On May 11, 2023, eleven Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling graduates will be honored at IUPUC’s commencement celebration ceremony; they also mark the program’s first 10 years. Since the inaugural cohort of students started in August 2012, IUPUC has graduated 64 Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling alumni, of which 44 have elected to obtain licensure as mental health providers in the state of Indiana.
“It is widely acknowledged that we have a shortage of licensed counselors, social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists in South-Central Indiana who are prepared to meet the demand for services,” said Darrin Carr, Ph.D, director of the master’s program. “In fact, the federal department of Health and Human Services has designated Bartholomew and surrounding counties a mental health professional shortage area.”
In the last decade, program leaders have adjusted curriculum and services based on community needs. For example, in response to the opioid crises, the program introduced three new addictions-focused courses in 2018, which earned it the Innovative Counselor Education Program Award from the North Central Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (NCACES). When the pandemic interrupted the grand opening of Tom & Barbara Schoellkopf Community Counseling Center, a clinical training center on IUPUC’s campus set to open April 2020, the program nimbly shifted to tele-health counseling.
In addition to offering high quality, affordable training, the graduate program is designed to accommodate the busy lives of working adults. It gives the option to study full-time or part-time, schedule classes in the evenings, limits the days students are required to visit campus, and provides scholarships. Students and faculty are heavily involved in the community, as students complete clinical field work and a 700-hour field experience in the last year of the program. Graduates have gone on to work for numerous agency partners, such as Centerstone, Columbus Regional Health, and Life Works at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church.
IUPUC is also part of the Mental Health Matters Initiative, with Bartholomew County and the city of Columbus, taking positive, active steps to address the mental health and addiction crisis in our community.
“For the next decade and beyond, we look forward to training graduate students in Mental Health Counseling and continuing our community partnerships to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Columbus, Bartholomew County, and South-Central Indiana,” Carr said.
Additionally, IUPUC is hiring additional faculty for the counseling program who will both instruct students and provide services at the Airpark Campus.
The Mental Health Counseling program is supported by Tom and Barbara Schoellkopf, who generously funded the program’s Schoellkopf Training Center and a paid internship, as well as David and Ella Elwood, Heritage Fund Bartholomew County, the Custer and Nugent Family Foundations, and East Indiana Area Health Education Center. Also, dozens of local clinicians, such as the late Sherman Franz, M.D., have donated thousands of hours of their billable time to provide clinical supervision to IUPUC students.