Choosing a counseling program is an important step on your path to licensure. Choosing the right program will help you to learn what you need to know to pass licensure exams, help you practice your skills before meeting with clients, and help you grow as an individual and as a counselor in training.

While choosing a counseling program seems simple enough, there is a lot to consider when choosing the right program for you and your life circumstances. To make it easier on you, I created a list of what to look for as you are searching for the right counseling program for you.

What to Look for When Choosing a Counseling Program

1. CACREP Accreditation

CACREP (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs) accreditation is what you want to look for when looking at each counseling program out there. CACREP sets high standards to ensure that you get the best education that prepares you for licensing and your professional career. If you graduate from a program that does not have this accreditation, you may be at a disadvantage when it comes to getting hired at certain places or when you are getting certain licenses or certifications.

2. Counseling Specialties

Each program will have specialty areas, or tracks, that you can apply to. Common specialties are clinical mental health counseling, school counseling, addictions counseling, and marriage and family counseling. You do not have to know exactly what you want to do in your career, but it is good to know what area you will likely want to work in so that you can apply to the right counseling track in the program.

3. Clinical Experience

Many programs have different ways of handling your clinical experience. Some programs let you work with clients during practicum (note: this makes you look really good when you are applying for internship sites), while others don’t have you working with clients until your internship. To learn what your clinical experience entails, I recommend checking the program website, going to an information session for the program, or reaching out to a faculty member.

While this is not a deal-breaker when choosing a program, it is good to know what kind of experience you are getting.

4. Years in the Program

There are so many options out there for how long your program could be. I’ve seen programs as short as 1.5 years and as long as 4 years. There are also some programs that let you pick your schedule so that you can make your time in the program as short or as long as you want. Just remember: the longer you are in the program, the more expensive the whole program will be for you.

My experience: I chose a 3-year program. The first year is mainly classes, training, and role plays. The second year involves practicum with real clients and a couple of classes. The third year is mainly an internship. This was perfect for me because I wanted to have a practicum experience with real clients. It was important to me that my clinical experience was so involved and helped me to feel prepared.

5. Cost

This is pretty self-explanatory, but make sure you find a program that works for you financially. Whether you are taking out loans or making payments as you go, make sure it is what works best for you. Sometimes it is completely worth it to go to a less expensive school. As long as you are in a CACREP-accredited program, your experience will be very similar to any of the bigger university programs with that accreditation.

6. Class Size

Something I love about the program I am in is that it has a cohort model. This means that I am with the same classmates for each class and semester as I go through the program. This is amazing because you get to know your classmates really well and feel more comfortable practicing role plays and skills exercises with them. You don’t have to get to know a whole new group of people each semester.

Word of advice: The smaller the class size, the better for your learning and the feedback you will get to improve as a counselor in training.

7. Professors’ Experience

It is so valuable to have professors who contribute to the counseling field. I have learned so much from my professors who work as counselors themselves. I love hearing about their experiences with clients, and it is a really good learning opportunity when they give real case examples (without identifying information, of course). It is also very interesting when they talk about their research.

This is not a deal-breaker either, but there is some valuable information that comes from having professors who work with clients as well.

8. If attending out of state, does the program meet the requirements of your state?

I am someone who lives near the borders of three different states. When I was looking for a counseling program, I had to make sure that each program I looked at met the requirements of my home state. The program I chose meets the requirements of my home state and is CACREP-accredited (which helps with that). However, I have to keep the syllabus from each of my classes in case I need to prove that it meets my state’s requirements. Of course, this isn’t a big deal, but it is something to be mindful of when choosing your counseling program.

Online versus In-Person

Choosing a counseling program requires you to analyze your needs and search for a program that meets those needs. You may be wondering if you should look for an online program or an in-person program. Here, I broke down the pros and cons of each:

Online Pros:

• More flexible with balancing work, family, and studies
• Cost efficient
• Opportunity to connect with peers nationwide

Online Cons:

• Harder to find in-person clinical sites for practicum and internship (this is required)
• Isolating – harder to build rapport and feel connected
• Requires self-motivation and self-discipline
• Missed opportunities for in-person role plays and skills practice with hands-on clinical feedback from professors

In-Person Pros:

• Better opportunities to build relationships with local clinical sites and future employers
• Better relationships with faculty and peers (support systems)
• Structure and accountability
• More role-play experience and hands-on training with immediate feedback
• Helps with rapport-building skills and understanding nonverbal cues

In-Person Cons:

• More expensive
• Less flexibility with class times
• Harder to balance work, family, and studies

Conclusion

There is so much to think about when it comes to choosing a counseling program. Ultimately, you have to do what is best for you and your current life circumstances. I hope you find the perfect program for your journey toward licensure. It is a valuable and exciting experience, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Have any questions? Feel free to reach out!