This post-master’s certificate program equips school-based health and mental health professionals to develop their leadership skills and increase the capacity for wellness in their school communities. Primary takeaways from the program include: advanced training in fostering collaboration between stakeholders in the school community, implementing strength-based interventions in schools, advocating for whole-school interventions, and becoming more data driven and evidence informed as School-Based Mental Health Practitioners (SBMHP). The highlight of the program is to develop and implement a School Change Project.
Curriculum
This program consists of 15 credit hours, including two synchronous courses, two asynchronous online courses, and one hybrid elective class. All courses are offered online with the exception of one in-person immersion weekend required. Courses are offered during the fall and spring semesters.
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| SOWK 780 / SOWK 781 | Integrative Seminar I Advanced School Mental Health Program (online, taught over the full 1st year) | 3 |
| SOWK 782 / SOWK 783 | Integrative Seminar III Advanced School Mental Health Program (online, taught over the full 2nd year) | 3 |
| SOWK 784 | Evidence Based Practice in Schools (online, can take in either Year 1 or Year 2) | 3 |
| SOWK 785 | Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Techniques (SFBT, MI) (online, may take in either Year 1 or Year 2) | 3 |
| SOWK 786 | Special Topics in School Social Work (online & includes the summer immersion weekend) | 3 |
| Total Hours | 15 |
Length of Program
The program begins in the Fall semester (August). Courses are offered during the fall and spring semesters. Average time to completion (full-time) is 2 years (4 semesters).
Note: The U.S. Department of Education requires any institution offering distance education/online programs to students outside of its home state to acquire authorization from the states in which students reside. Regulations vary from state to state. While Loyola University Chicago is authorized, exempt or pursuing authorization in most states, some restrictions apply. Please see our State Authorization page for the most up-to-date information.
Loyola University Chicago is registered as a private institution with the Minnesota Office of Higher Education pursuant to sections 136A.61 to 136A.71. Registration is not an endorsement of the institution. Credits earned at the institution may not transfer to all other institutions.
Graduate & Professional Standards and Regulations
Students in graduate and professional programs can find their Academic Policies in Graduate and Professional Academic Standards and Regulations under their school. Any additional University Policies supersede school policies.
Learning Outcomes
The learning goals for the SMHAPP are:
- To help SBMHPs further assist school communities build capacity to implement system-wide social and emotional wellness.
- To enhance the overall sense of well being in school communities by strengthening SBMHP collaborations between students, families, faculty and communities, including the delivery of effective interventions across all three tiers of the RTI and PBIS models.
- To train SBMHPs to implement strength-based interventions in their practice, specifically interventions rooted in solution-focused brief therapy models and some of the ongoing solution-focused research being carried out at the Family School Partnership Program.
- To reshape school practice by training school based mental health professionals to provide more systemic, whole school interventions and efficiently meet students’ needs.
- To provide skills and frameworks for school based mental health professionals to learn how to become more data-driven and evidence-informed in their school mental health practice.
- To develop SBMHPs ability to step into leadership roles within their schools.
