Human Services Programs at Marymount University

Counseling

Marymount University offers a M.A. in counseling with three specializations from which a student must choose. These specializations are Clinical Mental Health, Pastoral Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and School Counseling. 

Marymount’s CACREP, licensure-track counseling program provides an opportunity to earn a degree and complete coursework needed for licensure as a professional counselor (LPC) in 60 credit hours. Individuals are eligible to sit for the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) examination at Marymount toward the end of their program of study and begin the supervised experience necessary to become a licensed professional counselor upon completion of this degree program. Electives in any specializations should be done in consultations with advisors to meet licensure requirements in other states.  

This video, which won 4th place in a national contest during CACREP Advocacy Week, explains a bit more about our programs and the importance of accreditation in choosing a school.

Program Awards

• 2015 Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program ranked #4 out of 25 Mental Health Counseling Programs across the nation
• 2014 Association for Counselor Education and Supervision award for outstanding master's counseling program
• 2014 Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision award for outstanding master's counseling program
• 2014 European branch of the American Counseling Association award for outstanding Counselor Education Program
• 2011 National Board for Certified Counselors award for Professional Identity

Forensic & Legal Psychology 

Marymount is the first Washington, DC, area university to offer the Master of Arts in Forensic and Legal Psychology. And you can capitalize on the University’s alliances and proximity to key agencies important to study in this field – organizations such as the FBI (Including the NCAVC), NCIS, ATF, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. MU integrates the resources of such agencies through site visits, courtroom observations, field research, internships, and distinguished speakers.

The discipline of forensic and legal psychology is concerned with the application of psychological knowledge to the legal system. Marymount’s Forensic and Legal Psychology program is interdisciplinary and combines study in criminal justice, law, and public policy, in addition to the many subfields of psychology. It addresses questions of value, such as how best to achieve fairness and justice in the American adversarial legal system, as well as empirical issues such as the origins of criminal behavior, problems with eyewitness testimony, evaluation of threats against public figures, personalities of political leaders, the origins of terrorism, evaluation and treatment of offenders, and the effectiveness of trial consultation. Each course incorporates an ethics component to encourage you to grapple with the extremely complicated issues involved in a career in forensic and legal psychology.

The program provides the following opportunities:

• Study abroad – In collaboration with the Forensic Psychology program at London Metropolitan University, a course is offered during alternating summers for select Marymount students.
• Earn a second degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and begin the supervised experience necessary for licensure as a licensed professional counselor (LPC).
• Land an internship or job with a regionally or nationally recognized agency or continue further study.

Intelligence Studies Concentration

Once enrolled in the MA program, students may apply for and, if selected, complete a concentration in Intelligence Studies, which provides the knowledge and skills necessary to be competitive in the Intelligence Community and the private-sector companies that support it.