Students interested in licensure in professional
counseling
in Pennsylvania and several other states have the option of adding 6
credit hours to graduate with a 60 credit Master of Human Services
degree with a Concentration in Counseling. The extra six credits
may be taken as an overload during the regular academic year or in an
elective fall semester with a December graduation.
Students interested in additional coursework in
administration have the option of taking 16 additional credit hours to
obtain the Master of Human Services degree with a concentration in
administration. Additionally, there is opportunity for additional
coursework in aging studies to earn a Concentration in Gerontology.
The subject matter of each competency is studied from the viewpoint of
five dimensions: Values (Ethics), Self and Others (Psychology), Systems
(Sociology), Skills (Communication/Research), and Integration and
Practice Application.
Systems
Theory (Sociology)
Skills (Communication, Intervention/Community Organization, Management and Research Skills)
Integration and Practice Application
The
classes held at Lincoln’s Graduate Center on Saturdays address the
first four of these, while the fifth dimension is addressed one evening
during the week in the Integration and Practice Seminar. These
weeknight seminars are located where students cluster geographically,
usually at a human services agency or local university site. The
purpose of the Integration and Practice Seminar is to integrate the
student's work activities in his or her agency with the theoretical
material presented in the Saturday coursework. Weekly logs, individual
presentations and professional experiences form the basis for
discussion. For each competency unit the student is also required to
complete a field project or practice application project. The
field project demonstrates the understanding of theory, organization of
ideas, the appropriate application of new concepts to practice, and the
explanation of new steps to be taken. Emphasis is on problem solving
using the Action Research model.
In the last year of
the Program, students choose either a micro track (counseling and other
direct services) or a macro track (administration and planning).
Also in the last year, students complete a change project, make an oral
presentation on this project, and produce a peer review article for
submission to one of the many human services related journals.
