Description
This career-focused program is designed to prepare students to work in the field of hospital and community-based mental health settings, providing direct support to people receiving mental health support and services. It will prepare students to work in the field of mental health services, specifically in specialized roles that require an associate's degree. Students will develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to effectively support people with mental health needs and to communicate with colleagues in relation to the treatment of their clients through applicable course work and field experiences. The program will prepare students for various responsibilities in settings that provide mental health services through applied educational and experiential opportunities.

Program Learning Outcomes
1. Describe symptoms of frequently encountered behavioral health disorders.
2. Implement and contribute to the formation of treatment plans.
3. Communicate patient/client behaviors, symptoms, and needs to treatment team.
4. Demonstrate appropriate helping skills for mental health settings.
5. Articulate basic concepts for therapeutic interaction with clients/patients in behavioral health settings.
6. Articulate an understanding of the role and boundaries of mental health service providers.
7. Analyze ethical, value, and legal requirements associated with mental health treatment.
8. Describe responses sensitive to members of various cultural, sexual, and religious groups.

Employment Potential
For related jobs: Career Coach
Occupational Resource: https://www.onetonline.org

Distribution Requirements	Credit Hours
FIRST SEMESTER:
ENG 101 College Composition OR ENG 200 Advanced Composition	3
HUM 100 Exploring Human Services*	3
HUM 217 Skills for Mental Health Services	3
MTH 150 Survey of Mathematics OR ANY SUNY GENERAL EDUCATION MATH (SUNY-MATH) ELECTIVE	3-4
HED 101 Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Care**	1
SUNY GENERAL EDUCATION CRITICAL THINKING and REASONING COMPETENCY (SUNY-CTRN) ELECTIVE (HED 115, HED 130, or HED 211 recommended)	3
Total	16-17
SECOND SEMESTER:
HUM 109 Introduction to Helping Skills (grade of C- or higher required)	6
HUM 218 Working with Trauma Informed Care Skills	3
SPC 141 Interpersonal Speech Communication OR SPC 142 Public Speaking OR SPC 143 Small Group Communication OR SPC 144 Communication and Crisis	3
SOC 101 – Introduction to Sociology	3
Total	15
THIRD SEMESTER:
HUM 119 Case Management and Documentation (grade of C- or higher required)	6
SUNY GENERAL EDUCATION NATURAL SCIENCES (SUNY-NSCI) ELECTIVE (BIO 132 and BIO 133 recommended)	3-4
PSY 101 Introduction to Psychological Science (grade of C or higher required)	3
ACD 140 Alcoholism/Chemical Dependency and the Human Service Worker	3
Total	15-16
FOURTH SEMESTER:
HUM 209 Applied Helping Models	6
PROGRAM ELECTIVE ***	3
PSY 206 Adult Psychopathology	3
SUNY GENERAL EDUCATION WORLD LANGUAGES (SUNY-WLNG) ELECTIVE	3
Total	15
TOTAL PROGRAM CREDITS	61-63

* COS 101 or COS 133 (or other program-specific college success course) will be subbed for HUM 100 if previously completed. Students who took COS 101 (or other one credit college success course) may need an additional two credit elective (ACD, ECE, or HUM recommended) to meet the minimum 60 credit requirement; see success coach/advisor or department chair.
**Students who have a current CPR/AED certification through the American Health Association (AHA) should contact the department for consideration of a waiver of the HED 101 requirement.
***Program Elective: Choose any ACD or ECE courses, or any of the HUM courses not already required (with the exception of ECE 110 or ACD 246).
Revised 8/5/2026