Showing dedication to the advancement and training of individuals pursuing a career in the helping professions, the University of Iowa College of Education recently expanded its undergraduate offerings to include a new Bachelor of Arts Counseling and Behavioral Health Services (CBHS) degree.
A recent Daily Iowan article looks at how this new program is being received in its early stages.
The following excerpt is from the DI article:
“The University of Iowa College of Education is seeing great interest in its new counseling and behavioral health services undergraduate degree program. The major was approved by the Board of Regents in April and began course offerings this fall.
Noel Estrada-Hernández, UI professor of rehabilitation counseling and co-founder of the program, and Martin Kivlighan, counseling psychology professor and program director, said the initiative for the new major began last year due to inquiries from the provost office about a specific counseling degree.
“There was a little bit more of an interest in people getting a degree that will lead to helping skills in general,” Estrada-Hernández said.
Kivlighan said the major differs from other mental health-related majors on campus, such as sociology or psychology, as it puts applicable skills that students need at the forefront of the major. Other programs focus more on what is happening in the brain and larger systems as a whole.
“We’re more focused in terms of developing those communication skills that are leading to helping,” Kivlighan said. “They’ll learn active listening skills. They’ll learn how to ask questions and sound like a helper.”
The degree is not intended to be licensable and instead serves as an entry-level degree for graduate school or direct employment in helping fields. Examples include jobs in corrections, school mental health, and substance abuse management.”
