Alright.
Thank you for joining today's webinar.
We're excited to have you all join us virtually today.
Ebony Schamberger, and I'm here with Julie Cipriano, our admissions advisor for the master's in counseling degree program.
And we have a lot of exciting information about the program, different career opportunities and financial opportunities that you can get.
So let's go ahead and jump on in.
And if you all have any questions or comments at any time, we do have a chat feature.
So that is it can be accessed by hovering over the green icon and then looking for the chat or the q and a button if you want it to be sent anonymously.
Alrighty.
Thanks, Ebony.
You're welcome.
Are you gonna do this part?
I think you already did it.
Right?
Yeah.
We kinda already did this.
But Julie has been here, a little longer.
Well, a lot longer than I have, and I'm sure that, she could tell you more about her role.
But my role here is getting out the social media content, emails, setting up these webinars, and answering any questions you all may have, through different communications channels.
So hello, and welcome.
Yep.
I'm an admissions counselor.
I've been doing this job, helping people, get started in a master's in counseling, for five years now.
Five years this month.
So Wow.
Pretty exciting.
Is it five years or four years?
It it's a long time.
Anyway, I look forward to talking with everyone about this degree program, and shout out to Casey and Keisha and all you other people who are here who I've already spoken with.
Thanks for making time to listen in.
So DMU, is a Catholic institution that was founded in the late nineties.
We were founded, under the name Institute for the Psychological Science.
So that college still exists.
It houses our psychology side.
I mean, a lot of people still know us by that name.
So, if you hear Institute for the Psychological Sciences, little typo there.
Ebony, see that?
Psychological sciences is what it should say.
We are that college still exists.
It houses our psychology side.
But, so we do have an on an online master's in psychology that we offer that is, a nonclinical degree for people who already have a career track, but need a greater understanding of the person, the way the mind works, that kind of thing.
We also have an on-site doctoral program.
So we have, an actual campus with actual doctoral students milling about.
We love them.
They're great.
But as, they were offering these programs, what we found was that there was a need for counselors, particularly for counselors of faith.
So, we decided to add the second college, the school of counseling that we're discussing today and the master's in clinical mental health counseling.
So when a school has more than one college, that's the point at which they take a university name.
So that's how we became Divine Mercy University instead of just, IPS or Institute for the Psychological Sciences.
We seek to provide our students an effective academic and educational environment to support the integration of the human sciences and the Catholic Christian understanding of the person.
Alright.
So our school is accredited.
We are regionally accredited by SACS.
You see that up there in the top left.
So regional accreditation is the baseline you should look for in any US school you attend.
Each region of the country has its own accrediting agency with a different name.
Ours is called SACS Southern Association.
You see that there.
When you start talking though about psychology and counseling, there are a couple of extra accreditations that can be earned.
APA, American Psychological Association, is a big deal.
Our doctoral program did receive APA accreditation back in 2016.
In fact, we became only the second school in the whole history of the APA to receive the full seven year accreditation grant on the first try.
So, we crushed it.
That is, a huge deal.
In case you didn't know, I'm telling you, it's a big deal.
There is when you start talking about counseling, the extra accreditation for that type of program is known by the acronym, KCREP.
So you see that at the bottom there.
KCREP is something we're working towards.
We are at the end of the process.
We've done everything we need to do to earn this accreditation.
We are just waiting for them to get through this COVID business and, schedule an on-site review and then hopefully award accreditation.
Seems like it should be pretty quick, but it's not.
It's bureaucratic stuff.
So we're probably about a year to fifteen months from wrapping up this accreditation.
So, once we do so right now our degree with this accreditation is licensable in 39 states.
Some people see on the website that there are a few states that we don't offer the degree in, and that is because of this accreditation.
So, once we wrap this up, the nine states that do require CACREP will come on board, and our degree will be fine in 48 states.
The two holdouts will be Illinois and New Hampshire, and that's because, essentially, you have to go to school in state to be licensed in Illinois or New Hampshire.
So, I look forward to talking with you in more detail about that.
If we haven't already spoken, or if you have questions, I'm I'm happy to answer them.
Okay.
I think that's all we need to say about accreditation, Ebony.
Thanks.
Alright.
So our school is different because, we do offer an integrated holistic approach to, the helping professions.
Number one is our Catholic Christian meta model of the person.
If you haven't found that on our website, please search that term and find it.
You'll see there's a 40 page PDF that you can download, that goes into the theology and philosophy behind why we teach the way we do.
This, meta model is unique to our university.
It was developed by our faculty, and it, recently came out in textbook form.
It was earning awards from the Vatican before the ink was even dry on it.
And it is why, really, it's why most students who choose our university do choose us.
We will give you an insight as a therapist into the person that it takes a secular therapist decades to to gain.
And we will teach you to frame a treatment plan based on the Catholic Christian understanding of the person that we are integrated beings, body, mind, and soul.
Unfortunately, every other school, even the Catholic ones, will tell you that, your faith doesn't have a place in therapy, that you have to check it at the door, and I'm sorry.
That's just not correct.
So we will teach you to frame a treatment plan based on this understanding of the person so that whether your client believes in God or wants to talk about God is beside the point.
The objective truth of who they are and how they were created does not hinge on their belief or unbelief.
So you can help them reach flourishing even if they never wanna talk about God.
Right?
Alright.
So our degree, number one reason, to get a license a a master's in counseling is that you can be licensed as a mental health professional.
Our degree does prepare you for licensing.
And as you move through your degree program, your professors will give you assignments that relate to licensing just to make sure that you're headed in the right direction.
Licensing happens after you graduate.
And typically, the way it works is that you'll have to sit for an exam, sometimes two, national or state.
And, again, that varies by state.
And then once you've passed those exams, you are then provisionally licensed, and you can work under supervision you will work under supervision for a time before you're fully licensed.
Usually, it takes about two years to wrap up that supervised work.
So you're still working and being paid as a counselor.
It's just that somebody has to check over your work to make sure all is well before they just cut you loose on the general public.
I encourage you to check out counseling.org if you have not found that already.
It has a great state by state knowledge center.
So you just click on your state.
It'll give you, licensing information or, contact information for your state board, and it will tell you what exams you have to take, how long you have to work under supervision.
Definitely worth looking into.
Right.
Okay.
Reason number two to get a master's in clinical mental health counseling.
Our program is designed uniquely.
So, we have established residency practicum and internship to make sure that you get the skills you need in the best way we can teach them to you.
Counseling is a helping in the people profession and certain aspects just don't lend themselves to online learning.
So that's why we have established all of these months just to make sure that you get the best well rounded education you can bring.
As you move through your online studies, you will come to campus three times for what we call residency.
This is done over a long weekend here on campus in Virginia.
And we use this time to keep on campus to teach the counseling skills that don't lend themselves to online learning.
So things like nonverbal communication, situational ethics.
There are always a ton of presentations going on by faculty, students, and student groups.
It's also a big gateway weekend.
So all the professors are there with the students, and they're looking to make sure that each has gained the skills needed to be ready to move on to the next section.
So the way it works is, you would arrive on a Wednesday evening and stay through a Sunday afternoon.
While you're here, we'll expect you to be on-site and attend the whole program.
There is a fee for this training that's built into the tuition.
The breakdown is 1,500 per residency.
So that fee covers obviously your training.
It also covers your hotel and most of your meals while you're here.
Alright?
Obviously, you'll have to get a flight.
To get here, you'll have to spring for one or two meals on your own while you're here, but these are legitimate financial aid expenses that we can help you plan for as you work through that process.
Alright.
So, the first residency, so as I mentioned, there are three.
So the first one is always eight weeks after you begin.
So if you right now, we're enrolling for January.
If you were to start school in January, your first residency would then be mid March.
Alright?
The second residency is always one year later, so you would come back the following March.
And then the third and final residency is six months to a year after the second month, depending on if you're full time or part time.
Okay?
So then once you finished your third on campus residency and you've worked through the bulk of your online classes, it'll be time to step into practicum and internship.
These are done in your own area based on the kind of counseling work you'd like to do.
Of the two, practicum comes first.
So, practicum is one hundred hours of on the job training, and this is what gets you ready for the real hands on counseling work of your internship.
At least forty of those hundred hours will be direct service with actual counseling clients.
Alright?
Once you finish this hundred hours of training, you'll then step into your two internships.
Each of those is three hundred hours and done over sixteen weeks.
We do have a director of internship who will help you to identify the, two, three, four places in your area that you would like to work based on the kind of counseling you would like to do.
So our internship placement is 100%.
You will get one, and we will help you.
I think that's it for Alright.
And I did wanna note that, we just had a student, for the master's in counseling program who shared their story about, their experience in school and working with doctor Keyes, the director of the center for trauma and resiliency studies and how they were able to specialize, in trauma.
So I'll be sure to send that out through the email as well.
It's a nice, testimony story.
Yeah.
Our students will get excellent training in trauma, and they'll have the opportunity to, get additional training through our trauma and resiliency center, which is run by Doctor.
Keys, who is, one of our counseling faculty.
So it's a great perk for attending DMU.
Oh, yeah.
There he is.
There's doctor Keyes.
So, reason number three to get a master's in counseling is our faculty.
All of our core faculty are practicing and experienced clinicians, so they do understand what you need to learn to live out of vocation as counselor.
You can see their bios on the counseling pages of our website.
Each of them has an email address.
They are absolutely available to prospective students as well as current students.
Alright.
Number four reason to get a master's in counseling.
Employment.
I mean, gosh.
We're doing this because we want a job.
Right?
So, there are a number of, paths you could take with this degree.
Many people plan to become counselors and therapists.
That's absolutely something you can do.
There are also, many other, private and public sector jobs that you could do.
We had a dean of students at DME once who had a master's in counseling.
I know in my own town, the director of our social services has a master's in counseling, so she is in charge of all of the social workers in the county.
So, it is a very well rounded, degree that provides many opportunities.
The salary varies widely.
So, you know, obviously, if you want to work as a counselor for in a homeless shelter, you're gonna be on the lower end.
You know?
If you go into practice private practice in a metropolitan area and, you know, set up your own practice, it's gonna you're gonna do very well.
So, you can use the search engine to find kind of what the range might be depending on what it is you choose to do with your degree.
Alright.
Number five reason to get a master's in counseling.
The online platform is super flexible.
As long as you have the computer and the Internet, you could be anywhere in the world you wanna be and still do your do your schoolwork.
As you move through each class, your professors will arrange for real time or synchronous meetings between themselves and you students.
You know, and they'll use that time to do things like question and answer study review.
You know, the the larger takeaway though is that you will work very closely with your professors.
You will be able to build that professional relationship with them if you choose to.
You will also work very closely with the other students in your cohort.
So, we use Zoom for that for meetings with, you know, in between everyone just as we're doing today.
But you will work very closely with the other students in your cohort, to build those professional relationships and friendships that will carry you through once you become a mental health professional professional and also, you know, to, build the counseling skills that you're going to need.
So very flexible, but yeah.
Yes.
Obviously, it's online.
There are gonna be some times just like with any other school where it's just you and your computer and the work that you have to do.
But, you will not be isolated.
You will be able to build relationships and build counseling.
Oh, yay.
Doctor Payne, the dean of the school of counseling.
Are we gonna listen to a little bit of this, Ebony Or no?
Yeah.
We can definitely, play it for a while.
It just gives you a sense of what the course is like.
Did we we could try the audio and see how it goes.
Yeah.
Okay.
Let's see.
Alright.
So this is the dean of the school.
Go ahead and play it now.
As dean of the school of counseling, I'd like to welcome you to your next course, a course that's going to focus on different theories and models of counseling and personality.
When you think about this course on some level, it's it's sort of like a review of all the major figures in the field of counseling.
And the very early theorist, if you will, were actually philosophers and theologians who thought deeply about what it meant to be human.
In the modern era, most were physicians, psychiatrists, and by the time of the late eighteen hundreds, early nineteen hundreds, experimental psychologists were those who began to theorize about human much more from a behavioral perspective.
And in the modern era, if you will, definitely, psychiatrist, psychologists, counselors, marriage and family therapists, and social workers, really the mental health field as a whole, developing different ways of thinking about people and how to help them.
Some of these figures will be well known to you.
Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, People who not only impacted counseling, but a diverse range of academic and scientific fields, and in fact, the culture at large.
There will also be figures I'm pretty confident you might not have even heard of.
Harry Stack Sullivan, not to bias you, but one of my favorite theorists, and Murray Bowen.
But you really would only know them if you had a focus on interpersonal and family therapy models.
As you're looking at all these different theories and models, we're gonna focus on you looking at how does these theories and models change based on, a diverse population, based on a specific client in front of me.
We're gonna have you think about these theories and models through the development of case conceptualizations and treatment planning.
So it just won't be on a theoretical level, but you'll really be looking at how it works in clinical practice.
And I think most importantly, because no one model can actually integrate the entire complexity of the person, you'll be using the Catholic Christian meta model of the person to really look at each individual model.
You'll be doing that by looking at what are the deep truths that resonate in that model with the Catholic Christian meta model.
What are those areas that might have some weak theoretical or philosophical foundations to them, might have a weak, empirical, research basis to them that you'll really want to attend to.
And then based on that type of analysis, how might you modify a particular model or theory for that specific individual, couple, family, or group that you're working with.
One of the things that I'd really like you to take to heart as you begin this course is looking at these theories and models is just not pie in the sky kinds of stuff.
This is really the real stuff of what counseling is about.
These are people who have thought very deeply about the human experience and have really fleshed out a way of understanding people.
And as you're looking at these different models and theories through the frame of the Catholic Christian meta model of a person, they are going to begin to shape, inform you as you think about people and as you help them.
This is a part of your journey in becoming a professional counselor.
Enjoy getting to know, if you will, sort of the early founders of the field of counseling.
So we just wanted to show you that just to give you an you all an idea of how the online learning experience is set up.
We have a lot of interest in, professors who share information about, the coursework, and then there's discussion, boards and, readings.
So that's a little glimpse of how it's set up on our online portal, which is called Canvas similar to Blackboard.
Alright.
So, our admissions requirements are a bachelor's degree.
That's the minimum that you have to have completed to apply.
We do require a GPA of three point o overall or in your major or in your last 60 credits.
If you're under a three point o, don't despair.
It's not necessarily a deal breaker, but you would need to contact me to kind of work through that together.
And, we'd have to get permission from the dean, but like I said, not a deal breaker necessarily.
We do also, have a, you know, an application process that you would have to commit, with various documents.
You would need to work through the financial aid process to apply for scholarships and tuition reductions, whatever it is that you are eligible for.
And then, we do have, once that package is accepted, we do have an interview process, two online interviews, that we would schedule as the final step in the admissions process.
We did would also need official transcripts from your college, sent directly to us as part of that process.
If you are an international student, and if your transcript is not in English and if it is not on the four point o system as it is in The US, you would need to have them evaluated and or translated to apply.
Also, if, English is not your first language, you would need to take the TOEFL, and you see the score requirements there.
Seems like a lot, but it's actually a very simple and quick process.
Alright.
So here's where it gets real.
This is the tuition grid.
Our degree is, $8.41 a credit.
It's a 66 credit degree.
So eight forty one times 66 is fifty five five zero six.
There's a $50 tech fee per class for a total of 1,100.
There are a few lab fees as you study, and the total for those is $3.75.
And then the residency fee we talked about when you come to campus for training that covers your hotel and meals while you're here, that is 1,500 per residency times three for a total of 4,500.
So all that together gives you a total tuition value for the whole program, start to finish, of $61.04 81.
I think that math might be up.
I think it's $6.01 $5.03 6.
I think I think it's a little higher.
We'll do it.
We'll check our math.
But, anyways, you could add up those four numbers and get the exact total yourself.
Alright.
We do have a number of ideas for ways to make the degree affordable.
I think that's our next slide.
Yes.
So we do participate fully with the federal loan program.
So if you felt like you wanted or needed a student loan, we could certainly, help you with that.
If you're working as you go to school, and many of our students do work, they have to support families or things like that.
So, it's worth investigating to see if your employer might offer some sort of tuition reimbursement.
Let's check and see if that's available to you.
We also participate fully with the VA and the GI bill.
So if you have those benefits or if they can be assigned to you, we work with all of those.
We do have a very strong in house scholarship program available.
You can find scholarships on our website and read through those.
They're designed very well so that everybody qualifies for something.
The way scholarships work at our school is you can apply for four and you can accept two.
Right now they're giving away a bonus third scholarship, an extra $2,500 just for getting your paperwork started early.
Some people, you know, use alternate means of funding such as, private funds.
You know, you can approach any outside nonprofit agency or organization to see if, you can get some support there.
If you have a church that you belong to, as the counselor trained in this method, you do become quite a valuable resource to a church community.
They're always looking, for someone to refer their people to to make sure that, you know, they get good help without having their faith stripped from them.
So that's a great way to go.
We do have a matching scholarship.
So any nonprofit support you can find, church related or not, we would match up to 2,000.
We also have a cash plan we can set up internally that is interest free.
So if you felt like you could chip away at it a little bit each month, we can set that up for you.
And then there's one interesting federal program called National Health Service Corps.
If you just, use a search engine to search NASHSC or National Service Corps, it'll come up first link.
This is an excellent, federal program.
And the way it works is if you're willing to work in an area that the government has designated either low income or underserved for a certain time after you graduate, they'll give you up to $50,000 towards your tuition cost.
I believe if you're full time, they'll give it to you upfront as a scholarship.
If you're less than full time, they'll give it to you a lump sum in a lump sum at the end after you've served, a couple months of your agreed upon time period.
Since you have to work under supervision anyway as a mental health professional, this is an excellent way to go if you can work it out.
So I encourage you to look into that.
Again, it's, you know, it's it's a federal program.
It's outside of our university, but, please do check it out and see if that might be an option for you.
Okay.
So we do have some special scholarships available.
We have a Patriot scholarship from military and family, 10% off.
We have partnerships with certain missions such as FOCUS, Regnum Christie, Mission Youth, and many others.
So, that's worth investigating.
We do have a public servant scholarship for teachers, first responders, medical workers.
So, like I said, our scholarships are designed very well so everybody qualifies for something.
Alright.
So, I call this the discernment page.
You know, really think and pray about whether or not this degree is the right path for you.
I encourage people if they're kind of still think so, but not entirely a 100%, it's okay.
Start the application process.
We use that as a discernment tool just like, young men use the seminary to discern a vocation.
It's amazing where God will, take you if you will just put a foot on the path.
If you take a step, everything becomes clear.
I've seen it happen dozens and dozens of times.
No question.
But consider as you pray through this, do you have the desire to help heal the whole person and help people flourish?
Do you want a career that enables you to answer the question, how can I help people?
What can you do to make a positive contribution in others' lives?
Can you be an instrument of healing?
And finally, if you were to apply and be admitted, is this something you would be committed to finishing?
Are you somebody who finishes what they begin?
I mean, ask yourself that honestly.
That is a serious consideration.
And, I, again, I encourage you to put a foot on the path.
Take a step into the application process.
You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Alright.
So our application process begins with our online application.
The first step is a demographic form.
It takes twenty or thirty minutes.
You can do it tonight if you want to.
Once we have that first demographic part in hand, our financial aid office will be in touch to start talking with you about scholarships, about your particular financial sit situation, and what you can reasonably expect from us.
Once you have submitted your application documents, we will then set you up for, admit your interviews.
Once you've, finished those and been admitted, we'll send you an admission letter, and then you jump in for orientation, and and then school begins.
It's kind of becomes a whirlwind once you finish number four, but it is an exciting and excellent rewarding time.
Alright.
Ebony, did there have been some changes to the application.
Did you want to mention something about that?
No.
The only thing I wanted to mention is that there is a option to actually save your progress of the application.
So if you were to start it tonight, take about fifteen minutes filling out the first part.
You can save it, and then you can go back tomorrow.
Continue that if you have a Sunday deadline or if you wanna meet the application fee waiver, deadline, which is actually on the next slide, here.
Did I skip anything?
No.
You didn't.
But I just forget that for attending the webinar, they get a waiver of the application fee.
So that's a nice, little perk.
Every $50 here, $50 there, it adds up.
Right?
So, yes.
And that deadline is Sunday, you said?
So that is, I believe that's two Sundays from now or two or three Oh, October 11.
Eleventh.
So if you wanna apply for free, you should complete your application by then.
And then on top of that, you'll qualify for the $2,500 early admission scholarship in addition to two other scholarships, that you can learn more about on our website.
And I did wanna just offer everyone a chance to ask questions.
We finished up.
We wrapped up a little early today.
Just getting more concise with these.
But, if you have any questions, feel free to either put them in the chat box or jot down Julie's email address and phone number so that you can reach out to her, when it better suits you.
Yep.
I'm happy to you don't have to make an appointment.
Just, give me a shout or shoot me an email.
If I can't answer immediately, I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
Usually, pretty quick turnaround.
No questions?
Alright.
That is I guess we were very thorough.
That's completely fine.
Well, we'd like to thank you all again for attending today's webinar.
You will receive the recording in case you missed anything with multitasking, and we will also provide you with the link to the application in addition to that, story, about the student who's specializing in trauma right now.
And if you ever have any any questions, just feel free to reach out to us, and you all have a blessed day.
Thanks, Ebony.
Appreciate your help.
Alright.
Take care, everyone.
Bye bye.