The MA degree can be completed in 7 quarters if students start in the fall quarter. However, students pursuing the Holistic Nutrition Specialization and/or the Graduate Certificate in Holistic Health Coaching will need at least one additional quarter to complete the required electives.
Master of Arts
in Holistic Health Education
Holistic Nutrition
19.6%
Expected Annual Growth in Health Education Jobs in CA
14.5%
Expected Annual Growth in Health Education Jobs in U.S. 2014
Ways to Learn
Quick Facts
- 2-Years Full-Time
- 3 Years Part-Time
- 65 Units
- Evening Option
Campus Location
Overview
The Specialization in Holistic Nutrition requires completion of 24 units, 13 of which are core units embedded in the MA in Holistic Health Education curriculum, and 11 of which are electives. (NOTE: Because we only require 5 units of electives, the specialization students end up taking a total of 65 rather than 59 units to get all 11 of the elective units required for the specialization.)
Highlights
- Unique nutritional expertise embedded within the field of health education
- Emphasis on food as a healing modality
- Students learn to customize their nutritional approach for each client
Students enrolled in the Specialization in Holistic Nutrition evaluate multiple nutritional approaches and dietary theories, analyzing the benefits and deficits of each approach as applied to the individual.
Throughout the course of study, students apply the theme of food as a healing modality in a range of ways, from addressing imbalances that occur throughout an individual’s lifetime to developing nutritional and herbal approaches to common disease states including heart disease, diabetes and dysglycemia, cancer, and autoimmune conditions. The concepts of nourishment and creating health within imbalance and disease states are also explored.
Finally, the Specialization in Holistic Nutrition reaches beyond holism as applied to the individual to implications in global food systems and environmental influences on individual and community health.
PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES
As a result of completing the Specialization in Holistic Nutrition, graduates are able to:
- Choose nutritional approaches and demonstrate understanding of theory, issues, health information, research, and applications in the field of nutrition
- Explain in clear language basic philosophies of holistic nutrition and application of nutritional therapies
- Practice professionally as a nutrition educator, instructor, and consultant as well as an integrative/holistic health educator
- Embody a healthy approach to nutrition and nourishment, and model health through food and nutrition in one’s own community
Specialization Electives
Electives
Units
HHE 5910 Dietary Planning
1
Students will develop the skills and practical experience necessary to develop customized diet and meal plans. Different approaches to diet development and meal planning will be covered. Students will learn how to develop meal plans and food charts for a variety of dietary approaches such as a cleansing diet, calorie controlled diets, vegetarian diets, vegan diets, Paleo, Ketogenic, etc. Diets for several common health issues will also be discussed. Prerequisite: HHE 5772
HHE 5911 Nutritional Consultation Business Practices
1
This course is designed to train students how to build, run, and market their own nutrition consulting practice. Nutrition consulting has become an increasingly viable and growing option for nutrition professionals. Whether planning to open their own practice, work for another health professional, or work as a health educator within a corporate setting, students need the skills to create their own practice within a practice. In this course, students gain a clear understanding of the consulting process and learn to recognize their own strengths as a consultant and to define and establish a strategic direction, as well as tips on running an office, setting fees, insurance needs, and developing an overall business plan and marketing strategy. Prerequisite: HHE 5772
HHE 5912 Nutritional Consultation and Coaching
2
The focus of this course is effective nutrition counseling including the skills needed for building rapport, listening and interviewing skills, including motivational interviewing, and working with clients through various states of change. Blending together counseling and coaching techniques, students will learn how to identify key areas of intervention to maximize client’s success and how to engage with clients in a collaborative manner to co-create a dietary plan that works. Prerequisites: HHE 5750, HHE 5772.
HHE 5913 Nutrition for Healing Body and Mind
4
Nutritional approaches for working with clients with conditions such as diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, allergies, depression, heart disease and cancer are addressed in this course. This course introduces the foods, ways of eating, nutritional therapies and dietary approaches that help to bring about and maintain the most vibrant health with regard to gastrointestinal health, diabetes, allergies, autoimmune disease, depression, cancer and heart disease. This course will explore some of the underlying causes, nutritional deficiencies and lifestyle factors that contribute to these health conditions. Nutritional and herbal approaches for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, food allergies, asthma, and breast cancer will also be discussed. Emphasis is on promoting and maintaining wellness. Prerequisite: HHE 5772
HHE 5914 Holistic Approaches to Weight and Health
1
Approaches to weight management are examined, including an alternative model of looking at weight and size – Health At Every Size®. The psychology behind issues related to nourishment and poor body image are considered in this course, along with socio-cultural factors that influence weight and health. Prerequisite: HHE 5772
HHE 5915 Farm to Table
2
A thorough examination and analysis of the complete food chain will serve as a means of determining how and why our food supply may or may not supply healthy choices for any of us. Food production begins in the earth and continues through many necessary and sometimes unnecessary processes. This class will look at farming practices; to include the fundamentals of soil examination, soil enhancement, ecological effects on soil health, soil degradation, political soil extortion, the many types of farming from the large industrial farming system to small organic biodynamic farms, the kinds of fertilizing of soil and plants, the status and implementation of the water supply needed for agriculture to remain sustainable, harvesting, transporting, and finally the distribution and the profit motivated practices of getting the food to the consumer. This understanding is critical to offering sound, uncomplicated, appropriate, and healthy “food” knowledge and nutritional advice.
HHE 5920 Coaching Experiential
0.5-2.0
A seminar with variable units that enables faculty and students to create an active coaching community among those pursuing the Certificate at any given time. Faculty and students meet as needed to introduce cutting edge topics in coaching, report on new research and developments, and provide extra coaching practice as needed.
HHE 5922 Coaching Practicum B
1
Students are observed coaching and receive detailed feedback from a coaching mentor. Written and practical examinations are administered as the final step in obtaining the Coaching Certificate or Specialization (depending on student’s program). Prerequisite: HHE 5750
HHE 5924 Health, Disease, & Wellbeing for Health Coaches
1
Conventional medicine is compared to holistic concepts of health and wellbeing. Conventional risk factors and common chronic diseases are covered. Emphasis will be placed on holistic, health-promoting approaches such wellness wheels, continuums, salutogenesis, and similar wellness models. MA Students may substitute HHE 5710.
HHE 5926 Mind-Body Connection for Health Coaches
1
Students explore the field of mind-body medicine, including psychoneuroimmunology, integrative health, and whole-person approaches. Key topics of interest to health coaches are covered, including self-care practices, nutrition, spirituality, embodiment, and ecotherapy. MA Students may substitute HHE 5823.
Electives
Units
HHE 5928 Change Theory for Coaches
1
This course looks at what motivates people to make sustainable changes in their lives. Key change theories, such as the Health Belief Model, the Transtheoretical Model, and Self-Determination Theory, are explored. Coaching students explore how they can use these theories and models to help their clients realize their goals and achieve lasting change. MA Students may substitute HHE 5756.
HHE 5930 Weight and Body Image for Coaches
1
Individuals frequently seek out health and wellness coaches to lose weight and/or change their body shape/size. However, the evidence is overwhelming that weight-loss diets are ineffective long-term and often harmful. Moreover, body dissatisfaction is a growing and insidious problem in U.S. culture. In this course, health coaches learn how to work from a “do no harm” perspective to promote these clients’ long-term health and wellbeing. Coaches will also learn how to recognize more serious conditions, such as depression, eating disorders, and body dysmorphic disorder, as well as how to refer appropriately. Prerequisite: HHE 5750
HHE 5932 Stress Management for Health Coaches
1
Stress may be the defining characteristic of 21st century life; no one is immune. Because every client is different though, health coaches need to understand stress and how it can affect us, and to appreciate the myriad of ways there are to manage it. This course examines the physiological, mental, and spiritual effects of stress before turning to a variety of holistic approaches to stress management that coaches will find useful in their practice. MA Students may substitute HHE 5842.
HHE 5934 Supervised Community Coaching
1-2
Coaching certificate students will gain valuable experience coaching under the supervision of experienced coaches. Variable units: 1-2 per quarter. Students are required to take 2 units total. Prerequisite: HHE 5750
HHE 5940 Energy Models of Healing
2
This course investigates how health, illness, wholeness and healing may be defined and worked with in energy terms. The coursework involves in-depth inquiry into the many disciplines and traditions that contribute to energy healing as well as an analysis of the concepts and philosophies upon which these systems are based. We look at energy medicine from the perspectives of quantum physicists, biologists, consciousness and psi researchers, philosophers, spiritual healers, and medical intuitives. We will also investigate how energy modalities are viewed by mainstream medicine.
HHE 5941 Asian Approaches to Health and Healing
2
Two of the oldest holistic systems of medicine—Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine—are presented in this survey course. Their basic philosophy, principles, and standards of treatment will be explored both didactically and experientially. The course will not focus on comparing the two systems, but the diversities of each will be outlined with emphasis on their spiritual roots, cultural and social perspectives, and their growing appeal as global alternatives in health care.
HHE 5942 Arts in Healthcare
1
This course is an overview of the powerful role that the arts can play in fostering well-being and wholeness. Research is documenting connections between creative engagement and pain management, stress reduction, recovery and resilience. We will explore the writing, visual arts, theater and music programs being used within hospitals, healthcare facilities, and communities. Experiential creative exercises will allow participants to experience their own movement toward a fuller living experience. Coursework includes meditative practices and creative processes including the use of visual art, movement, and writing. No art experience is necessary. The course is focused on internal growth and development of the individual. Each student will apply the course content to their own personal and professional needs.
HHE 5943 Functional Nutrition Blood Chemistry
1
Designing an effective nutrition program is dependent on the establishment of an accurate nutritional profile guided by scientific approaches such as a comprehensive blood test. There is no test more accepted, efficient and affordable than a comprehensive blood chemistry profile. By learning how to interpret blood chemistry from a nutritional perspective, you can detect the shifts in physiological function and use it in a more preventative manner. Designing a truly individualized nutrition program will produce a more efficient and longer lasting result than just addressing one symptom or effect of the imbalance. You will also easily be able to track the effectiveness of any nutrition program. In this practicum you will learn the basics of nutritional blood chemistry and how to identify some common patterns of imbalance and how to develop a customized nutrition program based on the results.
HHE 5944 Nutrition for Women’s Health
1
As women are living longer than ever, it is important for women to address their health so that they can remain vital and thrive throughout the life cycle. A woman’s health profile can dramatically change from one decade to the next. In this class students will learn about using diet, lifestyle and nutrients to balance hormones throughout life. We will also discuss the relationship of blood sugar metabolism, stress, thyroid health, inflammation and gut health to fertility, weight issues, mood shifts, PMS, PCOS, endometriosis, fibroids, perimenopause, osteoporosis and menopause.
HHE 5945 Transitions & Grief
1
One of the most important functions of a health educator or health coach is to help clients navigate transitions and transformative change. Too often, we forget that a key element of many kinds of change is releasing our attachment to past ways of being and going through an appropriate grieving process. Students will learn about different approaches to coping with grief and how they can support clients who find themselves grieving various types of loss.
Electives
Units
HHE 5928 Change Theory for Coaches
1
This course looks at what motivates people to make sustainable changes in their lives. Key change theories, such as the Health Belief Model, the Transtheoretical Model, and Self-Determination Theory, are explored. Coaching students explore how they can use these theories and models to help their clients realize their goals and achieve lasting change. MA Students may substitute HHE 5756.
HHE 5930 Weight and Body Image for Coaches
1
Individuals frequently seek out health and wellness coaches to lose weight and/or change their body shape/size. However, the evidence is overwhelming that weight-loss diets are ineffective long-term and often harmful. Moreover, body dissatisfaction is a growing and insidious problem in U.S. culture. In this course, health coaches learn how to work from a “do no harm” perspective to promote these clients’ long-term health and wellbeing. Coaches will also learn how to recognize more serious conditions, such as depression, eating disorders, and body dysmorphic disorder, as well as how to refer appropriately. Prerequisite: HHE 5750
HHE 5932 Stress Management for Health Coaches
1
Stress may be the defining characteristic of 21st century life; no one is immune. Because every client is different though, health coaches need to understand stress and how it can affect us, and to appreciate the myriad of ways there are to manage it. This course examines the physiological, mental, and spiritual effects of stress before turning to a variety of holistic approaches to stress management that coaches will find useful in their practice. MA Students may substitute HHE 5842.
HHE 5934 Supervised Community Coaching
1-2
Coaching certificate students will gain valuable experience coaching under the supervision of experienced coaches. Variable units: 1-2 per quarter. Students are required to take 2 units total. Prerequisite: HHE 5750
HHE 5940 Energy Models of Healing
2
This course investigates how health, illness, wholeness and healing may be defined and worked with in energy terms. The coursework involves in-depth inquiry into the many disciplines and traditions that contribute to energy healing as well as an analysis of the concepts and philosophies upon which these systems are based. We look at energy medicine from the perspectives of quantum physicists, biologists, consciousness and psi researchers, philosophers, spiritual healers, and medical intuitives. We will also investigate how energy modalities are viewed by mainstream medicine.
HHE 5941 Asian Approaches to Health and Healing
2
Two of the oldest holistic systems of medicine—Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine—are presented in this survey course. Their basic philosophy, principles, and standards of treatment will be explored both didactically and experientially. The course will not focus on comparing the two systems, but the diversities of each will be outlined with emphasis on their spiritual roots, cultural and social perspectives, and their growing appeal as global alternatives in health care.
HHE 5942 Arts in Healthcare
1
This course is an overview of the powerful role that the arts can play in fostering well-being and wholeness. Research is documenting connections between creative engagement and pain management, stress reduction, recovery and resilience. We will explore the writing, visual arts, theater and music programs being used within hospitals, healthcare facilities, and communities. Experiential creative exercises will allow participants to experience their own movement toward a fuller living experience. Coursework includes meditative practices and creative processes including the use of visual art, movement, and writing. No art experience is necessary. The course is focused on internal growth and development of the individual. Each student will apply the course content to their own personal and professional needs.
HHE 5943 Functional Nutrition Blood Chemistry
1
Designing an effective nutrition program is dependent on the establishment of an accurate nutritional profile guided by scientific approaches such as a comprehensive blood test. There is no test more accepted, efficient and affordable than a comprehensive blood chemistry profile. By learning how to interpret blood chemistry from a nutritional perspective, you can detect the shifts in physiological function and use it in a more preventative manner. Designing a truly individualized nutrition program will produce a more efficient and longer lasting result than just addressing one symptom or effect of the imbalance. You will also easily be able to track the effectiveness of any nutrition program. In this practicum you will learn the basics of nutritional blood chemistry and how to identify some common patterns of imbalance and how to develop a customized nutrition program based on the results.
HHE 5944 Nutrition for Women’s Health
1
As women are living longer than ever, it is important for women to address their health so that they can remain vital and thrive throughout the life cycle. A woman’s health profile can dramatically change from one decade to the next. In this class students will learn about using diet, lifestyle and nutrients to balance hormones throughout life. We will also discuss the relationship of blood sugar metabolism, stress, thyroid health, inflammation and gut health to fertility, weight issues, mood shifts, PMS, PCOS, endometriosis, fibroids, perimenopause, osteoporosis and menopause.
HHE 5945 Transitions & Grief
1
One of the most important functions of a health educator or health coach is to help clients navigate transitions and transformative change. Too often, we forget that a key element of many kinds of change is releasing our attachment to past ways of being and going through an appropriate grieving process. Students will learn about different approaches to coping with grief and how they can support clients who find themselves grieving various types of loss.
