Clinical Mental Health CounselingAnnual report

The Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP) requests that programs make information about our applicants, students, graduates and program available to our stakeholders. Below please find a review of student demographic information, program evaluation and planned program modifications. This is the first year the Lynn University Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) program has generated an annual report.

The National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE) is offered to graduates six months before and after graduation. Students and graduates can elect to take the exam during this time period or at any point before licensure. The national passing rate is 50% for this exam, as reported by the National Board of Certified Counselors.

Employment rate reports those who were hired upon graduation in counseling or counseling-related positions. Students pursuing higher education (doctoral level) are not included.

Prepare students with the content knowledge required for certification, licensure and to achieve success in their professional endeavors.

The LUCKE exam is designed to assess student knowledge in the eight core curricular areas for professional counselors (same content and style, multiple choice exam as the CPCE). Below are the eight curricular areas:

• Professional Counseling Orientation & Ethical Practice (C1)
  
• Social & Cultural Diversity (C2)
• Human Growth & Development (C3)
• Career Development (C4)
• Counseling & Helping Relationships (C5)
• Group Counseling & Group Work (C6)
• Assessment & Testing (C7)
• Research & Program Evaluation (C8)

Pass rate on first attempt: 89%; Pass rate on second attempt: 100%

The program elicits feedback from site supervisors over three semesters of Practicum, Internship & Internship II. The Counselor Competencies Scale-Revised (CCS-R) is used to determine how student preparation for the field changes over time. The program expects students to perform at a competency level of 80% or more in clinical skills and counseling dispositions. Student scores reflect stronger competency scores in counseling dispositions (ethical, multicultural, etc.) and improved clinical skills over time. The following reflects competency levels (mean scores) demonstrated by Lynn students during fieldwork in 1) clinical skills & 2) counseling dispositions:

• Practicum: 1) 48, 2) 49
• Internship: 1) 51, 2) 53
• Internship II: 1) 51, 2) 57

Provide didactic and experiential opportunities for students to assess, conceptualize, diagnose and treat individuals, groups and families from a strengths-based perspective unique to the counseling profession.

The program uses the Sperry & Sperry case conceptualization to provide didactic and experiential opportunities to assess, diagnose and treat clients. Protective factors and strengths are a critical piece of this model. This is assessed during a knowledge checkpoint (Entrance Exam) and case reports on clients during Practicum, Internship & Internship II. We collect and report data to reflect mean scores and percentage of students meeting competency:

• Knowledge checkpoint: Case conceptualization Entrance Exam, mean score 93% (80% passing score required).
• Clinical experience: 91.6% of students meet competency on case conceptualization reports during Practicum, 100% of students meet competency on case conceptualization reports during Internship II.
• Knowledge & experiential assessment: Internship Skills Assessment (ISA), mean score 85.8% (80% passing score required).

Train students who become professional counselors to practice within ethical, legal, multicultural and social justice competency guidelines of the profession.

The program uses multiple measures across courses and assignments to determine that students are: 1) demonstrating behaviors commensurate with ethical guidelines of the profession as outlined by the American Counseling Association, 2) demonstrating behaviors within the legal guidelines of the profession as outlined by the state of Florida; and 3) demonstrating behaviors within the multicultural and social justice guidelines of the profession as outlined by the American Counseling Association. Data is collected and reported based on meeting competency:

• Ethics case study: 98.4% of students met or exceeded competency (80% passing score required).

Counseling Competencies Rating Scale-2 (CCSR-2) are assessed across the program to determine demonstration of ethical, legal, multicultural and justice imperatives in the field. Students are rated on 11 areas of performance with scores ranging from 1-5. Scores of 2 and below are considered problematic, 3 and above are adequate to excellent. Data is analyzed by mean:

• Average score across courses and students, as assessed by faculty: 4.6.
• Areas of professional performance where students are rated on these items scored as follows: professional ethics (4.5) and multicultural competence (4.4) which fall below the average score for overall professional behaviors.
  
  

Promote student understanding and awareness of self and others within the therapeutic relationship.

During fieldwork experience (Internship) students assess and plan for self-care in an effort to manage therapeutic relationship skills. Students explore self-awareness through the development of a Self-Care Action Plan. 100% of students competently address and monitor self-care to meet ethical obligations of the therapeutic relationship.

The Professional Performance Dispositions (PPD) assess students’ “awareness of impact on others (item 5). The mean score for this item is 4.8 and 4.7 respectively and were above average scores across all domains.

Review of the program objectives assessed in this plan provided for areas of modification within the program.

1. Work to meet or exceed average scores for ethics and multicultural competence on the CCSR-2 via site supervisor evaluation by further intentional incorporation of these principles throughout fieldwork experience courses (CSL 605, 695, 700).
2. Continue to monitor clinical skill development between CSL 695 and CSL 700 as demonstrated by consistent ratings across two semesters and improvements would be optimal.
3. Program submitted proposal for fully online program delivery model that was approved by Academic Affairs in October 2022. Digital delivery and substantial change report being submitted to CACREP Sept. 2023.

This report is published on the Lynn University website on the Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling page and is shared electronically with stakeholders. Students currently in the program, program faculty, institutional administrators and personnel in cooperating agencies (e.g., employers, site supervisors) are notified by email that this report is available.