Get started with MU
Apply hereGraduate certificate
Help individuals, communities and workplaces thrive. The University of Missouri’s (Mizzou) online graduate certificate in positive psychology connects 21st-century theories with ancient philosophies to expand your understanding of this subfield’s methods and applications.
Ideal for current counseling and psychology professionals, this 15-credit-hour program equips you to support individuals and organizations as they think about their place in the world — including relationships, culture, purpose and meaning — and dedicate themselves toward transformation, improvement and fulfillment.
About the online graduate certificate in positive psychology
As a discipline, positive psychology focuses on the intersection of culture, science and mental health. This overlap highlights the path forward, allowing individuals, communities, cultures and organizations to fully embrace their potential. In the process, each entity contemplates what brings them fulfillment and develops strategies to reach this goal and ultimately thrive.
Overseeing the program, the Department of Educational, School & Counseling Psychology fosters a diverse, supportive environment rooted in a scientist-practitioner instructional model. For professionals aiming to enrich their practice, the online graduate certificate in positive psychology:
- Encourages advancement of the individual and their collective well-being
- Explores the science of well-being and how applied theories and interventions guide individuals toward personal and professional success
- Applies principles toward lived experiences to nurture an individual's personal, social, academic and professional development
- Considers well-being in relation to self-reflection, emotional health, personal strengths, relationships, meaning, purpose, achievements, culture and community
- Emphasizes the importance of conducting research to observe modern positive psychology applications and develop interventions
- Goes beyond the individual to highlight how positive psychology theories enrich businesses, government agencies and educational environments
Quick facts
Official name
Graduate certificate in positive psychologyCampus
Program type
Graduate certificateAcademic home
College of Education & Human Development | Department of Educational, School and Counseling PsychologyDelivery mode
100% onlineAccreditation
Higher Learning CommissionCredit hours
15Estimated cost
$8,427.00*This cost is for illustrative purposes only. Your hours and costs will differ, depending on your transfer hours, your course choices and your academic progress. See more about tuition and financial aid.
Career prospects
Enrich what you know about the psychology profession, make yourself more marketable or serve clients through a broader array of services. Or, venture into the field of organizational psychology: work with businesses and other entities to overhaul their culture, support the professional and personal development of employees and improve engagement.
When you earn an online graduate certificate in positive psychology, you'll enhance your credentials as a:
- Life/career coach
- Manager
- Organizational consultant
- Teacher
Note: This graduate certificate does not provide counselor certification.
Program structure
The online graduate certificate in positive psychology requires 15 credit hours and allows for flexibility. Through one core course and 12 credit hours of electives, delve into the foundation of positive emotions, engagement and supportive relationships. Use these principles to help clients identify their strengths, virtues, purpose and personal meaning and strive toward a sense of accomplishment.
The program uses a fully online, semester-based structure. No campus visits are required. Students typically take one or two classes each semester and finish in less than two years.
Course work includes
Grow what you know about:
- Positivity, creativity and fulfillment in human behavior
- Applying positive psychology theories
- Life and career coaching strategies
- Identifying meaning in work
- The significance of community, including in relation to personal and social well-being
- Positive organizational psychology tactics
Review all requirements for the online graduate certificate in positive psychology.
Delivery
100% onlineCalendar system
Semester-basedTypical program length
2 yearsTypical course load
2 classes per semesterAccreditation
The University of Missouri is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States.