Statement of Purpose

In a 1,000-1,200 word typed and double-spaced document, address your past and current helping experiences, your future goals in the field of Professional Counseling, and your personal qualities that will enable you to be an effective counselor. Please also address how your interests and goals match the mission of Liberty University and the Master of Arts in Professional Counseling degree program. Students must agree to the Department of Counselor Education and Family Study’s Master of Arts in Professional Counseling Mission Statement and Diversity Statement.

Mission
The mission of the Department of Counselor Education and Family Studies is to produce ethically and spiritually aware mental health counselors who possess the knowledge, values, skills, and personal disposition to promote the mental health and holistic wellness of clients across diverse populations. The CEFS purposes to accomplish this mission by the professional development of the mental health counseling student across the following domains:
1.  Attainment of scholastic competency in all coursework,
2.  Acquisition of, and ability to apply counseling skills with a diverse population to a standard acceptable by licensed professional counselors,
3.  Demonstration of emotional and mental stability and maturity in interaction with others including the ability to maintain healthy boundaries, communicate appropriately, successfully manage personal anxiety or uncomfortable feelings, work collaboratively with others and resolve interpersonal conflict,
4.  Adherence to the Professional Identity and Standards outlined by the American Counseling Association’s Code of Ethics and Liberty Graduate Student Code of Honor, and
5.  Demonstration of the ability to integrate faith and spirituality into counseling where appropriate in an ethically competent manner.
Commitment to Diversity
Liberty University is a school founded upon fundamental Christian values like grace, truth, and love for all persons. As believers in Christ, we must demonstrate our commitment to loving others (cf. Matthew 22: 34-40; Mark 12: 28-34; Luke 10: 25-28).
We approach counseling as a profession that fosters holistic human growth and development in the cognitive, emotional, behavioral, relational, and spiritual domains of life.
Our counseling approach also supports the worth, dignity, potential and uniqueness of others who are made in the image of God. This means for us that all persons possess dignity and worth because they are unique subjects of Divine Creation. Our vision is focused on nurturing an academic community of diverse people and ideas and assuring that diversity enhances academic excellence and individual growth.
Our faculty and students are comprised of persons that represent various national, ethnic, spiritual, and denominational backgrounds. Learning to be respectful and appreciate other cultures will add to each student’s experience at Liberty. For that reason, we are committed to nurturing and training a diverse student body in an atmosphere of mutual respect and appreciation of differences.
The CEFS provides an academic community for students, faculty, and staff to teach and learn from the experiences of others and to submit personal values and assumptions for reflection and critical examination. Student learning, professional and personal growth occur in a climate that encourages a deepened appreciation of differences. Therefore, we do not discriminate in our educational and counselor training programs on the bases of race, color, creed, religion, gender, age, national/ethnic origin, sexual orientation, and physical or mental disability.

I  have previous experience as a residential counselor working with adolescent teenage girls. I am currently a therapeutic day treatment and intensive in-home counselor working with children with mental health diagnosis.