However, because licensing and certification requirements vary by state, final decisions on licensure are left up to individual state licensing boards.

To learn more about our online graduate program in counseling, contact us today. We would be happy to answer any questions you have.


For detailed curriculum and more please visit the Course Catalog entry for this program.

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Available Psychology, Human Services and Counseling Programs

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