Earn Your Bachelor’s Degree in Behavioral Sciences
With a bachelor’s degree in this field, you will be prepared to:
- Pursue a purpose-driven career in mental health, psychology, counseling, substance abuse, research, psychiatric tech, advocacy, rehabilitation, behavior analysis, education, and social and human services
- Enroll in a graduate degree program to become licensed as a psychologist, behavior analyst, professional counselor, marriage and family therapist, social worker, school psychologist, and neuropsychologist
- Provide others with life-changing support to help people recover from mental and emotional problems, build community resilience and well-being, and reflect and grow as individuals
- Evaluate patients’ diverse needs through an understanding of health, wellness, and psychopathology within and across cultures
- Collaborate on multidisciplinary teams to meet individual, family, and community needs in a variety of behavioral health and social service settings
- Compare and contrast approaches to trauma and recovery with an emphasis on fostering health, wellness, and resilience
Transform and Enrich the Lives of Children, Adults, and Families Through Mental Well-being
Develop the expertise to help members of your community learn to cope with the lifelong challenges of mental illness, addiction, trauma, grief, and developmental disabilities in this fast-growing field.
With increased demand for behavioral health services nationwide, our new bachelor’s degree program will prepare you for a purpose-driven career in counseling, social work, and advocacy services. This program will be led and taught by board certified license practitioners, and is designed to equip you with the knowledge, experience, and skills necessary to succeed in this field.
This program is being offered at South Mountain Community College, but up to 90 credits may be taken at any of the Maricopa Community Colleges.
Information
- Students in this 120-credit hour program will complete coursework in resilience and well-being, ethics, trauma-informed care, applied behavior analysis, individual trauma recovery treatment, therapeutic communication skills, individual therapy, group therapy, family systems counseling, advocacy, cultural competence, therapeutic models and interventions, substance use disorders and recovery, research methods, behavioral development, case management, relational approach to trauma, and biological and environmental bases of behavior.
- Courses are designed to meet the qualifications for 12 industry certifications in the field of mental health.
- General education courses for this program explore broad foundational knowledge and essential skills to prepare students to contribute to society through personal, social, and professional interactions with others.
- Faculty instructors are licensed by the state as psychologists, social workers, counselors, marriage and family therapists, substance abuse counselors, behavior analysts, and psychiatrists. Faculty adjunct instructors are working in the field to ensure students learn the latest workforce skills.
- This program includes field-based clinical experiences, professional portfolio development, and a capstone project. Additionally, there are opportunities for paid internships.
With a bachelor’s degree in this field, you will be prepared to pursue a variety of occupations in social and behavioral health services, such as mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, social workers, substance abuse counselors, psychologists, behavior analysts, school psychologists, and neuropsychologists.
