Williamsburg, Va. - (May 31, 2019)
The William & Mary School of Education is proud to announce a new Military and Veterans Counseling specialization within its CACREP-accredited Online Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Counseling program. This specialization aligns with William & Mary’s rich history of supporting our military and veterans, and it responds to an urgent need—in Virginia and across the nation—to provide high-quality mental health services to this population.
Of the 2.8 million U.S. service members deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001, it is estimated 13 to 20 percent experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 10 to 15 percent experience depression, 19 to 23 percent have suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and nearly half have difficulty adjusting to civilian life.1 Students who enroll in this transformative new specialization from William & Mary will graduate prepared to skillfully address the unique behavioral and mental needs of active duty military personnel and veterans.
“The Military and Veterans Counseling specialization will teach aspiring counselors how to provide holistic mental health care to service members and their families. We teach our students to view clients as individuals rather than diagnostic categories, which is especially vital when working with this historically underserved population.” said Dr. Charles “Rip” McAdams, faculty member and chair of the Department of School of Psychology and Counselor Education, and a U.S. Navy veteran. “This program will address new knowledge and changing conditions while staying rooted in an understanding of military culture and how the military experience impacts intervention approaches.”
In addition to core coursework in areas such as counseling and psychotherapy theory, individual and group counseling techniques, and multicultural counseling, students in the Military and Veterans Counseling specialization will take courses on addictions assessment and treatment; assessment and treatment of trauma-related disorders; counseling military couples and families; military life, culture and challenges; and military-to-veteran transition.
Like our Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling concentrations, the Military and Veterans Counseling specialization puts a strong emphasis on social justice in all aspects of counseling. Students will track their mastery of critical social justice competencies through a unique online dashboard, which was developed with Everspring, William & Mary’s digital enablement partner.
This 60-credit program can be completed in as few as three years, including a one-semester practicum (100 clock hours) and a two-semester internship (600 clock hours). It provides students with the depth of classroom and clinical instruction Virginia and most states require for licensure as a professional counselor.
“Everspring is elated to build on our strong partnership with William & Mary to deliver a crucial offering for those who wish to counsel our military and veteran population,” said Beth Hollenberg, president of Everspring. “The faculty within the School of Education are pioneers, and Everspring strives to support their forward-thinking curricula with dynamic, one-of-a-kind online learning environments that truly enhance counselor education.”
Applications for admission are now being accepted for the August 2019 class start, with a final application deadline of August 9. Visit counseling.education.wm.edu/online-programs/military-veterans-counseling for more information about the specialization.
About the William & Mary School of Education
The School of Education supplements its traditional commitment to undergraduate education for teachers with a wide range of graduate degree programs. In the past decade, the School of Education has become an institutional leader in advanced studies, accounting for nearly a third of the master's degrees and more than half of the doctoral degrees awarded at William & Mary every year. Today, the School of Education continues to take pride in its fusion of liberal arts education and professional studies at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
About Everspring
Everspring works with leading institutions to create a new standard of excellence in education. Its exceptional technology and services solutions transform online learning, delivering outstanding institutional and individual outcomes. Everspring’s innovative approach bridges the gap between its partners’ existing capabilities and their evolving needs, and its unique model affords partners the choice and control to lower their costs over time as their capabilities increase. For more information, visit everspringpartners.com.
- Retrieved on April 25, 2019, from rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9981z2.html