Master of Arts in Holistic Health Education

A popular program for more than 25 years, the Master of Arts in Holistic Health Education at JFK University has helped students learn to apply an integrative perspective of health, education and knowledge of best practices as a foundation for professional work. 

The program is designed for students who are interested in healthcare or are already in a health care profession and are seeking more fulfilling roles in alternative and complementary health care environments. Graduates are working in the fields of corporate and health care wellness, health coaching and nutritional consulting.

All courses in the Holistic Health Education program integrate academic principles, professional skills, social awareness, and personal growth. The program prepares students to build bridges between mainstream approaches to health and complementary approaches that arise out of a holistic paradigm which focuses on creating health through self-care and wellness practices.

The Pleasant Hill program is offered in a traditional classroom format, with classes meeting regularly.  This program also offers specializations, including holistic nutrition; health, consciousness, and spirituality; and somatic education.

For students from outside the state as well as those within California, the program based in Costa Mesa is provided in a hybrid format, consisting of a combination of online courses and courses offered as low-residential, intensives. These intensives meet once per quarter and enable students to complete all the necessary classroom time in a few short days.

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of the Master of Arts in Holistic Education program will be able to:

• Demonstrate an integral perspective – defining health (body, mind, and spirit)from an integrally-informed perspective that recognizes the inherent value of traditional, allopathic, and holistic worldviews and healing paradigms.
• Demonstrate knowledge (general) – (1) theories relevant to holistic health education, (2) current research and health information, and (3) models and issues related to integrative health.
• Demonstrate knowledge (specific) – understanding of theory, issues, health information, research, and applications in an area of focus or specialization within holistic health education.
• Explain about healing modalities – the basic philosophies of health and healing and the basics of diagnosis and treatment (to the level appropriate for health educators) in a variety of modalities of health care, conventional and alternative, East and West. They will also be able to demonstrate familiarity with up-to-date research that substantiates the benefits of these modalities.
• Practice holistic health professionally – apply an integrally-informed perspective of health, education, and knowledge of best practices in the field as a foundation for professional practice in health education.
• Embody a healthy approach – demonstrate a functioning personal practice of wellness, integrally defined.

Requirements

Undergraduate Prerequeisities [1]
PHR 3405 - World Religions (0-3 units)
SCI 3100 - Anatomy and Physiology (0-4 units)

[1] These undergraduate courses or their approved equivalents are prerequisite to the graduate program.  Students who have not completed them prior to admission are required to do so during the first year of graduate study.

Pleasant Hill Curriculum
Core Curriculum
HHE 5001 - Introduction to Holistic Health Education (0 units)
HHE 5505 - Student Review: Midpoint (0 units)
HHE 5608 - Demonstrating Mastery (0 units)
CNS 5010 - Paradigms of Consciousness (3 units)
CNS 5410 - Teaching Practicum A (2 units)
HHE 5120 - Integrative Health (2 units)
HHE 5225 - Foundations of Holistic Health Education (3 units)
HHE 5125 - Energy Models of Healing (2 units)
HHE 5126 - Asian Approaches to Healing (2 units)
HHE 5425 - Moving and Sensing (3 units)
HHE 5130 - The Collective Body (3 units)
HHE 5135 - Healthcare Economics and Politics (2 units)
HHE 5140 - Culture, Community, and Health (2 units)
HHE 5145 - Health, Environment and Sustainability (2 units)
HHE 5158 - The Challenge of Change (2 units)
HHE 5150 - Mind/Body Approaches to Self-Care (2 units)
HHE 5155 - Foundations of Holistic Nutrition (2 units)
HHE 5156 - Comparative Dietary Approaches (2 units)
HHE 5512 - Physiology and Phychology of Stress (3 units)
HHE 5147 - Health Education for the 21st Century (3 units)
HHE 5200 - Integral Research in Health Education (3 units)
HHE 5575 - Supervised Internship (1 unit)
HHE 5160 - Embodying Spirit (2 units)
HHE 5615 - Practicum in Holistic Health - This is a half-unit course which must be taken six times to total three units.  More than one per quarter can be taken. (3 units)
HHE 5430 - Whole Health Coaching Foundations (3 units)
HHE 5610 - MA Integrative Project (2 units)
Electives[2] (13 units)

Total units required: 70-77

[2] Electives may be chosen from the Holistic Health Education course listings or from a graduate program within the University. Students admitted to certificate programs offered by the program and the College of Professional Studies may also apply these courses towards their electives.

Specializations

Health, Consciousness, and Spirituality (20 units)
CNS 5010 - Paradigms of Consciousness (3 units)
HHE 5125 - Energy Models of Healing (2 units)
CNS 5027 - Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness (2 units)
HHE 5160 - Embodying Spirit (2 units)
A&C 5900 - Art and Healing (2 units)
HHE 5163 - Spirituality in Healthcare (2 units)
IPP 5307 - Grief, Loss and Transformation (1 unit)

Select from the following courses (Totaling 6 units)
A&C 5331 - Media of the Sacred Arts (1-3 units)
A&C 5327 - Faces of the Soul (3 units)
A&C 5305 - Art & Altered States of Consciousness (2 units)
A&C 5315 - Dreams and the Arts (3 units)
IPP 5328 - Alchemy and Spiritual Practice (2 units)

Total units required: 20

Holistic Nutrition (25 units)
(For more information about this specialization, see the FAQs under the 'Related Downloads' on the right sidebar.)
HHE 5155 - Foundations of Holistic Nutrition (2 units)
HHE 5156 - Comparative Dietary Approaches (2 units)
HHE 5010 - Applied Nutritional Biochemistry (2 units)
HHE 5167 - Nutritional Consultation and Coaching (2 units)
HHE 5169 - Healing Foods A (2 units)
HHE 5171 - Healing Foods B (2 units)
HHE 5172 - Healing Foods C (2 units)
HHE 5173 - From Farm to Table (3 units)
HHE 5175 - Holistic Approaches to Weight Management (3 units)
HHE 5615 - Practicum in Holistic Health (2 units)
HHE 5429 - Whole Health Coaching (3 units)
Note: Must take practica: Dietary Planning; and Building a Nutritional Consulting Business

Total units required: 25

Costa Mesa Curriculum (70 units)
HHE 5001 - Introduction to Holistic Health Education (0 units)
HHE 5505 - Student Review: Midpoint (0 units)
HHE 5608 - Demonstrating Mastery (0 units)
CNS 5010 - Paradigms of Consciousness (3 units)
CNS 5410 - Teaching Practicum A (3 units)
CNS 5411 - Teaching Practicum B(3 units)
HHE 5120 - Integrative Health (2 units)
HHE 5225 - Foundations of Holistic Health Education (3 units)
HHE 5125/5126/5150 - Modalities A (3 units)
HHE 5425 - Moving and Sensing (3 units)
HHE 5130 - The Collective Body (3 units)
HHE 5135 - Healthcare Economics and Politics (3 units)
HHE 5140 - Culture, Community, and Health (3 units)
HHE 5145 - Health, Environment and Sustainability (3 units)
HHE 5158 - The Challenge of Change (3 units)
HHE 5125/5126/5150 - Modalities B (3 units)
HHE 5155 - Foundations of Holistic Nutrition (4 units)
HHE 5156 - Comparative Dietary Approaches (2 units)
HHE 5512 - Physiology and Psychology of Stress (3 units)
HHE 5147 - Health Education for the 21st Century (3 units)
HHE 5200 - Integral Research in Health Education (3 units)
HHE 5575 - Supervised Internship (2 units)
HHE 5160 - Embodying Spirit (2 units)
HHE 5615 - Topics in Holistic Health Education (3 units)
HHE 5429 - Whole Health Coaching Foundation (3 units)
HHE 5430 - Whole Health Coaching Practicum (3 units)
HHE 5615 - Preparing for Final Project (1 unit)
HHE 5610 - MA Integrative Project (2 units)

Total units required: 70

Program Information

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Program Locations

• Costa Mesa Campus
• Pleasant Hill - Main Campus

Related Downloads

• Nutrition Specialization FAQs
• Holistic Health Ed Application Requirements and Form

Useful Links

• Attend an Upcoming Open House