M.A. Concentration in Mental Health
and Substance Abuse Counseling
In addition to providing a firm grounding in general psychology, this concentration provides students with the opportunity to acquire some early exposure to clinical material and to fulfill the academic eligibility requirements for the New York State Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counseling Certificate (CASAC) exam. The CMHSAC has been designed to utilize the existing strengths of the psychology program and to meet current and anticipated professional needs within the field of substance abuse, particularly in the areas of dual diagnosis, assessment, and program evaluation.

The CMHSAC degree requirements consist of a total of 30 credits, nine of which are in the area of substance abuse. All of the courses are usually offered once a year. The three required courses for the CMHSAC, (Introduction to Substance Abuse Counseling; Advanced Issues in Substance Abuse Counseling; Psychopathology III) are offered during the regular academic year. Please see the CMHSAC Student Handbook for further details.

NOTE: It is important to reiterate and emphasize the fact that electing to pursue an CMHSAC degree does not in any way preclude a student from applying for admission to the Doctoral program. CMHSAC students who wish to apply to the doctoral program are subject to the same admission requirements that apply to those enrolled in the general M.A. These requirements include: a satisfactory grade-point average; passing the comprehensive exam ; successfully passing both a M.A. level research methods course and the “Assessment of Individual Differences” course; and completing the elementary statistics requirement. However there are some some caveats:

1. Given the possibility that some students will feel disadvantaged in their ability to take some of the so-called “comps -relevant” courses as electives, students are strongly encouraged to audit as many comps-relevant courses as their schedule allows.
2. The one-credit Ethics course is NOT a requirement for the CMHSAC, but it is necessary for fulfilling the academic requirements for CASAC eligibility. Consequently, those students who wish to complete all of the academic requirements for the CASAC will need to do so by taking the Ethics, thus increasing their total credits to 31.
3. Students who wish to apply for admission to the clinical Ph.D program will also have to take a research methods course. This means that students who intend to apply to the Ph.D. program will have to complete a total of either 33 credits (for the CMHSAC only) or 34 credits (for the CMHSAC & CASAC).

In a recent and important development, The New York State Office of Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) has created a new certification category called the “CASAC Trainee.” The CASAC trainee certificate is designed to serve as an intermediate level of certification for those individuals who have completed a specific portion of the overall CASAC requirements and intend to continue on to full certification. The certificate will remain effective for a period of five years from the date that it is issued. During that time, CASAC trainees will be expected to accumulate the paid work hours needed to become fully eligible for the CASAC exam. All trainees, however, will be considered “Quality Health Professionals” (QHP) with respect to the mandated staffing mix of OASAS-licensed substance dependence programs, and thus immediately employable. One of the ways of becoming eligible for this designation is to complete the required and optional CASAC-relevant courses offered through the CMHSAC.

Supervised clinical placements at the New School–Beth Israel Center for Clinical Training and Research are available to eligible students in the program. Although participation in such a placement is not required, hands-on clinical exposure, either at the New School–Beth Israel Center or at a comparable setting, is preferred and strongly encouraged.

Students are advised to consult with the student advisors and to review the CMHSAC student handbook before registering for any of the CMHSAC-related courses.

If you have any further questions regarding this concentration, please feel free to email us at MHSAC@newschool.edu or visit our website.
 

Useful Links

NY State Office of Alcoholism & Substance Abuse Services

National Institute on Drug Abuse

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism

Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration

The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (Division of SAMHSA)

Stanton Peele’s Website

Stanton Peele: "Bad Advice for Lindsay Lohan." Wall Street Journal, August 7, 2007: A11

Faculty Profiles
 
Dr. McWelling Todman

Dr. Karen D’Avanzo