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Professional Leadership, EdS - Counseling Option

Education Specialist Program (EdS) - Professional Counselor Option

Employ consulting, counseling and educational methods to help people of all ages cope with challenges and live healthy and productive lives. The University of Central Missouri’s Professional Leadership Education Specialist degree in Counseling is designed for graduate students interested in learning how to become a licensed professional counselor in a school, health care facility or other setting. 

A licensed professional counselor program

UCM’s Professional Leadership Education Specialist degree in Counseling offers concentrations in: 

  • School Counseling
  • Clinical Mental Health Counseling

Our flexible curriculum can be tailored to your needs. You’ll build on your existing master’s degree to better serve clients with mental health, family, school and career issues. UCM also prepares you to take the national professional counselor licensure exam, an essential step on your way to a career in counseling.

Flexible online and hybrid learning options

Whether you’re a full-time student or a working professional, UCM’s Education Specialist program in Counseling offers flexible online and hybrid classes so you can complete your program on your own time. Hybrid students have the convenience of completing in-person course requirements at either the Warrensburg campus or the Lee’s Summit campus in the Kansas City metro area.

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99% EdS graduate job placement rate

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Personalized counseling curriculum

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State-of-the-art counseling facilities

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Work in Play Therapy Training Institute

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Hands-on learning and internships

A certificate

Licensed professional counselor program

 

What you will study

UCM’s Educational Specialist program gives you the counseling skills and knowledge you need to provide individual and group counseling in care settings such as schools and mental health care facilities. You’ll also develop analytical, research and leadership skills to prepare you to develop and manage licensed professional counselor programs in your chosen area.

Add electives to the core classes to build a curriculum personalized to your needs and goals. Choose from classes such as: 

  • Qualitative Research
  • Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences
  • Program Evaluation and Research in Counseling and/or Play Therapy

 

Excellence in Professional Leadership

  • UCM is one of only 29 schools in the U.S. with a play therapy training program and approval from the Association for Play Therapy. Our Play Therapy Training Institute fully prepares students with the educational requirements needed to seek a School Based-Registered Play Therapist credential.

 

Unique learning opportunities in a licensed professional counselor program

UCM’s Education Specialist program in Counseling offers excellent hands-on learning opportunities in how to become a licensed professional counselor designed to develop your leadership, clinical and research skills.

  • Internships: Gain practical hands-on training from a mentor with professional counselor licensure or certification. As a graduate student earning an Education Specialist degree, you’ll have the opportunity to complete one or more internships focusing on your specialty area. UCM partners with local elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, clinics and private practices to provide a variety of options.
  • On-campus counseling clinics: UCM’s state-of-the-art counseling clinics offer you hands-on, supervised practice to prepare for professional counselor licensure. These clinics are available at the Warrensburg and Lee’s Summit campuses and students can use either or both locations.
  • Research training: Choose an internship to further focus your required traditional thesis or paper/project for your capstone. Both the thesis and readings course are research-focused and supervised by faculty members. These capstones in UCM’s Education Specialist programs give you the space for in-depth, personalized study not commonly included in traditional coursework.

 

What can you do with an Education Specialist degree in Counseling from UCM?

Students earning an Education Specialist degree with a concentration in school counseling find work as elementary, middle and high school counselors. Graduates who pursue the clinical mental health counseling concentration find work at community/clinical mental health agencies, not-for-profit organizations, companies, hospitals or in private practices. 

Either way, UCM’s Education Specialist program in Counseling prepares you to sit for the state exams necessary to obtain professional counselor licensure. Approximately 99% of our graduates with an Education Specialist degree in Counseling are employed by the time they graduate from UCM.

How to become a licensed professional counselor

Use the interactive tool below to learn about salary potential, job growth, career paths and more.

 

 
 


 

Financial assistance options for your Counseling Education Specialist degree

UCM strives to provide you with a variety of options for financial guidance and support to make your Education Specialist degree in Counseling more affordable. As a graduate student, you may qualify for scholarships, grants, loans and work-study programs. These funding opportunities make this graduate program a smart investment in your future.

In addition to university-wide scholarships for students, we offer awards specifically for students learning how to become a licensed professional counselor, including:

  • Dr. K. Dale Helmick Memorial Scholarship
  • William Burl Hammers Memorial Scholarship
  • Maurice & Shirley How Johnson Education Scholarship

Use the to learn more about program-specific scholarships.

 

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Make yourself more marketable.

 

A UCM graduate certificate provides additional credentials and specialized knowledge that can help you advance your career:

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Explore programs related to professional leadership and counseling.
 

If you already have an undergraduate degree in Psychology or Education, you may also want to explore this graduate program at UCM: 

 

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UCM is the longest continuously CAEP accredited public institution in Missouri

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The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs has accredited the Counseling Program (Masters degrees for School and Clinical Mental Health Counseling concentrations) for an eight-year period with conditions through October 31, 2026.

 

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