2025-2026 Academic Catalog
School of Counselor Education
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Mission Statement
The Master of Arts in Counseling Program is dedicated to training clinically competent counselors who are able to integrate faith and practice into a strong counselor identity. We seek to develop compassionate and self-aware professionals who are ethically and culturally sensitive life-long learners. In doing so, we desire to empower our students to feel equipped in providing services that facilitate healing from both intrapersonal and interpersonal pain.
The Counseling program at MidAmerica Nazarene University strives to train and equip graduate students to face the challenges of working with a hurting and vulnerable population. Our diverse programs and experienced faculty provide numerous opportunities for students to actively engage these disciplines. Specific emphasis on the acquisition of essential knowledge and the development of required skills and dispositions is essential to our core mission.
As our world shifts due to more technological connection, exposure to diverse people groups, and increased pace of change we emphasize the core attributes of:
- Strong critical thinking skills
- Excellence in writing and verbal communication
- Empathic engagement with human need and suffering
- Flexible knowledge base
- Engaged Christian worldview
The School of Counselor Education offers professional degree programs to train clinically competent counselors who are able to integrate faith and practice into a strong counselor identity. The Master of Arts in Counseling program is nationally accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP) and has three specialty tracks for students. The tracks include:
- Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling
- Clinical Mental Health Counseling
- School Counseling
An emphasis in Christian Faith and Counseling can be added to the curriculum for any of the three specialty tracks listed above. The graduate studies department also includes advanced training for those who wish to receive specialty instruction in the areas of play therapy and sexual addictions. Both established and recently graduated professionals can obtain the following designations:
- Certificate in Play Therapy (meets educational requirements for the Registered Play Therapist credential)
- Certificate in Sexual Addictions Treatment Provider
Faculty
Todd Frye, Ph.D., Professor, Associate Dean, School of Counselor Education
Erin Augustine, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Amy Cain, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Chair
David Carter, Ph.D., Professor
Jennifer Dembowksi, M.A., Assistant Professor
Taylor Johnson, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Andrew Secor, Ph.D., Professor
Joni Batts, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Coordinator of Certificate in Play Therapy Program
Todd Bowman, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, Coordinator of Sexual Addictions Treatment Provider Certificate Program
The graduate studies department also includes advanced training for those who wish to receive specialty instruction in the areas of play therapy and sexual addictions. Both established and recently graduated professionals can obtain the following designations:
- Certificate in Play Therapy (meets educational requirements for the Registered Play Therapist credential)
- Certificate in Sexual Addictions Treatment Provider
ProgramsMinorGraduate CertificatesGraduate Majors
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