Concentrations

This 15-credit concentration is only available to students completing the 60-credit MAC. The concentration includes 4 courses offered by Arcadia’s School of Education and 1 approved elective. This concentration responds to the need for trained professionals to work with children with autism and their families. Courses focus on evidence-based and person-centered therapeutic and educational programs aimed to teach skills to improve independence, reduce challenging behaviors, and promote community participation. Objectives: Graduates will identify characteristics of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders, apply concepts and principles of applied behavior analysis, and demonstrate teaching methods for individuals Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Autism Concentration Requirements

This 15-credit concentration is only available to students completing the 60-credit MAC. This concentration includes 3 elective courses offered by the GPC and 2 additional electives. Courses in this concentration focus on child and family mental health, including assessment, diagnosis, and various evidence-based therapeutic treatments. This concentration also emphasizes the importance of cultural sensitivity and cultural tailoring in working with youth and families from diverse backgrounds. Of note, students who complete this concentration are required to complete their internship at a site that provides clinical services to youth and families. Objectives: Graduates will identify psychiatric disorders and other challenges commonly presented by youth and families in counseling, apply concepts of child and family counseling to case conceptualization and treatment planning, and demonstrate counseling skills from multiple empirically supported psychotherapies for youth and families.

Child and Family Therapy Requirements

This 15-credit concentration is only available to students completing the 60-credit MAC. The concentration includes 4 courses offered by Arcadia’s Public Health Program and 1 approved elective. Through this concentration, students learn about the systemic forces impacting mental and physical health and how to intervene within communities to create health-promoting practices and environments. Objectives: Graduates will demonstrate understanding of history, theories, and functions of public health; identify current issues in health equity across individuals and systems; display comprehension of epidemiological trends and methods; and demonstrate principles and practices of program planning and evaluation.

Community Public Health Requirements

This 21-credit concentration requires students to complete 67 total credits toward their MAC, including 8 elective courses all offered by the School of Education. This concentration provides students with specialized knowledge of the application of behavioral principles and is meant to complement their counseling training. This concentration allows students the opportunity to pursue credentials as Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC) and Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA®). Objectives: Graduates will demonstrate understanding and application of ABA principles and practices, including FBA and consultation across settings, integrate an understanding of human development in the context of ABA, identify and enact standards of ethical and professional behavior of ABA, and apply standards and practices of training and supervising human service staff.

Foundations in BCBA Requirements

This 15-credit concentration is only available to students completing the 60-credit MAC. The concentration includes 4 courses offered by Arcadia’s International Peace & Conflict Resolution Program and 1 approved elective. Mediation is used in couples counseling and separation/divorce proceedings, in assisting communities affected by violence, and fostering communication and collaboration to create safe environments (locally and internationally). In this concentration, students learn to integrate their knowledge and skills in these areas into their counseling, advocacy, or conflict transformation. Objectives: Graduates will display understanding and application of theories of conflict analysis, conflict transformation, and restorative justice; and will comprehend and demonstrate practices of mediation and conflict coaching.

Mediation and Conflict Transformation Requirements

Mental Health Counseling Requirements

This 15-credit concentration is only available to students completing the 60-credit MAC. This concentration includes 3 elective courses offered by the GPC and 2 additional electives. Courses in this concentration respond to the need for counselors to assist clients who have been impacted by traumatic experiences both locally and internationally. Specifically, training focuses on/ short-term interventions and long-term care with emphasis on evidence-based treatments of trauma, strategies for treating grief and bereavement, as well as advocacy and social justice. Of note, students who complete this concentration are required to complete their internship at a site that provides clinical services to clients who have experienced trauma. Objectives: Graduates will display and understanding of the diagnosis and features of trauma and stressor-related disorders and challenges, including grief, bereavement, and complex trauma; demonstrate comprehension and application of several empirically supported psychotherapies for trauma, as well as grief and bereavement; and learn and practice advocacy and social justice strategies for individuals and communities with trauma.

Trauma: Clinical Bases of Treatment and Recovery Requirements