This fully online Ontario College Graduate Certificate program is primarily designed to enhance and further develop the skills of individuals who already work in healthcare or the social services field and who are interested in specializing in addictions and mental health. There is a growing need for coordinated services by professionals with the knowledge and skills to treat concurrent disorders. Students take an interdisciplinary approach to the study of mental health, mental illness, and substance use including a focus on holistic assessment and intervention strategies, recovery process, and promotion of ongoing mental health. Students acquire the knowledge, skills, and abilities required by front-line workers and supervisors to deliver responsive and effective substance use disorder treatment and mental health services while promoting empowerment, self-determination, and optimum quality of life to individuals. Students gain practical experience through a supervised placement.
Upon completion of the program, students possess the knowledge and skills to work with vulnerable populations in a variety of community mental health and addictions services settings, dependent on their prior experience and credentials. These settings may include social service and government agencies, mental health agencies, residential treatment centres, group homes, homeless shelters, school boards, services for women, services for aboriginal people, crisis response services, correctional facilities, hospitals, long-term care facilities, hospices, and other establishments.