Program Highlights

In-depth learning of human, social, and mental phenomena. Experiential learning, receiving an excellent professional infrastructure for positions of care, consultation, or management.
Experience the effects of artistic therapy firsthand. Gain fundamental knowledge of the importance of creative therapy outlets, with the opportunity to continue further learning in a Master’s program.
The program includes studies for a professional certificate in addition to the B.A. degree - you can choose your discipline: video therapy or dog-assisted therapy.

Overview

The study program for the bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Sciences at Ono Academic College was built from the understanding of the special relationship between the behavioral sciences and the arts – and while examining the interrelationships between them and the behavior of the individual, society, and culture.

The program deals with human behavior and is expressed on three parallel levels: the individual (psychology), society (sociology), and culture (anthropology). The program combines theoretical and practical courses in the dimension of human behavior that is not always verbal and is expressed through the arts.

During the degree, you can choose a unique training. The choice is between training in the field of video therapy and the field of canine-assisted therapy.

Each training provides a professional certificate that is awarded after the completion of theoretical studies and practical experience. So that in addition to the bachelor’s degree, the professional certification allows integration into work in various fields of treatment and counseling with diverse populations through the tools of photography and video therapy or the canine-assisted therapy field.

 

What is Canine-Assisted Therapy?

If you love dogs, you’re in the right place! A dog is not only a man’s best friend but also a partner in therapeutic processes that help children, teenagers, and adults deal with the hardships they experience. A dog is a partner in the treatment and counseling process that helps to make a difference in people’s lives.

In this course, you will learn how to integrate a dog as a partner in therapy, acquire skills on how to establish a relationship between the dog and the patient, and learn how therapy using dogs helps with a variety of problems. The therapist’s work is carried out in front of patients who apply due to problems of attention and concentration disorders, social anxiety, emotional coping with social difficulties, integration, rehabilitation, and more.

The studies include theoretical learning, practice and practical experience in the kennel, and practicum experiences in the field with your own therapy dog. A professional training process accompanies the experience.

To be successful in the training, no prior knowledge is necessary, and everything needed to develop the skills will be learned within the unique program.

The practical experience is carried out at the kennel in Kfar Ma’as.

 

What is Video Therapy Studies?

Want to help people in crisis? Do you believe that people are capable of change? Have you felt the power of photography?

Then, Video Therapy Studies could be just the thing for you.

Come learn how producing and watching movies creates significant changes in the emotional and functional space and improves the quality of people’s lives.

Creating a script, filming, acting, and producing films are used as therapeutic, educational, and social means to help people in distress, crisis, or difficulty.

Upon completion, graduates will be able to integrate into education, therapy, and community settings – guide groups through video and film creation.

The studies include practical experience in the classroom, core theory studies, and a practicum in the field accompanied by Super Vision.

You will receive a professional certificate from the Sharon Israel Center. You will be able to integrate into this innovative and developing field for which the demand is increasing. The Sharon Israel Center is the oldest, largest, and most professional center that constitutes a professional video therapy community in Israel.

The Video Therapy Center operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Education. They are an active partner in the National Program for Children and Youth at Risk, operate therapeutic and educational programs of the Social Services Office and the Ministry of National Security, and run more than 200 video therapy groups each year for participants across the country.

To be successful in the training, no prior knowledge is necessary, and everything needed to develop the skills will be learned within the unique program.

* Upon completion of their studies, graduates of the study program can integrate into work at the Sharon Israel Center

* Subject to meeting professional standards and available quotas

 

What is Cooking Therapy Studies?

If you feel that cooking is your “therapy” and that a kitchen is a place for creativity and development, you have come to the right place!

In the last decade, the kitchen and cooking spaces have been viewed from an additional lens and are much more than a means to a meal. Cooking creates space for conversation and multicultural and multigenerational sharing and bridges connections between children, youth, and adults who face various challenges and difficulties. In the rehabilitative cooking training course, you will learn how to use cooking and baking to accompany these populations, promote them and contribute to their integration into society.

During your studies, you will receive tools for guiding individual and group cooking sessions to encourage social skills, attention, sensory and emotional regulation, and improve communication skills.

During the studies, the students will study central theories that establish the place of food in the infrastructure of the mind and relationships, the place of cooking in the sensorimotor experience, nutrition, and more.

The students in the program will acquire tools for the planned and responsible operation of various cooking activities with added value for developing life skills, social skills, and emotional regulation in the educational and rehabilitation frameworks with adolescent children and adults with special needs. Students will experiment with different materials and therapeutic processes in the kitchen through their studies.

The studies include a practicum and training.

The program is designed for:
Students with mental maturity, passion, and love for the kitchen who are looking to use the cooking tool to meet a variety of populations and accompany them to improve their quality of life.

* Acceptance is conditional on a personal interview

* It is not possible to accept first-degree family members to the same program

* This program is not appropriate for those currently dealing with an eating disorder

 

Among the subjects of study:

First year

  • Introduction to Psychology
  • Introduction to Sociology
  • Introduction to Ecotherapy
  • Social Change in the New Media
  • At-Risk Children and Youth
  • About Stories and Children
  • Senior Studies
  • Social Psychology
  • The Person with a Disability in the Circle of Life
  • Computer Usage and E-Learning
  • Principles of Rehabilitation, Integration, and Recovery in Mental Health
  • Descriptive Statistics
  • Academic Literacy
  • Tours and practical experience

 

Second year

  • An Introduction to the History and Philosophy of the Social Sciences
  • Ethics in Mental Therapy
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Bibliotherapy
  • Trauma and PTSD
  • Personality Theories
  • Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods
  • Cultural Aspects of the Human Body

 

Third year

  • An Introduction to Creativity in the Behavioral Sciences
  • Art as a Therapeutic Tool
  • The Healing Power of the Storytelling
  • Art Experiences and Artistic Messages for Life 
  • Physiological Psychology
  • Social Psychology and Interpersonal Processes
  • Gender and Society
  • Psychopathology
  • Domestic Violence
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • English (course according to the student’s level)

 

Choice between: Canine-Assisted Therapy, Video Therapy, or Cooking Therapy

Canine-Assisted Therapy – among the subjects of study

  • Animal Care
  • Dog-Assisted Treatment and Target Populations
  • Practical Skill in Therapeutic Training
  • Dog Care
  • Introductions to Therapeutic Training

 

Video Therapy – among the subjects of study

  • Writing, Directing and Producing Videos for Video Therapy
  • The Basics of Video Therapy – an Introduction to a Practical Skill
  • Video Editing as a Therapeutic Tool
  • Therapeutic Video Editing
  • Docotherapy
  • Phototherapy

 

Cooking Therapy – among the subjects of study

  • The Kitchen as a Multidisciplinary Space of Discourse and Change
  • Sensory Exposure
  • First Meals
  • Recipes
  • Cooking Ingredients
  • Sensorimotor Aspects of Eating and Cooking
  • Introduction to Early Childhood and Childhood Nutrition
  • Introduction to Adolescent and Adult Nutrition
  • Theory and Intervention Techniques in Cooking
  • Cognitive Aspects of Cooking and Eating
  • Playing with Food
  • The Human Body in the Culinary Therapeutic Environment
  • Your Kitchen

* Example curriculum and is subject to change

 

* Possibility to continue studying for an M.A. in Therapy Through the Arts, M.A. in Psychology, and more.

Skills you will have upon graduation

  • The ability to guide meetings in the therapeutic aspects of cooking
  • Working in a group with the video therapy tools
  • Working in therapy with the help of dogs with different populations
  • Ability to work in multicultural groups in organizational aspects and processes
  • Ability to stand in front of an audience and convey a topic
  • A combination of knowledge and content in the behavioral sciences and application in a valuable and meaningful meeting with children and youth populations
I Believe
Dr. Daphna Liber
I am excited by the unique combination of a theoretical knowledge base in the behavioral sciences and a professional certificate. The combination enables practical work and the application of the fields of study in the employment arena, integration into valuable and meaningful jobs in the fields of welfare, training, care, and mental health.

Our Program Graduates Speak

If you choose the course of video therapy, these studies give you the training to treat and advise through the use of video
If you choose the canine-assisted therapy program, you will learn how to integrate a dog as a partner in the treatment, you will acquire skills on how to establish a relationship between the dog and the patient, and you will learn how therapy using dogs helps with a variety of problems
If you choose the course of a therapeutic cooking instructor - you will acquire, among other things, tools for guiding individual and group cooking sessions, you will learn to implement a variety of cooking activities in educational and rehabilitation settings, to promote life and social skills and help with emotional regulation among adolescent children and adults with special needs

Study Days and Placement

More About the Program

Benefits of the degree:

  • Ono Academic College is the only place in Israel that combines certificate studies in the fields of counseling and therapy during the B.A. in Behavioral Sciences.
  • This is the only place where you can integrate into the therapy world right after completing your degree.
  • A connection to practical and up-to-date knowledge in the fields of treatment and counseling starting from the first year.
  • Integration into the labor market in a field with high demand.
  • The teaching staff has a lot of experience in counseling and treatment.

Among the core subjects:

  • Skills in Counseling and Therapy
  • Social Change in the New Media
  • Children’s Stories as a Therapeutic Tool
  • Writing and Bibliotherapy
  • Ethics in Mental Therapy
  • Social Psychology
  • Personal and Social Aspects of Addictions
  • At-Risk Youth and Children
  • Therapy through the Arts
  • Introductions to Therapy Dog Training
  • Video Editing as a Therapeutic Tool
  • The Secrets of Video Therapy Treatment, an Introduction to a Practical Skill
  • Canine-Assisted Therapy and Target Populations
  • Writing, Directing and Producing Videos for Video Therapy

* The program is subject to change

Counseling training with a professional certificate during the degree:

One program to choose from:

Video Therapy or Canine-Assisted Therapy 

The studies include training and practical experience

Looking for more insights?