{"id":110231,"date":"2026-08-18T13:26:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T13:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=110231"},"modified":"2026-08-18T13:26:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T13:26:19","slug":"uris-mental-and-behavioral-health-counseling-masters-program-sets-students-up-for-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2026\/08\/uris-mental-and-behavioral-health-counseling-masters-program-sets-students-up-for-success\/","title":{"rendered":"URI\u2019s Mental and Behavioral Health Counseling master\u2019s program sets students up for success"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Aug. 18, 2026 \u2013 Now in its second year, the University of Rhode Island\u2019s Mental and Behavioral Health Counseling<\/a> master\u2019s degree program in the College of Health Sciences<\/a> is putting students on a path to becoming the next generation of mental health practitioners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike master\u2019s programs at many other universities, the URI program provides clinical training opportunities on campus, making it convenient for students, faculty, and those seeking counseling.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Tayla Varan joined the first cohort of the mental and behavioral health counseling master\u2019s degree program in 2025 after completing bachelor\u2019s degrees in psychology and criminology and criminal justice at URI. (Photo courtesy Tayla Varan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cWe are uniquely positioned to utilize our campus training clinic to provide meaningful foundational training in a number of treatment modalities,\u201d said Lindsey Anderson, director of URI\u2019s Psychological Consultation Center<\/a>. \u201cThese resources are generally not accessible to masters-level trainees, whose clinical training is most often outsourced to community settings. The clinical training opportunities on URI\u2019s campus allows for additional oversight, and support not frequently available through other programs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This fall, the clinic space will be relocated and upgraded to a shared space with URI\u2019s Couple and Family Therapy Clinic. The new location, located on the main floor of URI\u2019s Social Science Research Center on Flagg Road, will have 13 therapy rooms, compared to the six rooms in the Center\u2019s previous space.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Bobby Schattle enrolled in the mental and behavioral health counseling master\u2019s degree program after earning a bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology from Fairfield University in 2025. (Photo courtesy Bobby Schattle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cMost master’s programs do not have in-house clinics, so this space and the opportunities it provides for training are not the norm,\u201d said Mark Robbins, professor of psychology and coordinator of the Mental and Behavioral Health Counseling master\u2019s degree program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Anderson, clinical training enables students to understand why certain approaches are taken for specific mental health issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are not interested in simply \u2018pumping out\u2019 counselors who will go into practice without the foundational and evidence-based knowledge to understand why we use certain treatments for different mental health concerns,\u201d said Anderson. \u201cOur ability to deliver strong training in clinical assessment and intervention exists, in part, because of access to resources such as audio and visual recordings of each session, intensive clinical supervision by our program faculty, and multidisciplinary and hierarchical learning environments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tailoring experiential learning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tayla Varan, of Cumberland, earned dual bachelor\u2019s degrees from URI in psychology, and criminology and criminal justice. When she found out that URI would be offering a master\u2019s degree in mental and behavioral health counseling, she was eager to enroll in the program\u2019s first cohort in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI always hoped to have a career that intertwines mental health and criminal justice,\u201d said Varan. \u201cThis program sets me up with the educational and experiential requirements necessary to eventually reach my goal of becoming a licensed mental health counselor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Varan is especially excited that the program grants her the freedom to choose internship and practicum experiences that align with her interests and career goals. She has started a year-long internship in the Forensic Division of Rhode Island’s Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities, and Hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll have the opportunity to collaborate with fellow interns, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and other professionals while assisting in competency evaluations and gaining a deeper understanding of forensic mental health,\u201d said Varan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to her internship, Varan will continue to work as a graduate clinician in URI’s Psychological Consultation Center, where she\u2019ll receive training and supervision in cognitive behavioral therapy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe mental and behavioral health counseling program\u2019s coursework, practicum, and internship have set me up for success in the field of mental health counseling,\u201d said Varan, who expects to complete her master\u2019s degree in August 2027. \u201cI\u2019m excited to continue developing as a clinician while working toward a career that brings together my interests in mental health and criminal justice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bobby Schattle, of Cranston, enrolled in the master\u2019s degree program after earning a bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology from Fairfield University in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was searching for a master’s program where I could further my education and skills in mental health counseling,\u201d said Schattle. \u201cURI\u2019s Mental and Behavioral Health Counseling master’s program checked all the boxes for me. The on-campus clinic, where I can gain real experience counseling URI students and local community members while receiving supervision and feedback, was very appealing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schattle hopes to work in an outpatient private practice and eventually open his own practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a particular interest in helping folks with anxiety-related disorders, so I hope to do that and explore other areas of mental health to see what captures my passion,\u201d said Schattle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becoming a licensed counselor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upon graduation from the master\u2019s program, students are licensed in Rhode Island as mental health counselor associates. To become fully licensed as a mental health counselor in Rhode Island requires the completion of a minimum of 2,000 hours post-graduate degree supervised counseling experience completed over at least two years. To qualify for the mental health counselor license, students must pass the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination, which is sponsored by the National Board of Certified Counselors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Aug. 18, 2026 \u2013 Now in its second year, the University of Rhode Island\u2019s Mental and Behavioral Health Counseling master\u2019s degree program in the College of Health Sciences is putting students on a path to becoming the next generation of mental health practitioners. Unlike master\u2019s programs at many other universities, the URI […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":110233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,1906,1914,1903],"class_list":["post-110231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-health-sciences","tag-experiential-learning","tag-graduate","tag-health-and-wellness"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110231"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110236,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110231\/revisions\/110236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}