Providing Accessible Learning and Meaningful Connections in the Online Space

Online Clinical Mental Health Counseling Master’s Program Helps More Students Achieve Their Dreams

At a time when we are facing a shortage of mental health professionals, leaving approximately one third of the United States’ population living in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) for mental health, access to high-quality education and training is a priority to expand the workforce.

In 2020, William James College launched an online version of the Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (MA CMHC) program to provide more students with a flexible learning option to become Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors.

“What motivated us was to make the program more accessible for people who have other obligations—like children or elderly parents they take care of or jobs—and cannot be [on campus] during the day,” Nilda M. Laboy, PsyD, Chair of the Counseling and Behavioral Health Department and Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs, explained.

Laboy and her team worked with instructional designers and other professionals in the online education sphere to create a program that was fully equivalent to the on-campus modality. Students learn from the same professors, take the same courses, and participate in the same activities.

“We did not want students to feel that one program was better than the other. They would get the exact same academic preparation and rigor,” said Laboy.

“The only difference between the two programs was that either people’s learning style was different and more suited for in-person or for online, or that their life circumstances led them to choose one modality over the other.”

Neda Joury-Penders, MPH, MA, a 2024 graduate of the online MA CMHC program, chose online for the flexibility it provided. “I’m a second career learner, so I have a family and multiple things outside of the academic space and it was important that I was able to self-pace my own work,” she shared. “The online program requires you to be an active participant in your learning, so I didn’t feel I missed out on connecting with my professors.”

Providing opportunities for connection and collaboration with faculty members and peers was an important aspect of converting the on-campus program to the online space. While most of the program is asynchronous, certain courses, Laboy explained, are taught synchronously on Zoom or in person during the on-campus residencies students participate in each summer.

“[Residency] is a component that sets us apart from other online programs,” Laboy explained. “There are other programs out there that never meet in person…but our students spend two weeks [on-campus] between their first and second year and four days between their second and third year.”

Nivia Padhy, a current second-year student, completed her first residency this summer.

“I was excited about [residency], seeing the school and meeting my classmates and professors I’d been talking to over the year,” she said. “It was nice to make that connection and actually sit in a classroom.”

As a New Jersey resident, Padhy had to travel out of state to participate in the residency. “It can be a challenge to take two weeks off…but to me it was worth it,” she said. “It enhanced the educational aspect with getting to listen to live lectures and practice in a group setting with your classmates.”

With opportunities like residency, the online MA CMHC program goes beyond academic instruction. It also helps students foster meaningful and long-lasting relationships with their cohorts, advisors, and faculty members.

Current third-year student, Valery Mata, noted that she has formed “life-long friendships” throughout the program.

“My cohort feels like family, and my professors are great people, they seem to really care about their students.”

When asked about choosing the online MA CMHC program, Mata called it “the best decision I have ever made.”

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