Health Education/Counseling, M.S.H.E./M.A.C.

Coordinators

• Eleonora Bartoli, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director of Counseling
• Katherine Isselmann DiSantis, Ph.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor, Chair, Department of Public Health

About the Dual Degree Program

• This dual degree will enable practitioners to implement both individual and systemic change in the mental health and public health fields, by integrating the tools of the counselor with the tools of public health.
• The Master of Arts in Counseling allows students to become licensed as professional counselors in Pennsylvania.
• The Master of Science in Health Education Degree educates community health professionals to promote the health of individuals, families, communities, and the environment.  This is accomplished through a program that integrates education, research, and practice in a global environment.
• The Master of Arts in Counseling educates and socializes students to become practitioners skilled in the art of behavior assessment and change. This is accomplished through a program that integrates theory and practice (both within and outside of the classroom) from the beginning of the program.
• Part-time and full-time options
• Dual degree candidates must be accepted to each of the programs in order to enroll in the dual degree (only one application will be required).
• With dual degrees, students gain knowledge in two fields as they prepare for their professional careers. 

Arcadia’s College of Health Sciences has nationally recognized health programs that use evidence-based research and project-based learning to prepare health professionals for a rapidly changing global environment.  Health education internships and international experiences are threaded through the curricula. 

The mental health needs of individuals and the community are inextricably linked with socio-economic factors such as poverty, lack of access to health care services, and inadequate education. These negative forces profoundly impact an individual’s ability to seek and maintain adequate physical and mental health, and in turn prevent individuals from advocating for themselves to access essential resources.

While Counseling prepares students to identify lifestyle factors that may lead to increased risk for serious mental health problems, the focus of the training is on the individual, rather than on a population, and on remediation, rather than prevention. In contrast, the Master of Science in Health Education degree explores the social determinants of health related issues within human populations with a focus on prevention. This dual degree enables practitioners to implement both individual and systemic change in the mental health and public health fields by integrating the tools of counseling with the tools of public health.

In this dual degree program, students explore the relationship between mental health conditions on an individual level on the one hand, population health and the health of communities on the other. Students are challenged to participate in meaningful internships, develop critical analyses, propose effective solutions, and contribute substantively to the current dynamics linking individual health with the health of communities. There are multiple opportunities for students to work in situations that will allow them to combine their Counseling clinical training with their Health Education Community-based Internship requirement.

The Counseling program is accredited by the Masters in Psychology and Counseling Accreditation Council (MPCAC).

Goals and Objectives

Community Health (M.S. in Health Education)

The Master of Science in Health Education degree educates community health professionals to promote the health of individuals, families, communities, and the environment. This is accomplished through a program that integrates education, research, and practice in a global environment.

The goals of the Community Health Education program are to:

• Educate community health professionals and develop the skills needed to promote health within communities.
• Provide an academic environment that integrates community public health education with research and practice.
• Translate knowledge into practice through collaborative service projects both domestically and internationally. This can be accomplished through internships with community-based organizations and local health departments.
• Employ scientific investigation to advance public health knowledge of the relationship between health and the structural environment within which individuals live and work.

Master of Arts in Counseling

The Master of Arts in Counseling educates and socializes students to become practitioners skilled in the art of behavior assessment and change. This is accomplished through a program that integrates theory and practice (both within and outside of the classroom) from the beginning of the program.

The program is structured to develop professional level competence in:

• Communication and listening
• Critical and analytical thinking
• Interpersonal and cultural sensitivity
• Understanding self through introspection and realistic self-critique
• Adhering to professional, ethical and legal standards and behaviors
• Generating and testing hypotheses about human behavior
• Understanding the theories and techniques of counseling and behavior change
• Using counseling skills in individual and group settings
• Integrating and applying assessment, diagnostic, consultation and educational strategies

Dual Degree Goals and Objectives

• Learn about health education and counseling psychology principles from a global perspective. 
• Integrate knowledge and skills about health with clinical counseling training through community projects/internships that enhance their combined skills within the United States and/or internationally.
• Impart enhanced understanding of contextual factors impacting health issues of individual patients or communities and how to intervene at both a local and systemic levels.
• Combine the advocacy and education agendas proposed by both the health education and counseling fields to most effectively address the individual’s health concerns.

Degree Requirements

72 credits

(42 credits for the M.A.C. program and 36 credits for the MSHE program, with 6 credits shared)