This eight-month graduate certificate program equips you with specialized knowledge in mental health intervention, enhancing your skills and increasing your employability in the field. The program focuses on deepening your understanding of mental health issues, with an emphasis on reflecting on and addressing stigma in both personal and professional contexts.
You will learn to use the Social Determinants of Health, examine mental wellness from a community, family and person perspective, discovering global perspectives and approaches to mental health and wellness, crisis intervention skills and trauma-informed counselling. You will learn multiple theoretical and practical approaches to mental health including medically modelled, biopsychosocial, recovery-oriented and peer support perspectives. This allows for the creation of holistic and collaborative care planning, unique to any individual or family's needs.
Our professors are engaged in community and health care research to offer the latest perspectives, frameworks, theories, and interventions. During your second semester, the unique Community Outreach course will challenge your abilities to innovate new practices in the field. In this course, you will learn to assess protective factors while balancing any elements of risk for the person, family and/or community. You will collaborate with fellow students to develop original modules based on best practices in mental health detection, prevention, and outreach.
Graduates with a GPA of 3.0 or higher are eligible to pursue many different educational pathways including Seneca’s Honours Bachelor of Mental Health and Addiction (BMHA) program.
Ontario College Graduate Certificate
2 Semesters (8 Months)
January, May
This program is offered in Seneca's hybrid delivery format. Some coursework is online and some must be completed in person. Students will need to come on campus to complete in-person learning requirements.
Throughout this program you will develop the following skills:
Graduates of the program can explore the following career options:
| Course Code | Course Name | Weekly Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Semester 1 | ||
| MHI100 | Introduction to Mental Health | 3 |
| MHI101 | Diversity: Building Resilience | 3 |
| MHI119 | Psychosocial Health | 3 |
| MHI214 | Community Outreach | 3 |
| MHI406 | Dynamics of the Family | 3 |
| Semester 2 | ||
| MHI200 | Trauma Methods and Practice | 3 |
| MHI215 | Community Outreach II | 3 |
| MHI304 | Crisis Counselling | 3 |
| MHI402 | Health Promotion and Education | 3 |
| MHI403 | Contemporary Issues in Community Mental Health | 3 |
| MHI504 | Understanding Addiction | 3 |
This Seneca program has been validated by the Credential Validation Service as an Ontario College Credential as required by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities.
As a graduate, you will be prepared to reliably demonstrate the ability to:
Canadian citizens or permanent residents educated outside of Canada must provide a World Education Services (WES) or ICAS Canada credential evaluation.
International admissions requirements vary by program and in addition to English requirements, programs may require credits in mathematics, biology, and chemistry at a level equivalent to Ontario’s curriculum, or a postsecondary degree or diploma, equivalent to an Ontario university or college. Program-specific pre-requisite courses and credentials are listed with the admission requirements on each program page. To review the academic requirements please visit: Academic Requirements - Seneca, Toronto, Canada (senecapolytechnic.ca).
As a leader in academic pathways, we offer a range of options that will allow you to take your credential further in another Seneca program or a program at a partner institution.
To learn more about your eligibility, visit the Academic Pathways web page.
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