Best Online Graduate Certificates in Child Psychology
Earning a graduate certificate and starting a career in child psychology can be a great way to make a difference in the lives of children, bolster your career, and open up new opportunities. When you earn your graduate certificate in child psychology, you’ll get the information you need to help kids with their mental health, without having to go through a full two-year master’s degree program. Following the completion of your certificate, you’ll be qualified to work in a number of settings, including schools, hospitals, private practice settings, and more. Here, we’ll take a look at what you can expect to learn over the course of your child psychology graduate certificate program, and what you need to know about typical admissions requirements.
What Will I Learn in an Online Child Psychology Graduate Certificate Program?
Earning a graduate certificate in child psychology can be a great way to further your education after you complete your bachelor’s degree without requiring the commitment it takes to enter a master’s or doctorate program.
In your child psychology graduate certificate program, you can expect to cover topics including:
- Care systems: In your care systems classes, you’ll learn about the pros and cons of the current systems in place to support the welfare of children. Knowledge of these systems will help you navigate the best paths to treatment for your clients.
- Child development: In order to help children thrive, it’s important that you understand what’s normal for child development–and what’s a cause for concern. In your child development classes, you’ll learn benchmarks to look for at each stage of the child development process.
- Ethics: It’s important that you understand the ethical considerations that come with working in children’s mental health. Your ethics classes will help you understand the ethical codes you’ll be required to follow as a mental health professional.
- Cultural competence: When working with children, it’s important to understand where they’re coming from. Your cultural competency classes will teach you about different parenting techniques, academic expectations, behavioral expectations, and more. These classes will give you a clearer understanding of how to help a diverse group of clients.
- Assessment and intervention: You’ll need to be able to assess your clients to find out what’s going well and where you can create a treatment plan to help them move forward. Your assessment and intervention classes will help you identify client issues and create effective treatment plans.
Most graduate certificates take about a year to complete. If you already have some graduate class credits, you may be able to finish your graduate certificate program in a shorter time period. If you decide to pursue an internship or practicum opportunity while you’re earning your certificate, it may take you longer than a year to complete your program. You can also learn about other child psychology degree types.
Admissions Requirements for a Graduate Certificate in Child Psychology
In order to gain admission to a graduate certificate in child psychology program, you’ll need to have a bachelor’s degree at minimum. Your program may prefer that your undergraduate degree is in a related field, such as psychology, sociology, or education. Your program may also have a minimum GPA recommendation, often 2.75 or higher.
You may also need to submit letters of recommendation as a part of your admissions package, as well as a statement of purpose explaining what you’d like to accomplish after you complete your graduate certificate program.
List of Child Psychology Graduate Certificate Programs
Find an online or campus-based graduate certificate program in child psychology today – our state-by-state listings make it easy to find a great program near you.
Jump to Your State Listings
Alaska
University of Alaska Anchorage
Anchorage, AK 99508
(907) 786-1800
Colorado
University of Northern Colorado
Greeley, CO 80639
(970) 351-1890
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