Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program

Overview

Key facts

The primary objective of the Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program at Boston University is to prepare students for careers in clinical mental health counseling and to provide them with a complementary background in behavioral medicine, health psychology, and neuroscience. Specifically, students complete coursework and provide 1,000 hours of clinical fieldwork experience, including assessments and interventions, for clinical mental health counselors to utilize in a variety of settings. In addition, students gain knowledge and experience applying counseling skills to promoting health behavior change and to aid in prevention and treatment of medical illness. This hybrid is the first program of its kind in the United States and the only program of its kind housed in an academic medical school, which makes the Boston University School of Medicine a leader in preparing master’s-level clinical mental health clinicians. For other highlights of the program and more general information, see this program information on the School of Medicine site. Our graduates have a wide range of specialties and work in a wide variety of settings, including:

• Elementary/middle/high schools

• College counseling centers

• Eating disorder clinics

• Crisis stabilization and emergency room settings

• In-home counseling for families

• Prisons

• Nursing homes

• General outpatient settings for children, adolescents, and/or adults

• Methadone maintenance clinics, other substance use disorder settings

• Veteran’s Administration hospitals

• Private practice

• Hospital behavioral health clinics

• Partial hospitalization programs

Mission

The mission of the Mental Health Counseling & Behavioral Medicine (MHCBM) master’s degree program at Boston University School of Medicine is to provide exceptional academic and clinical fieldwork experience that emphasizes the core competencies of clinical mental health counseling with complementary training in behavioral medicine, health psychology, and neuroscience. Accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP), the MHCBM Program places great value on excellence, diversity, integrity, social justice, advocacy, collegiality, equality of opportunity, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Our program offers theoretical, experiential, clinical, and evidence-based activities related to clinical mental health counseling with adults, adolescents, and children on the Medical Campus as well as in community settings. We accept and educate a broad range of outstanding students who seek careers as clinical mental health counselors. Our modal graduate becomes independently licensed and provides care in settings where traditional mental health interventions can be informed by evidence-based practice, an understanding of neuroscience and neuroanatomy, and strategies to address physical illness and health promotion as part of multidisciplinary and multispecialty care. A small handful of our graduates choose to go on to pursue doctoral-level training.