MS Counseling Program Mission Statement
The mission of the CSUSB Counseling Program is to prepare critically conscious counselors in schools and community settings who are committed to diversity, racial equity, and social justice. As a program, we are committed to preparing future counselors to become advocates, systemic change agents, and equity-minded in their practices to work effectively with culturally and linguistically diverse communities, families, students, and clients. Through an integrated curriculum grounded in theory, research, supervised practice, and reflective inquiry, students develop the knowledge, skills, and professional dispositions necessary for ethical and effective counseling practice.
Our program enhances students’ awareness and ability to apply counseling practices that advance social justice for individuals from varied backgrounds, identities, and lived experiences. Students are supported in understanding their roles within oppressive social structures and are prepared to engage in practices that dismantle those systems in order to foster justice, healing, and transformation among individuals and communities they serve. This mission is carried out through faculty mentorship, applied coursework, and supervised field-based training that place students in PK–12 schools and community mental health agencies throughout the Inland Empire.
Theoretical Foundations
Our faculty are recognized leaders in the counseling profession, actively engaged in research, publication, and professional training at local, national, and global levels. Rooted in the mission of the CSUSB Counseling Program to prepare critically conscious counselors committed to diversity, racial equity, and social justice, our faculty model and teach counseling practices that are culturally sustaining, equity-minded, and grounded in both evidence-based and postmodern approaches.
Faculty expertise spans Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Solution-Focused Counseling, Strengths-Based and Wellness models, as well as Narrative Therapy, Collaborative Language Systems, Restorative Justice, and Organization Change. Learning theories such as social constructivism, experiential learning, and transformative learning are applied to foster critical reflection, active engagement, and the practical application of theory. These approaches are integrated into coursework using lectures, demonstrations, interactive workshops, role-plays, case studies, and group discussions to support student learning in real-world settings.
These frameworks inform classroom instruction, experiential learning, and applied projects that invite students to critically analyze dominant discourses, deconstruct systemic inequities, and co-construct alternative, hope-centered narratives with clients and communities. Through lectures, case studies, and assignments, such as narrative case analyses, reflective inquiry papers, and applied counseling demonstrations, students are encouraged to integrate theory with practice and to develop a reflexive awareness of their own positionalities. In group and socio-cultural counseling courses, students participate in role-plays and restorative practice simulations that reflect real-world scenarios. Using frameworks like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Solution-Focused Counseling, and Restorative Justice, students facilitate group interventions on issues such as academic stress, discipline disparities, grief, and community trauma. Faculty lead structured debriefings to help students examine how power, culture, and systemic inequities affect counseling outcomes. Transformative learning reflections further support students in evaluating their evolving assumptions and professional identities. This cycle of action, reflection, and feedback equips students to design culturally responsive interventions that promote wellness, equity, and healing.
Together, these theoretical and pedagogical foundations support the development of core counseling competencies and prepare students for ethical, effective professional practice in school and community counseling settings. Faculty mentorship supports this process, guiding students to become ethical, compassionate, and critically conscious counselors who engage in practices that promote wellness, equity, and justice across diverse social and cultural contexts.
Our Commitment to Racial Equity and Social Justice
The CSUSB MS Counseling Program has a deep commitment to racial equity and social justice. The program is committed to racial equity and social justice by developing equity-minded counselors. Equity-minded counselors recognize and address how racialized structures, policies, and practices create and sustain inequities (Bensimon & Malcom, 2012; Dowd & Bensimon, 2015). We foster an inclusive environment where students engage in equity and social justice work that requires accountability, assessment, and ongoing reflection. We believe that "equity and equity-mindedness requires explicit attention to structural inequality and institutionalized racism and demands system-changing responses" (Bensimon, 2018, p. 97). The curriculum includes discussions on systems and structures that perpetuate inequities affecting marginalized communities. As a student and future counselor, our learning community is called to actively reflect on our values, beliefs, and biases to better serve diverse populations in the short and long term future. The program provides resources such as affinity groups, mentorship programs, and access to diverse student organizations to support students from marginalized backgrounds.
Vision Statement
The CSUSB Counseling Program envisions being a leader in counselor education that advances equity, healing, and systemic transformation across educational, clinical, and community settings. We aspire to cultivate counselors who are critically conscious, professionally grounded, and prepared to challenge oppressive structures while co-constructing hope-centered, culturally sustaining practices with diverse individuals and communities. Through engaged scholarship, innovative pedagogy, and strong community partnerships, the program seeks to contribute to more just, inclusive, and responsive educational and mental health systems.
Adopted by the MS in Counseling Program, March 2023, revised January 2026