Major Defined

Degrees offered:

Bachelor

Master

Doctor

PHD

Christian or biblical counselling is counselling which draws upon psychology and Christian teaching. Efforts to combine counselling with Christian or other religious perspectives or approaches are sometimes called “integration. “For example, scientific evidence indicates that rational cognitive therapy which is based on underlying Christian principles is an effective form of cognitive therapy.

Christian counselling examines the use of Christian and Biblical truths in counselling. The goals and techniques used to reach those goals are examined, as well as the differences between secular and Christian counselling.

Biblical counselling (also known as nouthetic counselling from the Greek word noutheteo) is a form of Christian counselling developed by Jay E. Adams, and published in his 1970 book, Competent to Counsel. There are a few current organizations that provide information and training in the field, including the National Association of Nouthetic Counsellors and the Christian Counselling & Educational Foundation. Extensive writing on the subject has been done by David Powlinson and Ed Welch.

Biblical counselling is one Christian offering scriptural counsel to another Christian regarding how Christ can change his or her life to be more Christ-like. Jay Adams puts it this way: “Nouthetic counselling consists of lovingly confronting people out of deep concern in order to help them make those changes that God requires.

Biblical Counselling are interested in answering a variety of research questions about the counselling process and outcome. Counselling process might be thought of as how or why counselling happens and progresses. Counselling outcome addresses whether or not counselling is effective, under what conditions it is effective, and what outcomes are considered effective—such as symptom reduction, behavior change, or quality of life improvement. Topics commonly explored in the study of counselling process and outcome include therapist variables, client variables, the counselling or therapeutic relationship, cultural variables, process and outcome measurement, mechanisms of change, and process and outcome research methods.

In the U.S., most none biblical counselling and psychology programs are accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA), while counselling programs are accredited through the Counsel for Accreditation of Counselling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). In all 50 states, counsellors can be licensed at the master’s degree level, once meeting the state and national criteria. To become licensed as a counselling psychologist, one must meet the criteria for licensure as a psychologist. Both doctoral level counselling psychologists and doctoral level counsellors can perform, both applied work, as well as research and teaching.

Cornerstone Christian University program describe above is offered strictly for religious purpose. Candidates who wish to sit for the state licensure may have to seek other programs elsewhere.  According to the state licensure, this program will not qualify its constituent for state licensure, not because our curriculum is inferior to the secular program but because we’re not regionally accredited or recognize by APA. The accreditation in this country, although it’s a voluntary process is exaggeratedly expensive. Thus, our program is offered to those who cannot afford paying $900.00 per credit and who are not interested in state licensure. Christian or biblical counselling can offer almost the same to their clients (with the exception of inept clinical evaluation and medication) under the hospice of a church or Christian counselling centers’.

Christian Counselling

The tongue that brings healing is a three of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.- Proverbs 15:4

For students who want to practice as counsellors within a church or church related setting, our pastoral counselling track will allow graduates to perform effectively to meet the unique needs of the church and it’s members.

Pastoral counselling is a branch of counselling in which psychologically trained ministers, rabbis, priests and other persons provide therapy services. Pastoral counsellors often integrate modern psychological thought and method with traditional religious training in an effort to address psychospiritual issues in addition to the traditional spectrum of counselling services.

The church is becoming increasingly aware of the need to respond to numerous mental health challenges. These challenges include issues such as addictions, divorce, single parent families, economic difficulties and more. These issues are often a struggle for the leaders of a church to manage, as they feel ill equipped to address the mental health components of these challenges. A pastoral trained counsellor is a great solution to helping the church equip itself to respond to these issues.

Graduates of this specialty area will have an extra emphasis on faith and counselling integration and on unique issues that present themselves within the church.

Distinctiveness

“What distinguishes pastoral counselling from other forms of counselling and psychotherapy is the role and accountability of the counsellor and his or her understanding and expression of the pastoral relationship. Pastoral counsellors are representatives of the central images of life and its meaning affirmed by their religious communities. Thus pastoral counselling offers a relationship to that understanding of life and faith. Pastoral counselling uses both psychological and theological resources to deepen its understanding of the pastoral relationship.” Membership in several organizations that combine theology and mental health has grown in recent years. Some pastoral counsellors have developed special training programs to encourage cooperation between religious professionals and medical professionals on treatment of issues like addiction, since spirituality is an important part of recovery for many people.

History

Christian counselling had its beginnings a separate discipline in North America in the first half of the twentieth century, as various religious organizations began to incorporate the insights and training of psychiatry, psychology and social work into the training of clergy. In 1925, Dr. Richard Cabot, a physician and adjunct at Harvard Divinity School, published an article in the Survey Graphic suggesting that every candidate for the ministry receive clinical training for pastoral work similar to the clinical training offered to medical students. In the 1930s, the Rev. Anton Boisen began a program of placing theological students in supervised contact with mental patients. In time, many seminaries and other training programs for religious professionals began to include clinical pastoral education as part of clerical training. Also in the 1930s, the minister Norman Vincent Peale and the psychiatrist Dr. Smiley Blanton collaborated to form the American Foundation of Religion and Psychiatry, now known as the Blanton-Peale Institute. Today, hundreds of mental health centre’s with links to specific religious traditions may be found across North America. In 1963, the American Association of Pastoral Counsellors was founded to provide professional certification for pastoral counsellors and pastoral counselling centres’.

BIBLICAL CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

Biblical Clinical counselling examines the use of Clinical and Biblical truths in psychology from a Christian perspective. The goals and techniques used to reach those goals are examined, as well as the differences between secular and biblical psychology

Psychology is the science of explaining, and the practice of changing mental processes and behaviour. Its immediate goal is to understand humanity by both discovering general principles and exploring specific cases, and its ultimate aim is to benefit society. In this field, a professional practitioner or researcher is called a psychologist, and is classified as a social or behavioural scientist. Psychologists attempt to understand the role of mental functions in individual and social behaviour, while also exploring the physiological and neurological processes that underlie certain functions and behaviours.

Psychologists explore such concepts as perception, cognition, attention, emotion, motivation, brain functioning, personality, behaviour, and interpersonal relationships. Some, especially depth psychologists, also consider the unconscious mind. Psychologists employ empirical methods to infer causal and correlational relationships between psychosocial variables. In addition, or in opposition, to employing empirical and deductive methods, some—especially clinical and counselling psychologists—at times rely upon symbolic interpretation and other inductive techniques. Psychology incorporates research from the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities.