Competition Is Hot for Mental Health Counseling & Behavioral Medicine Program

Applications for the master’s in Mental Health Counseling & Behavioral Medicine program have skyrocketed. Now in its 25th year, the program until fairly recently averaged 90–100 applicants annually for approximately 30–40 spots. Since 2017, the number of applicants has significantly increased, reaching 626 for 48 spots in the 2025 entering class.

“It’s become wildly competitive,” said Laurie Craigen, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and assistant director of the program. She fully expects applications will top 700 during the next admissions cycle.

The increase is partly due to a demand/ supply issue. A 2022 Kaiser Family Foundation/ CNN survey found that 90% of the public believes there is a mental health crisis in the United States, and one-third of respondents reported that they couldn’t get the mental health services they needed. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 17% jump in the number of jobs in substance abuse, behavioral disorders, and mental health counselors between 2024 and 2034, nearly six times the average 3% job increase, for all jobs.

“I can’t tell you how much busier I’ve been post-COVID,” said Stephen Brady, PhD, MA, associate professor of psychiatry and a program founder.

Brady, who served as program director for 20 years, said the reasons for the jump in applicants at BU are complex, but unique features of the program make it especially popular.

“We had an initial large jump in applicants in 2013 after we were accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP),” said Brady, who also cited contributing factors including more faculty and staff time devoted to recruitment, a growing recognition of the importance of integrated care models, and coursework focused on behavioral medicine. In addition, the program’s medical campus location, affiliation with Boston Medical Center (BMC), and BU’s reputation for research and medical education impress prospective students.

Graduates of the Mental Health Counseling & Behavioral Medicine program find employment as mental health counselors in integrated healthcare, trauma counseling, substance abuse recovery, and private practice.

“I was really attracted to the program because it offered integrated training between medicine and behavioral health. I knew I wanted to work in a healthcare setting, and you need to have that type of training,” said Tasha Ferguson, MA’08, LMHC, senior director of the Behavioral Health Crisis Continuum and executive director of the BEST Center of Excellence, located at BMC.

“Having at least a basic understanding of medication is important because a multidisciplinary team is often going to be master’s level staff and prescribers, nurse practitioners, or psychiatrists. Speaking a similar language, having a similar frame of reference, just puts you so much further ahead, in terms of being able to work together.”

While the stereotype is generally that of a mental health counselor meeting clients one-on-one in an office, mental health, like other health disciplines, is increasingly being integrated into medical settings with teams of physicians and nurses. According to Brady, the program was designed to prepare students to work in clinical settings and incorporates required courses in neuroscience, behavioral medicine, and psychopharmacology. “That’s what differentiates us from the [mental health counseling] programs affiliated with schools of education and social work,” says Brady.

Craigen believes that recent applicants were seeking a more fulfilling work experience.

“I think that we have very impressive people who are drawn to wanting to make a difference . . . and there is nothing more beautiful than being a part of somebody’s healing story,” she said. Students also realize that the path to a mental health counseling career is much shorter than that of a physician. “With a master’s degree, you literally can start your own mental health or behavioral medicine business, and I think that’s a draw for a lot of students.”

Increasing awareness by the public and by the healthcare community of the benefits of mental health counseling, along with its validation through accreditation, has helped open up employment opportunities.

“BU’s program has certainly benefitted from having a solid reputation,” said Jonathan Waldo, MA’14, LMHC, associate director of clinical training for the master’s program. Similar to medical students, master’s candidates in mental health counseling spend half their time in clinical settings. The requirement of 1,000 supervised hours counseling patients is critical to getting licensed. That time is split between a one-semester practicum in the first year and a two-semester internship in the second. Postgraduates are still considered trainees and need two years of supervised work to qualify as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC).

Waldo is responsible for placing students in clinical settings for their practicums and internships, and the program’s success in achieving those placements is also a significant draw for students.

Graduation from a CACREP-accredited program is a requirement for licensing in Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Florida, and to be hired by the Veteran’s Administration. Graduates from CACREP-accredited programs also meet the educational requirements for licensing in most states and receive an expedited review for the educational component of LMHC licensing.

“Our program was one of the first to get that accreditation,” said Waldo. “That has been a big draw for informed applicants. Prospective students appreciate that an independent organization has ensured that the education provided to them is aligned with high quality of care, being prepared to succeed, and getting licensure.”

Naomi Szanto, MA’21, LHMC, was looking for just that in a mental health counseling program and said the CACREP accreditation impresses employers. Szanto works as a behavioral health clinician focused mainly on children’s eating disorders at Lexington Pediatrics, which is affiliated with Boston Children’s Hospital, and like Ferguson, found the science component in the BU program to be an asset.

“Part of the program emphasizes working on a multidisciplinary team,” said Szanto. “At Lexington Pediatrics, I work closely with pediatricians, a dietitian, and a psychiatric nurse practitioner. This collaboration allows us to take a holistic approach to each patient’s care, and I love being able to learn from and understand their perspectives. I’m really not surprised that this program is so popular. I think it offers really great training for clinicians who want to enter the mental health field—and we need them.”