About

Are you passionate about helping people overcome challenges? Do you want to pursue a career providing support to individuals and groups?


As a substance abuse counselor, you will help people who have problems with alcohol, drugs, gambling, and eating disorders. You may provide individual, group and family counseling to individuals who are addicted to drugs and other behaviors, helping them identify and change problems related to their addiction.

Clinical counselors help people who have mental health concerns such as mood disorders (depression, bipolar), thought disorders (schizophrenia) and situational life issues (family, relational, or vocational). As a clinical counselor, you would work toward increasing a person's coping skills, self-efficacy, and self-esteem. If you are interested in the fields of substance abuse and clinical counseling, you should explore these fields in greater depth prior to enrolling in any master's program.

ECU Advantage

The College of Allied Health Sciences is the largest university-based allied-health provider in the state of North Carolina. The college has eight departments, Addictions and Rehabilitation Studies, Biostatistics, Clinical Laboratory Science, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Health Services and Information Management, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Physician Assistant Studies, and offers degrees on the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels.


Delivering a comprehensive professional education that will prepare allied-health graduates to make a difference in the health of the region, state, and nation was the primary reason for the creation of the College of Allied Health Sciences and its departments. Fueled by the growth and aging of our population, the demand for these highly skilled specialists is expected to greatly increase as health care continues to be a priority for our citizens.

As an ECU student, you can research your future career in Steppingblocks. Explore real-world stats about your major, your interests, and your dream job title with data-powered career exploration tools designed for doers like you.

What You Will Study

Program Coordinator: Leigh Atherton (4425-K Health Sciences Building; 252-744-6290; athertonw@ecu.edu)

The Clinical Counseling, MS is a 62 credit hour Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Education Programs (CACREP) accredited clinical mental health counseling program. Graduates are eligible for licensure as a licensed clinical mental health counselor (LCMHC) and a licensed clinical addiction specialist (LCAS) upon passing an examination and the completion of a supervised work experience. Students graduating from the clinical counseling program are provided a one-year reduction in the experience requirements for licensure as an LCAS by the NC Addictions Specialist Professional Practice Board. Without our degree, the required experience for this license is two years. Graduates of the clinical counseling program may be employed in clinical mental health and substance use treatment settings, such as inpatient or outpatient programs, detoxification centers, residential and halfway-house programs, and home-based counseling programs.

The program requires a minimum of 62 s.h. as follows:

Required courses:
  • ADRE 6010 - Introduction to Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling
  • ADRE 6050 - Ethical and Legal Aspects in Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling
  • ADRE 6250 - Diagnosis and Treatment of Mental and Emotional Disorders
  • ADRE 6300 - Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling Theories
  • ADRE 6310 - Prepracticum in Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling
  • ADRE 6320 - Family Treatment in Substance Abuse Rehabilitation
  • ADRE 6330 - Clinical and Addictions Counseling
  • ADRE 6340 - Human Growth and Development in Clinical, Addictions and Rehabilitation Counseling
  • ADRE 6350 - Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Group Counseling
  • ADRE 6351 - Personal Growth Group Lab
  • ADRE 6360 - Practicum in Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling
  • ADRE 6361 - Practicum in Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling Lab
  • ADRE 6370 - Multicultural Issues in Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling
  • ADRE 6380 - Career Counseling in Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling
  • ADRE 6401 - Assessment in Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling
  • ADRE 6550 - Research in Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling
  • ADRE 6703 - Foundations of Addictions and Clinical Counseling
  • ADRE 6793 - Treatment in Addictions and Clinical Counseling
  • ADRE 6991 - Internship in Clinical, Addictions, and Rehabilitation Counseling
Personal Experiential Counseling Requirements

Students in the clinical counseling and rehabilitation counseling programs are required to participate in personal counseling and experiential activities. These include participation in a small personal growth group, a group counseling course, counseling pre-practicum and practicum courses, and an option of individual personal counseling by the student counseling center or from another mental health professional to meet part of an optional requirement in the counseling practicum course. All of these personal counseling experiences are oriented toward increasing personal and interpersonal growth of the student in order to become a competent professional clinical counselor.

    Retention Standards

    Good academic standing in accordance with ECU Graduate School guidelines is required. 

    Students not maintaining the criteria above may be placed on academic probation in accordance with Graduate School policies.

    In addition, the program has the following specific regulations:

    Students receiving a grade of U or C or lower in more than six semester hours of required or elective courses will be dismissed from the program in accordance with departmental policies. 

    In courses graded on the S/U system, the grade of Unsatisfactory (U) is assigned when the equivalency of a C grade or lower is earned. If a student receives a U grade in a course, the student may repeat the course one time. If an S grade is not earned on the 2nd attempt, the student is dismissed from the program.

    • Must maintain a 3.0 GPA in all required courses for the degree to graduate
    • In courses graded on the S/U system, a minimum grade of "S" must be earned before progression to subsequent S/U graded courses; and
    • No more than six semester hours of U or C or lower grades in any required or elective courses for the degree.
      For more information about this degree visit the university's academic catalogs.
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