Pastoral Counseling Certificate
Committed to serving those entrusted to your care well?
Develop the skills and knowledge necessary for effective Christian counseling within a pastoral context. Blend theological insights with practical, faith-based counseling techniques as a lay or vocational minister learning practices of spiritual and pastoral care for those entrusted to their care, integrating faith, counseling, and pastoral care principles. Demonstrate a commitment to serving people that emerges from personal spiritual development and articulated methods and theories of effective Christian counseling.
Certificate Details
Level
Duration
1 Year
Type
Certificate
Courses Needed
About the Certificate
The Pastoral Counseling Certificate is a flexible and affordable online program designed for pastors and ministry leaders committed to serving others with excellence. Through five courses, each lasting eight weeks, you’ll earn twelve credits while developing the skills and knowledge needed for effective Christian counseling within a pastoral context. This program integrates faith, theological insights, and practical counseling techniques to equip you for spiritual and pastoral care. Deepen your personal spiritual development while learning to apply effective methods and theories of Christian counseling to serve those entrusted to your care with compassion and purpose.
PSY202 Introduction to Psychology and Christian Counseling (3 credits)
This course is designed to introduce students to the field as a scientific discipline concerned with the study of behavior and expose them to basic counseling techniques and theoretical approaches to counseling. It also provides an overview of the counseling process with the intent of experiencing the counselor’s role in the counseling process. Consideration will be given to such topics as human development, motivation, emotion, perception, learning, personality, intelligence, measurement, and applied areas.
COUN303 Christian Counseling for Marriage and Family (3 credits)
This course considers the dynamics of marriage and family relationships from a systems perspective. It emphasizes the Christian counseling perspective in understanding family and other systems theories, the structure and function of marriage, various aspects of the marital relationship and family systems, and models of family and systemic interventions.
PSY205 Social Psychology and Cultural Issues in Counseling (3 credits)
This course explores the scientific study of how the thoughts, feelings, and actions of a person are influenced by personal interactions, experiences, and social situations. It also examines counseling religiously and culturally diverse populations through a psychological and Christian lens. It emphasizes the need for counselors to understand the multiplicity of culture and change their counseling techniques accordingly. Topics include the self, beliefs, attitudes, individual and group behavior, and relationships.
COUN400 Conflict Resolution Counseling (3 credits)
This course will investigate a Biblical and practical understanding of conflict. It analyzes the conflict cycle and styles of conflict management and intervention strategies to help students comprehend how to use conflict for positive change.
*All Ascent College students pursuing the Pastoral Counseling certificate program are required to complete GEN102 Orientation and Library Resources (0 credits).
Skills Acquired
Articulate methods and theories of effective Christian counseling.
Demonstrate effective skills for Christian counseling.
Demonstrate a commitment to serving people that emerges from your own spiritual development.
Tuition
Ascent College delivers accredited academic instruction for $350 per credit hour. Participants of the Pastoral Counseling certificate program receive an exclusive 25% scholarship off their tuition.
Want to go further in your exploration of pastoral counseling and access online pastoral counseling training and Biblical counseling programs to a greater depth? Check out our Bachelor of Arts in Ministry Leadership (BAML) degree program, concentration in Christian Counseling with a focus on Pastoral Ministry here.
Compelled to elevate your pastoral counseling skills and Biblical counseling expertise to better serve those entrusted to your care, but not sure you can handle college-level work right now? We get it. Auditors welcome! You can audit this program at our special auditor’s rate of $50 per credit hour (not eligible for scholarship) and engage with all course materials without the pressure of submitting assignments, receiving graded evaluations, or taking tests. Learn more about how auditing a course works here.
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