(36 credits)
Program Description
New England College’s Master of Science (MS) in Human Services programs offer students a 36-credit degree program including many of the courses in the 60-credit MS in Mental Health Counseling, without the intensive internship component. Graduates of this program are prepared for leadership positions in social services, education, behavioral health management, counseling related organizations, and healthcare. Specific career tracks that graduates may pursue include case management, day treatment specialists, psychological assistants and vocational evaluators. The 36-credit MS in Human Services is not designed to meet licensure requirements for counseling professions though the program is designed to support students in achieving the educational requirements to become board certified as a Human Service Practitioner.
Graduates of this program are prepared for leadership positions in social services, education, behavioral health management, counseling-related fields and health care. This program is designed for learners within the counseling, psychology, or related human services fields who wish to pursue careers in private or public human services or counseling settings. Core courses provide knowledge in the discipline, while electives provide an examination of contemporary issues that allow the student to focus on human services populations and/or areas of interest in supportive counseling and leadership/management. Students will be required to successfully complete a capstone project, to demonstrate attainment of competency of core professional skills, as a requirement of graduation.
The program is provided using two delivery options. The first delivery models is wholly on online and includes select residency activities via synchronous sessions. The second delivery model is the hybrid delivery model which utilizes courses that include face to face classes as well as asynchronous work using Blackboard.
Learning Outcomes
- Professional Counseling Orientation and Ethical Practice
Students will acquire knowledge of the history and philosophy of counseling; professional roles, collaboration, professional organizations, credentialing, and ACA & AMHCA ethical standards.
- Social and Cultural Diversity
Students will acquire knowledge of how the elements of diversity and societal factors impact individuals; while, gaining self-awareness regarding their culture and developing a personal understanding of how their own perspectives may affect the counseling and helping relationship.
- Human Growth and Development
Students will acquire knowledge of adaptive and maladaptive development, developmental crises, disability, psychopathology, and theories development and will apply theories of learning, personality development, and strategies for helping individuals throughout the lifespan in an ethical and developmentally appropriate manner.
Students will know and apply career development theories, decision-making models, vocational and occupational information to career development program planning, organization, implementation, administration, and evaluation.
- Counseling and Helping Relationships
Students will demonstrate basic and advanced counseling skills, including developing goals and interventions for the purpose of working directly with or indirectly in consultation with various stakeholders in various settings to improve the lives of those they serve.
- Group Counseling and Group Work
Students will know group theory and gain an experiential understanding of group development, dynamics, and leadership styles for use in an ethical and legal manner in various types of groups.
Students will know statistical concepts, reliability, validity, multicultural issues in assessment, ethical & legal issues, as well as learn bio-psychosocial assessment, case conceptualization, principles of diagnosis, and use of the current DSM so that they have the ability to conduct individual and group assessment and evaluations.
- Research and Program Evaluation
Students will acquire knowledge of research methods, statistical analyses, needs assessment, and program evaluation, including qualitative and quantitative methods, technology uses, and ethical and legal issues.
- Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Community Behavioral Health
Students will have knowledge of integrative systems of care; fiscal and legal issues; collaboration; community needs assessment; interventions and outreach; individuals and communities served; and clinical mental health counseling services.
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