Department of Counseling & Human Services
Counseling & Human Services
Department of Counseling & Human Services
The mission of the Department of Counseling and Human Services at UCCS is to provide excellence in the professional preparation of undergraduate, master's, and advanced degree-seeking students. Experienced faculty delivers high-quality professional education that leads to transformational change.
About the Department
The philosophy behind our training programs emphasizes that counselors assist clients and students with life challenges through dynamic, holistic, developmentally appropriate, strength-based interventions that emphasize the creation of healthy coping skills.
Further, through psycho-educational interventions, counselors seek to prevent problems before they are created by helping clients and students foster effective communication, problem-solving, and conflict-resolution skills, as well as healthy and adaptive behavioral patterns.
Undergraduate Programs
Human Services, BA
The Bachelor of Arts in Human Services emphasizes personal growth, theory-based practices, and experiential learning through fieldwork placement. The Human Services major provides both the academic and experiential background for the student seeking a career working with diverse populations in the varied and expanding field of Human Services.
Human Services, Minor
The Human Services minor emphasizes personal growth, theory-based practices, and experiential learning through fieldwork placement.
Undergraduate Certificate Programs:
Graduate Programs
Counseling, MA - School Counseling
The school counselor program requires the completion of a 60-semester hour program. School Counselor students will complete the same foundational coursework as the Clinical Mental Health Counselor students and may be eligible for licensure as a Colorado Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC).
Counseling, MA - Clinical Mental Health
The Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) emphasis within the Department of Counseling and Human Services is designed to prepare graduate students to assume positions in the provision of professional counseling and consultation services involving the principles of psychotherapy.
Counseling, MA - Counseling & Leadership (Squadron Commander)
The Counseling and Leadership master's degree program is a one-year, comprehensive curriculum for developing selected Majors for the important responsibility of an air officer commanding or leading a cadet squadron at the US Air Force Academy.
Graduate Certificate & Licensure Programs:
Western Regional Graduate Program
Western Interstate Commission for High Education (WICHE)
The Department of Counseling & Human Services at UCCS is recognized by WICHE through their Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP). This program allows anyone from the 15 states in the Western region of the USA to receive special tuition rates. To learn more about the program, please visit the WICHE website.
Commitment to Personal Growth
The faculty members within the Department of Counseling and Human Services (DCHS) recognize the importance of human growth and personal development for all people throughout their lives. This includes counselors-in-training. A cornerstone of this program is our emphasis on the personal growth of our counselors-in-training. The personality of the counselor and the capacity to effectively relate to and “join” with others in the counseling alliance are instrumental in delivering effective counseling interventions.
Therefore, the curriculum for programs includes significant experiential coursework designed to enhance the self-awareness, adaptability, and continuing personal growth of each student in the counseling program. Students interested in our program must be committed to their personal growth as well as their professional and academic development.
Additional Resources
Campus Connections
Campus Connections is a wellness and resiliency-oriented service-learning course that pairs UCCS students and youth from the community in mentor-mentee relationships.
Youth are referred through our El Paso County Community partners and are matched with a UCCS student who provides one-on-one therapeutic mentoring throughout the semester.