UCLA Extension Counseling Programs: A Comprehensive Guide
UCLA Extension stands as one of the largest and most comprehensive continuing education programs in the nation. Deeply committed to the advancement and enrichment of Los Angeles and Southern California, UCLA Extension provides individuals with opportunities to grow, develop skills, and even shift careers. Through 150 certificate programs in more than 20 fields, UCLA Extension customizes its curriculum to place aspirations within reach. Many professionals with university degrees enroll in these courses and programs to update their knowledge in fields such as engineering, computer science, business and management, health sciences, and teacher education. This article explores the various counseling-related programs offered by UCLA Extension, highlighting their unique features and benefits.
Overview of UCLA Extension
UCLA Extension is dedicated to providing accessible and high-quality continuing education. The institution’s commitment extends to various specialized centers and programs, including:
- Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB): A University of California program that helps the legal community stay abreast of new developments and procedures in the field of law.
- UCLA Anderson Executive Education: Since 1954, this program has helped organizations and individuals work smarter by driving new knowledge into the workplace.
- Center X: This center designs and conducts programs that prepare and support K-12 teachers and administrators committed to social justice, instructional excellence, the integration of research and practice, and caring, in low-income urban schools.
- School of Theater, Film and Television: Offers professional programs in producing, screenwriting, and writing for television, modeled after its world-renowned M.F.A. program. Alumni have won numerous awards, including Academy Awards and Emmys.
- National Head Start Association: Dedicated to policy and institutional reform, this association develops educational programs to provide vulnerable children and families with the tools and necessities to succeed in life.
- Office of Continuing Medical Education at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA: Keeps the medical community abreast of new and evolving medical concepts and advancements.
- The Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior: A world-leading interdisciplinary research and education institute devoted to understanding complex human behavior and the causes and consequences of neuropsychiatric disorders.
- UCLA School of Dentistry: Offers a continuing education program that helps practicing dentists broaden and sharpen their skills with courses covering the latest scientific and clinical developments in the field.
- Center for Prehospital Care: Encompasses education, research, and institutional quality improvement, serving aspiring and experienced EMS providers, agencies, and healthcare professionals in allied fields.
- Southern California Education NIOSH and Research Center: Embodies a coordinated, interdisciplinary set of continuing education activities that have a positive impact on the region’s and nation’s occupational health and safety practice.
- Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UCLA (OLLI): Invites adults aged 50 and over to join a vibrant community of like-minded individuals for the sheer joy of learning.
Substance Use Disorder Counseling Certificate
Substance use disorder counselors play a crucial role in the lives of those struggling with addiction. UCLA Extension offers a certificate program designed to equip individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to become effective substance use disorder counselors.
Program Overview
This certificate program provides an introduction to the theories and vital skills needed when counseling individuals with substance use disorders. Skilled and well-trained counselors can make a significant difference in the cycle of addiction.
Information Session and Orientation
Prospective students are encouraged to attend a free information session and new student orientation to learn more about the growing profession of substance use disorder counseling and meet instructors who teach in the certificate program. Attendance is often required to complete the application process.
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Zappala Family Scholarship
The Zappala Family Scholarship, established in 2013, supports students enrolled in the UCLA Extension Alcohol & Drug Abuse Counseling Certificate. This scholarship provides qualified individuals with the opportunity to pursue professional careers as addiction counselors. The Zappala family, having been personally touched by the effects of addiction, strongly believes in supporting the education of those seeking to help individuals and families overcome addiction, achieve recovery, and return to a healthy way of living.
Course Highlights
The program covers various aspects of substance use disorder counseling, including:
- Understanding the cycle of addiction
- Counseling techniques
- Strategies for helping individuals and families achieve recovery
Behavioral Health Support Specialist (BHSS) Certificate
Established in 2022, the Behavioral Health Support Specialist (BHSS) Certificate provides foundational training for working and aspiring paraprofessionals. It addresses the increasing need for health professionals to provide clients and their families with behavioral health care and peer support related to mental health, substance use disorders, self-harm, violence, homelessness, and certain illnesses.
Program Focus
The program focuses on the specialized needs of LGBTQ+ communities in healthcare settings and covers essential topics such as:
- The field of behavioral health care
- Scope of practice
- Cultural competency
- Communication strategies
- Ethics and confidentiality
- Human sexuality
Students learn about the challenges facing LGBTQ+ clients and how to provide culturally sensitive and effective support.
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Course Structure
The program consists of ten required courses, totaling 37.5 academic credit units. Students should expect to spend approximately 7 - 9 hours outside class per week per course to complete assignments, readings, and study for exams.
Key Courses
- Overview of Health Care and Behavioral Health Systems: This course provides an overview of healthcare and behavioral health systems and how they affect the LGBTQ+ community and individuals from diverse backgrounds.
- Laws, Regulations, and Ethics in Behavioral Health: This course covers laws, regulations, and ethical issues involving the rights and responsibilities of patients, families, and providers.
- Human Sexuality: This course reviews human sexuality with a strong focus on the LGBTQ+ community, psychosocial aspects of human sexuality, and its impact on individuals and society.
- Cultural Competency and Intersectionality: This course explores the fundamentals of cultural competency and client intersectionality, including the cultural impacts of race, nationality, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, and socioeconomic status on identity development, behavioral health access, and treatment.
- Integrated Behavioral Health Teams: This course provides the foundational knowledge and skills needed to support integrated behavioral health teams, covering the professional scope of practice, role delineation, and job functions.
- Understanding Addiction: This course provides students with a basic level of understanding of addiction from a historical, cultural, psychological, and neurobiological perspective. It examines alcohol and other drug dependencies through a multidisciplinary approach.
- Communication Strategies in Behavioral Health: This course focuses on high-quality communication between behavioral health care providers, patients, and families, which has been shown to positively influence client outcomes.
- Supervised Field Work Practicum: This practicum extends over two quarters and requires trainees to complete a minimum of 260 hours of fieldwork with UCLA Extension’s collaborating community-based organizations.
- Capstone Project: The program culminates in a capstone project course synthesizing the coursework and experiential learning components of the program while encouraging reflection on the program and future careers in behavioral health care.
Admission Requirements
Prospective students must submit a completed application, including:
- Resume
- Transcripts
- Statement of intent (highlighting professional goals, applicable skills, and experiences, and motivation for working with the LGBTQ+ population and other underserved communities)
- Two letters of recommendation (one from a behavioral health professional or supervisor)
Applications are reviewed by the admission committee using an admission rubric. All courses in the BHSS Certificate are fully sponsored by a grant from the Health Resources & Services Administration.
College Counseling Certificate
If you have a passion for helping students succeed, an aptitude for working with parents, and the capacity for coaching and goal setting, a career in college counseling may be worth exploring. The College Counseling Certificate at UCLA Extension is designed for secondary school counselors, teachers, career counselors, admissions personnel, and professionals interested in expanding their skillset or establishing independent educational consultancies. The program is also ideal for college admissions professionals seeking to advise high school students on post-secondary options.
Program Details
- Format: 100% online
- Duration: 1-2 years to complete (typical pace is 1-2 courses per quarter)
This program is suitable for those already involved in college admissions counseling or those with some undergraduate study in the field. It can also be beneficial for those seeking a promotion, contemplating a career change, or looking to open their own consultancy.
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College Advising Program (CAP) with LAUSD
The College Advising Program (CAP) with Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) aims to deepen the knowledge and skillset of counselors across the school district to support their college advisement services. High school and middle school counselors take the same set of three academic courses (worth 4.5 credits each) and one practicum course (worth 6 credits). Participants must earn a passing grade of B or better in each class to earn the specialization.
Key Courses
- College Admission Process: This course explores the college admission process from both the student and counselor perspectives, with emphasis on student research, application, college selection, and counselor information dissemination and responsibility.
- Students with Unique Perspectives and Needs in the Admissions Process: This course focuses on individual groups of students with unique perspectives and needs in the admissions process, such as students with learning differences, athletes, first‐generation students, LGBTQ students, transfer students, etc.
- Financial Aid: This course prepares counselors for the complex and information-intensive subject of financial aid, a critical component of the college admissions process.
- Practicum: This course applies theory and methodology in an actual counseling situation under professional supervision. Participants complete 65 hours of supervised fieldwork in a local counseling venue, such as their middle or high school, and earn 50 hours of academic credit.
Program Expectations
Students are expected to participate in class and complete work by the assigned due dates. Failure to participate in a timely manner or turn in work by the due dates may result in being dropped from the course and from the program. Personal time management is a critical teaching competency.
Each quarter is 10 weeks long, and weekly, hour-long Zoom office hours are held by the instructor. Students are required to attend a minimum of five separate Zoom office hours per quarter. All work activity takes place online via Canvas.
Students are subject to disciplinary action for academic dishonesty or behavioral misconduct.
Instructors
All UCLA Extension course instructors go through a rigorous selection process and receive extensive training and regular evaluation to ensure high‐quality performance. Instructors and course content are approved by the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies.
Additional Courses
UCLA Extension offers a variety of other courses that can be beneficial for those interested in counseling or related fields:
- Introduction to Epidemiology: Introduces core concepts in epidemiology as a foundation for further learning in the public health and infection prevention fields.
- Nutrition Trends: Helps students gain the ability to critically evaluate any nutrition trend.
- Human Anatomy and Physiology: Provides an introduction to human anatomy and physiology with an emphasis on the structure and function of human cells, tissues, organs, and systems.
- Medical Assistant Program Courses: A 3-part series covering foundations for clinical practice for medical assistants, preparing students for the state exam.
- Medical Terminology: A comprehensive introduction and continuation to terminology used in the medical field.
- Venipuncture: Teaches students to perform venipuncture.
General Information
Instructors and Course Content
UCLA Extension ensures high-quality instruction through a rigorous selection process for instructors. Once hired, instructors receive extensive training and regular evaluations to maintain high performance in their specific teaching environments. The UCLA School of Education and Information Studies approves both instructors and course content.
Online Learning Environment
Throughout the College Advisement Certificate program, all work activity, including assignment completion, discussion prompt responses, and interactions with instructors, takes place online via Canvas.
Student Conduct
Students are subject to disciplinary action for several types of misconduct or attempted misconduct, including but not limited to academic dishonesty, such as cheating, multiple submission, plagiarism, or knowingly furnishing false information to the University, or behavioral misconduct, such as theft or misuse of the intellectual property of others, harassment, or disruption of the learning environment.
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