The field of human services tends to attract those who want to help improve quality-of-life services for individuals and communities. When you earn your human services degree, you open yourself up to greater career opportunities. You can also gain a competitive edge through specialized coursework when you decide to align your studies with your professional goals and interests. At Walden University, you can pursue your human services degree at the bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral level and choose from a wide array of focus areas. Here are five of the best options for those looking for a fulfilling and rewarding human services career.
Top Five Human Services Degree Specializations
- Mental Health
Doctoral programs such as a PhD in Human Services with a specialization in Mental Health offer a perspective on the significant role mental health plays in communities. Coursework helps you prepare to serve in nontherapeutic counseling roles, such as community mental health clinic coordinator and field service provider, and guide individuals as they navigate mental health services. Your residencies and dissertation will help you focus your interests through practical applications and intensive research. - Military Families and Culture
A PhD in Human Services with a specialization in Military Families and Culture can prepare you with strategies to address the unique challenges faced by military service members, veterans, and their loved ones. Coursework focuses on the impact of parent-child separation, family relocations, extensive deployments, post-traumatic stress disorder, and more. This PhD specialization can prepare you for a variety of careers, including social and community worker for Veterans Affairs, human services program leader, and nontherapeutic counselor. As with other PhD programs and specializations, you’ll further hone your knowledge and become a true scholar-practitioner through your residencies and dissertation. - Disaster, Crisis, and Intervention
Master’s programs with career-aligned specializations like the MS in Human Services specialization in Disaster, Crisis, and Intervention focus on theories and strategies to meet the needs of individuals, families, and communities in crisis. You’ll have the opportunity to analyze a local or regional crisis and prepare a crisis plan to handle future emergencies. You’ll study real-world scenarios via simulations and case studies. This human services specialization can prepare you for influential careers such as agency coordinator, program director, emergency management manager, and other roles. - Community and Social Services
An MS in Human Services with a specialization in Community and Social Services can prepare you to assume a leadership position promoting community wellness. For your master’s capstone project, you’ll address a current problem in your field and provide a potential solution. For your future role as a key change agent, you’ll learn how to lead efforts in communities to improve living and working conditions, as well as how to assess a community’s needs. This specialization can help prepare you for rewarding positions such as community case worker, community organizer, or human services program coordinator. - Criminal Justice
Bachelor’s programs like the BS in Human Services with a concentration in Criminal Justice explore how the justice system really functions, as opposed to how it is portrayed on TV crime shows. You can gain the foundational skills and knowledge to identify and analyze the complex relationships between victims, offenders, communities, and government agencies in response to crimes. This human services concentration can help prepare you for a career as a parole officer, community support worker, or other roles in the criminal justice system.
Enroll in One of Walden’s Human Services Degree Programs
At Walden—an accredited university—it’s more convenient than ever to earn your human services degree while you work full time. That’s because online education gives you the power to take your classes at whatever time of day works best for you from wherever you have internet access. Begin your bachelor’s or graduate learning journey and gain the skills and credentials you need to further your human services career.
Walden University is an accredited institution offering human services degree programs online, including a BS in Human Services, MS in Human Services, and PhD in Human Services. Expand your career options and earn your degree using a convenient, flexible learning platform that fits your busy life.
Career options may require additional experience, training, or other factors beyond the successful completion of a degree program.
Walden University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission, www.hlcommission.org.