Thank you again for joining our webinar on how to help counsel veterans presented by Divine Mercy University.
I'm Julie.
I'm an admissions counselor here at Divine Mercy University, and my contact information's here.
That number is my direct number, so you can call me or text me at that number.
You can also email me anytime.
So that's me on a very bad hair day.
Anyway, as we go through this webinar, I will have a chance for everyone to ask questions at the end.
Please, you know, make note of your questions as they occur to you.
I'd love to answer all of them.
But for the sake of time limit timeliness and people who might have to drop off right away at the end, we save questions till the end.
You can pop them in chat as we go along.
If, you know, you can note some questions in chat, and I will answer them at the end of the webinar.
Alright.
Here we go.
So Divine Mercy University is the graduate school of psychology and counseling.
So that's all we do.
We specialize in training, mental health professionals.
Oops.
Sorry about that.
We were actually founded in the late nineties under the name Institute for the Psychological Sciences.
That college still exists.
If you've poked around our website at all, you've probably seen that name.
So that's still us.
That college houses our psychology side.
So we have another online master's in general psych.
We also have an an on-site doctoral program.
So we do have an actual campus with actual doctoral students here, attending classes on campus.
But what they found through offering those programs was that there was such a need for counselors and particularly for counselors of faith.
So, what they did to resolve that was to add the second college, the school of counseling that we're discussing, and the master's in clinical mental health counseling.
So 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 went from being plain old IPS to Divine Mercy University.
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.
And to that end, our school is accredited.
We're regionally accredited by the Southern Association or SACS.
That's here, the first one up on the left.
So regional accreditation is the baseline baseline you should look for in any US school you attempt.
If you're looking at various schools and they can't give you a simple yes to the regional accreditation question, that's your sign to go very quickly in the opposite direction.
So regional accreditation is just a minimum.
So the way it works is each area of the country has its own accrediting agency.
Each one has a different name.
Our region happens to be called the Southern Association or SACS is the acronym.
So Southern SACS region goes from where we are in Virginia all the way down around to Texas.
So UT, Auburn, UVA, all those schools are accredited by SACS just like we are.
When you start talking about psychology and counseling, there are a couple of extra accreditations that can be earned.
APA, American Psychological Association here is kind of the big dog of all of those.
Most people have heard of the APA.
It's pretty common commonly mentioned.
So, our school 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.
When you start talking about counseling, the extra accreditation for that type of program is known by the acronym, CACREP.
CACREP is something, we are working towards.
We're at the tail end of the process.
We've done everything we need to do, and we've submitted all of our documents to KCRAB.
We're just waiting for them to schedule the on-site review and hopefully, god willing, award accreditation.
So it sounds like it should be quick from here on out, but as with any other bureaucracy, it's nothing is quick.
So we're probably eighteen months to two years from wrapping this up.
But once once we do, the 10 states that require CACREP accreditation will come under our umbrella, and our degree will be fine in 48 states.
The two hold out that's degree for counseling, that is.
The two hold outs will be Illinois and New Hampshire, and that's because you have to go to school in state in Illinois and in person in New Hampshire.
So as long as you don't have plans to move to Illinois or New Hampshire anytime soon, this program will be great for you and good for licensing in your state.
Alright.
Again, any questions about accreditation, I'd be happy to answer, but let's, just pop them into the chat now.
Talk about that at the end.
Alright.
So, some things to consider to kind of figure out if, becoming a mental health professional is the right path for you.
Are you concerned by mental health challenges of, service members you encounter and their families?
Do you want a career post service that would enable you to work directly with individuals and their families?
Are you able to support others in their difficult problems and in their challenges?
And, finally, if you were to apply and be admitted, are you committed to completing the program?
Are you someone who finishes what you begin?
Alright.
So let's talk a little bit about mental health statistics for veterans.
It's a little bit of a grim picture.
So, some of the worst wounds that veterans carry might be wounds that aren't visible to the naked eye.
You can see a few statistics there around the brain image, but it's important to note that recognizing mental illness is the first step toward recovery.
Right?
Recognizing the problem, it's hard to get help.
If you don't get help, you don't improve, obviously.
Alright?
So in 2017, fourteen percent of suicides were by US veterans, and that number remains high to this day.
The rate of PTSD is 15 times higher in active duty service members compared to just general population of civilians.
The depression rate in active duty service members is also very high as compared to the general population.
Fifty five percent of women and thirty eight percent of men experience some form of sexual harassment in the military, and that can lead to other mental health mental health issues, including PTSD, etcetera.
Alright.
You know, there there must be a reason that veterans aren't seeking care.
There is a stigma sometimes attached to seeking help, especially for, mental illness.
Personal embarrassment is one.
Long wait times to receive mental health treatment.
There are very few providers, as related to the need, and that's across the population.
That's not related to military only.
It's also in the general population.
Again, a stigma over the need for mental health services and shame over needing to seek out that kind of health and the fear that should you seek that kind of thing that you would be seen as weak somehow or less in some way.
There is a general lack of understanding about mental health problems and treatment options, and we seek to remedy remedy that as a university, through providing well trained mental health professionals can address these problems.
So veterans who return to civilian lifestyle tend to need mental health services.
And and I don't know if you have any guesses about the percentage of them who actually received that help, but to stop the suspense right now, I'll tell you that that number is fewer than fifty percent of veterans who need mental health services receive them.
So, again, the need across this veteran population and across the population in general is huge.
There are far too few counselors, particularly counselors of faith, to address the need that's out there.
With this kind of training, you could be part of that solution.
Right.
So, DMU has a lot of special training in trauma for the students.
In particular, we have a center for trauma and resiliency studies that is run by one of our counseling professors, doctor Keyes.
You can find our center for trauma and resiliency studies on our website under the academics tab, and the bio for doctor Keyes is in the counseling pages of the website under faculty.
The workshops, include all of the things listed here and more.
The goal is to, train certified traumatologists who can respond to the need for mental health services for those who've experienced trauma.
We also run a Green Cross center out of the school, led by doctor Keyes and the CTRS, which responds to disasters around the world.
So Green Cross responds much in the way that Red Cross does, but whereas Red Cross responds to the material needs of disaster victims, Green Cross goes to respond to the mental health and trauma needs of disaster victims and also first responders.
So this is, you know, an active ongoing work that our students are able to participate in and also training available to all of our students.
So what will you gain from the master's in clinical mental health counseling?
This degree does lead to licensure as a mental health professional.
You will be able to accept insurance, provide therapy for individuals, couples, and families.
You can specialize in the area that interests you most, whether it's marriage and family, trauma, addictions, you know, whatever it is, children, you know, if you wanna work with kids, that's, you know, also a possibility.
So there are many different ways to specialize.
You will gain practical experience through your internship and your practicum working in, mental health facilities, and all of these will serve to train you to become a very effective licensed mental health counselor.
Skills that transition from the classroom, from the military, obviously, self discipline, analytical skills, conflict resolution, leadership, grit, teamwork, work ethic.
We are anxious and always looking for solid active duty or veterans to, you know, join our school.
Here are just a few from each program who are veterans or active duty.
Garrett Boyer is in our doctorate in clinical psychology program, so he's on campus as a student in NorthID.
Noel is an online student in our master's in psychology program, And father Derek Barna is active duty military.
He's a chaplain in the air force, I believe.
Alright.
So as a counseling student, you will be able to get hands on experience in your practicum and internship, which are done in your own area based on the kind of counseling that you'd like to do.
Some people have chosen to work in, for the VA.
We have a student placed at the medical center here, locally in Martinsburg, West Virginia.
It's not too far from us.
We have students who have worked at the Friends Hospital in Philadelphia and for the VA in Montana.
So there are a number of possibilities.
Our internship placement is 100%.
You will get one, and we will help you with it based on, again, the kind of counseling work you'd like to do, whether it's addictions, trauma, marriage, and family, what have you.
Our acceptance requirements for the master's in counseling are just baseline a bachelor's degree in any field.
We're an entry level program.
So, if your degree is in synchronized swimming or advanced basket weaving, great.
You know, we'd love to talk to you.
We do require a GPA of three point o overall or in your major or in your last 60 credits.
This is not necessarily a deal breaker.
If you're close to it, typically, you know, tip close to three point o but a little under, typically, we can find a three point o in your major or in your last 60 credits.
But if not, you know, there are some workarounds, so don't let that be the reason that you don't apply.
We also require the GRE.
We don't use the GRE to make admissions decisions.
It's really just a box you have to check.
We, you know, we don't really care what you get.
We just need you to do it.
I tell people all the time, if I had to take that test for this program, I'd go tomorrow.
I'd mark c for every answer and just rip that Band Aid off.
If you begin your application, I'll be happy to put that in writing for you.
We also would would need official transcripts sent from your university directly to us.
If you're an international student, those transcripts would need to be evaluated for US equivalency.
As you're working through your application process, you do work on scholarships and federal aid if that's something that you wanted.
Once that's all done, we would set you up for interviews and hopefully admissions.
So here's where it gets real.
Right now, the degree is $8.66 a credit, and it's a 66 credit master's degree.
So $8.66 times 66 is $57.01 56.
There's a $50 technology fee per class for a total of 1,100.
There are lab fees if you move through your studies that total $3.75.
And then there's a residency fee that totals 4,500.
So residency is when you come to campus for a long weekend of conference style, in person learning.
The fee is 1,500 per residency that covers your training, obviously, but also your hotel, most of your meals while you're here.
So, really, you just have to show up.
Alright.
So all that together gives you a total tuition value for the whole program start to finish of $63.01 31.
We do have a number of ideas for ways to make that affordable, which I will share with you here shortly.
We do participate fully with the federal loan program.
So if you felt like you wanted or needed a student loan, we can certainly set that up for you.
Some employers do offer tuition reimbursement, so it's worth investigating to see if that might be a benefit for you at your place of employment.
We also participate fully with the VA, with the GI bill.
We're also a yellow ribbon school.
So if you have any of those benefits or if they can be assigned to you, we participate with all of those.
We're happy to help help you.
We also have a very nice scholarship program available.
Our scholarships are designed very nicely so that everybody qualifies for something.
The way scholarships work is you can apply for four, then you can accept two.
They are all listed on our website.
You can read through what the requirements are for each one, see if, any of them might be a fit for you.
We do, have a scholarship that is particular to veterans.
It's called our Patriot Scholarship, and that's good for up to a 10% off your tuition for your whole time in school.
We also so at DMU, you can go two tracks.
You can either apply for scholarships or you can take a tuition reduction through a partnership agreement.
We do happen to have a partnership agreement in place with the archdiocese for the military services.
Service members and their families receive 25% off the cost of tuition for their whole time in school.
That includes veterans also.
And then, I believe so we have to look at that.
And then religious and clergy received 50% off the cost of tuition for their whole time in school.
So, that's about the end of the webinar information.
I hope I thank you for sharing your time with us today.
If you have questions about any of this information, I would be happy to answer them.
I thank you again for your time.
We are offering, as a thank you for your attendance, a an application fee waiver.
You just need to apply by within the next week, November 17, to qualify for an additional $2,000 scholarship in addition to that.
And if you, once you begin the application, if you just remind me that you're in the webinar, then I would be happy to help you, secure that scholarship.
Alright.
My direct contact information is there.
You can call or text me at that number.
Email is also a great way to reach me.
And there's my personal meeting link at the bottom.
If you would like to speak with me one on one, you can, use that link to view my calendar and choose the time that works for you.
But thank you again for coming, and I hope you guys have a great end of the week.