Master of Arts - Human Services - Alchoholism and Substance Abuse

Program Description

The M.A. degree in Human Services (HMS) provides advanced professional education for students who have an undergraduate education in human services or who have completed specific prerequisite courses to prepare them for study in the field. It is a multidisciplinary degree that prepares students to become competent as human services professionals for multiple roles and settings.

The degree contains core courses that teach skills and concepts needed by all human services professionals and integrates content from several academic concentrations to allow students to develop specific expertise. The concentrations are:

• alcoholism and substance abuse,
  
• child and family studies,
• gerontology, and
• social services administration.

Students are prepared to practice with competency and confidence within all concentrations. Study in this degree program requires that students examine aspects of their past lives and family experiences in an effort to understand their beliefs, values, and biases. This self-awareness is necessary when working with vulnerable populations.

The degree program teaches students to appreciate contemporary and historic human characteristics, issues, and problems and to plan for the delivery of human services in the future. Courses teach students to design, assess, treat, plan for, advocate for, counsel with, manage, and collaborate with individuals, groups, or agencies needing and using human services.

The Illinois Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Professional Certification Association, Inc., has accredited the alcohol and substance abuse concentration in the M.A. in Human Services. Students who successfully complete this concentration may be eligible to take the certifying examination for IAODAPCA. Students seeking admission to this concentration must have a two-year history of sobriety.