How Human Services Courses Can Benefit Your Daily Life

The field of human services is vast and full of many different career options whose goal is to empower people to reach their full potential. People that succeed in a human services role excel in active listening, have high emotional intelligence, are empathetic, can bond with people, and have a strong sense of self. Not everyone can work in human services, but everyone can benefit from taking human services courses and help develop these skills and more. 

Better Understanding of Yourself & Others 

Most human services courses will emphasize the importance of being self-aware and understanding people through a holistic lens while teaching you the power of perspective. Understanding that plus exploring misconceptions in dyslexia training or issues and challenges of ageing adults in a gerontology course will help you develop empathy and emotional intelligence, which, with time, will allow you to better understand others.   

But before you can better understand others, you need to better understand yourself. As mentioned, self-awareness is essential, but how can you develop it? One exercise that many psychologists and therapists recommend is self-reflection to spark insights into you; what you want, why you feel and act the way you do, and what kind of person do you want to be. This is not an easy exercise but is critical to help you better understand yourself. Some other exercises you can do include journaling, mediation, challenging yourself, trying creative activities, identifying your values, and practicing mindfulness.  


Open Communication 

There are four key areas of communication that most people need to work on listening, non-verbal communication, emotional awareness and management, and questioning or response. While there are many communication styles, not all of them will create a positive and safe environment or help you to develop strong relationships. To work in human services, it is essential you can understand non-verbal communication and be able to create safe environments; because of this, almost all continuing education courses in human services will have a communication module.   

For example, all online recreational therapy programs will teach you to speak in a trauma-informed and professional manner, while autism courses will help you understand non-verbal communication and how to manage your emotions. While an education assistant course in BC will develop your critical thinking skill to help with your questioning and responses in conversations. Or, if you are looking for a course that solely focuses on communication, an online communication course on non-violent communication or how to communicate in a digital workplace can be helpful.   


Bringing Zest Back into Your Life 

The approaches and teachings of therapeutic recreation focus on reinforcing every aspect of the self and increasing the health of the five domains—cognitive health, spiritual health, emotional health, physical health, and social health. The model that is beneficial to everyone is the flourishing ability model; it helps people become fully actualized, makes them more confident, and live a greater quality of life. RBT certification training also teaches you about maintaining boundaries and leaving work at work to maintain a positive work-life balance.  


Transferable Skills                                    

And lastly, human services courses are beneficial to your daily life because all the skills you will learn are easily transferable to almost every career where you need to work within teams, develop relationships, and have strong communication skills.


Written by Lindsay McKay

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