Foundations of Christian Counseling: How People Change
CM 331A/531A ー2 credits
This course teaches students how change in the life of a believer must be grounded in the gospel and the teaching of Scripture. The course offers an overview of the process of personal change and the process of counseling. It explains the counseling relationship and how to develop a counseling mindset and worldview. And it examines the importance of repentance and faith in sanctification and personal growth.
Methods of Biblical Change: Helping People Change
CM 331B/531B ー2 credits
This course defines and helps students put into practice a systematic methodology of Christian counseling. The course provides a method of connecting the truths of Scripture to the lives of people encountered in ministry. It helps students answer the question of how the personal stories of people for whom they are caring intersect with God’s story. The objective is to know how to love people better in practical ways. While this course builds on Foundations of Christian Counseling (CM 331A/531A), that course is not a prerequisite.
Counseling in the Local Church: Pathways to Biblical Change
CM 331C/531C ー2 credits
This course is designed to help pastors, church leaders, or lay members create within their churches a culture of mutual care, practical help, and spiritual growth. This culture is not limited to the counseling room or the pastor’s study but finds expression in hospitality, small group interactions, preaching, discipline, crisis interventions, conflict resolution, and evangelism. The course focuses on practical implementations of the principles taught in Foundations of Christian Counseling (CM 331A/531A) and Methods of Biblical Change (CM 331B/531B) within the life of the local church. Neither of those courses, however, is a prerequisite for this course.
Topics in Christian Counseling: Strategies for Change
CM 331D/531D ー2 credits
This course addresses a number of situations and challenges that counselors are likely to face. The course examines these through the lens of Scripture and in the light of the resources God provides through his word, his Spirit, and his people. Topics may include anxiety, depression, death from overwork (karōshi), singleness, fear, shame, anger, loneliness, sexual sin, addiction, physical or sexual abuse, self-isolation (hikikomori), unwanted pregnancy, bullying (ijime), and suicide. While Foundations of Christian Counseling (CM 331A/531A) and Methods of Biblical Change (CM 331B/531B) are helpful preparations, they are not prerequisites.
