Counseling/Public Health, M.A.C./M.P.H.

About Arcadia’s Dual Degree Program in Public Health (Health Education) and Counseling

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• 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 counseling psychologist with the tools of public health.
• The Master of Arts in Counseling allows students to become licensed as professional counselors.
• The Master of Public Health (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
• Some courses offered online
• Dual degree candidates must be accepted to each of the programs in order to enroll in the dual degree (one common application will be provided).

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 make the world a laboratory by providing real-world, integrative learning experiences. Graduate programs use evidence-based research and project-based learning to prepare health professionals for a rapidly changing global environment. Applied and pro bono clinical research, clinical rotations, public health internships, international fieldwork, and multicultural assessment are threaded through the curricula. Graduate students also  conduct research and publish with expert faculty in many fields.

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 Public Health degree explores the frequency, distribution, and social determinants of public 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 Public Health community-based internship requirement. Students earn 78 credits in this three-year program.

The M.P.H. program is accredited by the Council for Education in Public Health (CEPH). The Counseling program is accredited by the Masters in Psychology Accreditation Council (MPAC).

Community Health (MPH and MS in Health Education): Goals and Objectives: The Master of Public Health & Health Education degrees educate 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 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.

M.A. Counseling Goals and Objectives: The Master 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: The goals of the dual degree program are as follows:

• Arcadia students will have opportunities to learn about public health and counseling principles from a global perspective.
• Arcadia students will have the opportunity to integrate their public health education with their clinical counseling training through the use of community projects/internships that will enhance their clinical and community-based skills both within the United States and internationally, if desired.
• The dual degrees will give students a greater understanding of the scope of public health issues surrounding individual patients and their relationships to their families and their larger communities.
• The dual degrees will combine the advocacy agendas proposed by both the public health and counseling field to most effectively address patients’ problems.

Admission to the Dual degree Program in Public Health (Health Education) and Counseling

Dual degree candidates must be admitted to each of the programs in order to enroll in the dual degree program. Deadline for Summer and Fall admission is January 15th. Deadline for Spring admission is September 15th.

Program-Specific Admission Requirements: The following requirements must be met:

1. A graduate application, including personal statements, to be completed online at www.arcadia.edu/gradapp.
2. A bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution with a recommended GPA of 3.0 or better.
3. One official transcript from each college, university or professional school attended. Transfer credits included on a transcript must include grades earned; if not, an official transcript from the original school must be submitted. Transcripts must be sent from the issuing school in a sealed envelope and contain the appropriate signatures and seals to be considered official.
4. Completion of at least three Psychology courses, to include Introductory Psychology, with grades of “B” or better in each.
5. Three letters of recommendation. The letters must be of a professional not personal nature and one a health professional. If the student has been out of school five years or less, at least one letter must come from a professor.
6. Graduate Admission Test scores are not required of applicants with an earned master’s degree in a related field. Test scores from the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the MCAT taken within the past five years are required for all other applicants except for applicants to the dual Counseling and Health Education program who have a GPA greater than a 3.0.
7. Knowledge of the Public Health profession through work or volunteer experience.
8. An interview with the Counseling department (by invitation only).
9. International applicants should visit www.arcadia.edu/international for detailed information on admission requirements and application procedures. Official results from the TOEFL or IELTS are required for all students for whom English is a second language except for non-native speakers of English who hold degrees or diplomas from post-secondary institutions in English-speaking countries (e.g. the United States, Canada, England, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand). A course-by-course evaluation of all transcripts by an independent evaluation service based in the United States also is required.

Expenses

Students are billed on a per-credit basis based on the number of credits they enroll for in a given semester. Information on current costs is available at www.arcadia.edu/finaid. Financial aid is available to assist qualified students in covering tuition and related expenses, as well as living costs. Students enrolled for at least six credits per semester can apply to receive up to $20,500 annually through the Federal Direct Stafford Loan at a fixed interest rate. In addition to the Stafford Loan, students can choose to borrow either a Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan or a private alternative student loan to cover remaining expenses if necessary. Graduate assistantships also may be available to those enrolled full-time (9 credits or more per semester) who qualify. For more information on available financial aid and how to apply, visit www.arcadia.edu/finaid and click on Graduate.

Requirements for the Dual Degrees in Public Health and Counseling

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

Dual Degrees: Master of Arts in Counseling (M.A.C.) and Master of Public Health (M.P.H.)/MS Health Education

Note: The sequencing of courses is presented here based on a full-time schedule, but many students can complete this combined degree on a part-time basis on a schedule to be arranged with the advisers.