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Become a Certified Prevention Professional

Create Systems of Change with the New Prevention Certificate

A diverse group of friends sit on the grass with their hands wrapped around each other. They are looking at the camera and smiling, multi-ethnicity, creative content brief

The clinical and counseling staff who provide lifesaving treatment and recovery support are hugely important to the healing work we do. But prevention specialists are equally valuable and becoming more so. When we create and invest in proactive systems of care, we spare children, families and communities from acute symptomology—from long-term damage—and we lay down necessary infrastructure for hope and healing. 

Help form the future of health care. Help shape the systems of healing and change.

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How Does the Prevention Certificate Help?

This certificate will prepare you for the role of prevention specialist within youth-serving spaces and for other roles in which substance abuse prevention leadership, strategy and delivery are needed and valued. 

You will gain an enhanced understanding of substance use health promotion, abuse prevention and early intervention theory, as well as models and practical applications from a community-based, public health and integrated approach. 

Topics will include the evidence-based social norms approach, research-based connections between prevention science and lived experience, and data-driven comprehensive prevention planning. 

You're an Exceptional Candidate If...

  • You work or volunteer in schools, community organizations, coalitions or government.
  • You want to help design, implement or evaluate prevention programs.
  • You want to inspire change at both the individual and systems levels.
  • You're passionate about educating youth and communities about health.
  • You would enjoy collaborating with key stakeholders to create custom prevention strategies.
  • You want to help communities recover and flourish.

This role requires a unique skillset to effectively drive reductions in use, increases in healthy attitudes and behavior, and other critical and wide-scale outcomes across communities and localities. 

Tuition and Fees

Total Credits  |  12

Full-time Program Duration  |  Must be completed within three years

Enrollment  |  Available online or on campus in Center City, Minnesota

Tuition*

  • 2024 Tuition  |  $829/credit
  • 2025 Tuition  |  $849/credit

Fees

  • Technology Fee (per semester)  |  $70
  • Estimated Books and Supplies  |  Depends upon course registration

* For graduates of any Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School program, the prevention certificate is discounted by 50 percent. Graduates who are also Hazelden Betty Ford employees can choose between reduced tuition rate or tuition reimbursement. 

Certificate Coursework

  • COUN 520 Foundations of Addiction and Alcohol and Drug Counseling (3 credits) (1st semester)
  • COUN 607 Medical Issues and Psychopharmacology (3 credits) (2nd semester)
  • COUN 610 Theoretical Basis: Population Substance Abuse Prevention (3 credits) (3rd semester)
  • COUN 611 Applied Approaches: Population Substance Abuse Prevention (3 credits) (4th semester)

Application Requirements

  • Bachelor's or master's degree from a regionally accredited institution 
  • Essay:
    • Describe why you are applying for this program.
    • What does prevention mean to you?
    • How do you hope to use skills acquired through this certificate in the future?
  • One letter of reference
  • Transcript to verify degree

Transfer Credits

Select course transfer credits are available to graduates from our Online program (2020 or later).