Call us Now: 1-866-827-8467
ADVANCE > INQUIRE NOW

Behavioral Science

Bachelor of Science Degree

If you have a passion to help people, working in the human services field is a rewarding career. Exploring and understanding the effects of human actions and relationships between individuals in the family, in business, and society is the focus of Bellevue University's Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Science.

The foundational knowledge of the in-class and online degree in Behavioral Science includes major concepts and theories from psychology, sociology, and counseling, with an emphasis on applications to human services and personal improvement. Applied experience will help you deepen a reflective understanding of self, of the needs of diverse populations of people, and agencies that provide services.

Interested in this degree?  Start Here

Courses in the major include:

Each of the many professions involved in human services approaches client and community needs from its own specialized perspectives and uses tools for assessment and treatment that vary from uses of media to prescription medications. Professional skills development in the interaction with social workers, counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and other professionals will be explored.
This course will explore evidence-based conceptualizations of both normal and disordered mental states, together with an examination of the etiology, development, manifestation, and potential treatment of mental disorders in infants, children, adolescents, and adults.
All human service professionals must be able to find and accurately utilize information published in journals and scholarly books. This course puts emphasis on learning to recognize and analyze research types relevant to human services to extract key information. This course also will facilitate learning of basic descriptive statistics and standardized scores in measurement. The evaluation of ethical research will also be discussed.
Counseling theories are useful guides for human service professionals because they identify key factors in assessment and treatment. This course introduces "traditional" theories such as psychodynamic, humanistic, and cognitive-behavioral. Other more specialized counseling theories and techniques are helpful for ethnic identity issues, family problems, and recovery from substance abuse. Many of the theories also identify specific counseling techniques such as problem solving, goal setting, Motivational Interviewing, empathy, and exploring cognition and behavior.
Addresses cultural, social, religious, and economic factors applicable to cultural, ethnic, and minority populations; both from the perspective of the culturally diverse client and the counselor. Experimental methods of learning are emphasized, including the development of self- awareness in the helper. Traditional counseling theories, as well as more recent approaches to counseling diverse groups are analyzed for ethical and practical implications. The helper's role in addressing advocacy and justice are explored.
This course provides opportunities to practice a basic set of interviewing and helping skills commonly used in individual and group counseling. An integrative approach will be used which allows students to learn, understand, and use skills taken from major counseling approaches, and to integrate these into a sequential process that maximizes the possibility of facilitating change in clients.
This course will merge the complex and comprehensive understanding of the nature and needs of persons at all the developmental levels and in multicultural contexts. Individual and family developmental theories and transitions, as well as theories of learning and personality development including knowledge about neurobiological behavior and resiliency are emphasized. Knowledge about human behavior as it relates to developmental crisis, trauma-causing events, addictions, psychopathology, disability, and other factors that influence normal and abnormal behavior will be presented.
Human Services professionals will be most effective if the strategies they use are validated by clinical research. A range of validated methods are analyzed in areas such as clinical assessment, empathy, parenting, depression, anxiety, phobias, and pain management. Additionally, instruction includes application designed to strengthen the ethical reasoning skills of the professional as related to substance abuse.
This course emphasizes how a student will assess and develop personal management and leadership skills in the human services domain. This will include a focus on personal and corporate ethics and administrative challenges specific to the realm of human services organizations. In addition, the course will address employee assistance and evaluation, diversity, fundraising needs, organizational culture, and group/team dynamics within an agency.
This course prepares students for success in their academic and professional careers. The foundation for learning is established for professional skill development through practical experience. Learner strengths are assessed and analytical, relational, and resilience skills are developed.

Your Experience Counts

Bellevue University welcomes the college-level learning you already have and will count it toward your degree. Take advantage of the credits you have. Save time and money.


Real Learning for Real Life

Tracy Zamora graduated from Bellevue University through her employer's partnership with Bellevue University. Now, she directly applies the knowledge and skills she earned from her BS in Behavioral Science to her role. Her colleagues notice and she's their go-to for advice.

Looking for more?

Bellevue University offers more than 50 career-relevant bachelor's degrees.

We'll help you find the one that's right for you. Contact an Enrollment Counselor.

Connect Now

© Bellevue University. All rights reserved. | Privacy | Terms of Use | Accreditation | Consumer Information

Schedule your personal advising session now!