On Teaching and Training Christian Counselors
August 27th, 2008[This is the 4th and final post by Dr. Sam Williams of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary]
Differences regarding how to teach Christian Counseling struck me about 2 years ago during a meeting with the chief counseling professor in an educational institution in which I had been teaching as an adjunctive professor. Leadership of this institution had changed hands and while I previously had carte blanche about what and how to teach, the new regime handed me a protocol, kind of a combination of curriculum and syllabus, from which they hoped I would teach. My initial reaction was a bit hurt, but still non-defensive and hopeful about being able to accommodate their approach.
How do we go about teaching Christian Counseling? What should the curriculum and syllabi look like? How much time, if any, should be devoted to biblical and theological training, to training in the secular psychologies, if any, and to practical nuts and bolts instruction and to discussion and supervision of real cases and real counseling?
And how much training in each of these domains is sufficient? Within each domain, what should be taught? What should the biblical/theological portion of the curriculum look like? Is systematics enough, or do they need OT and NT also. Do they need hermeneutics, so they can interpret and apply scripture in a systematic and intellectually defensible manner? How about Greek and Hebrew – are the original languages important? And then of course what about Christian ethics, church history, evangelism and missions? Are these relevant and important in assuring that the graduate in Christian Counseling has attained sufficient training and scholarship in those things distinctively Christian?
And then with respect to training in counseling or psychology, in a proper and maybe more accurately, secular sense? Do they need to study the metapsychologists – Freud, Jung, Rogers, Skinner, Beck, and Ellis? If so, how much? Is an overview sufficient, or should it be more extensive? Do they need to learn the theories and methods of various psychotherapies? How about research design and stats and experimental psychology, and developmental, and physiological or neuropsychological – how much of this do they need?
How do we provide practical hands-on training so that students complete our programs and are competent to care for souls? What is the best way to move from theory to practice, from the propositional to the personal? How do our students make the transition from case presentations to case wisdom? How do we teach students this particular form of Christian love that we call counseling?
The distinctiveness of Christian Psychology and Counseling is still in need of much development, and that won’t happen without an understanding not just of what CP (Christian Psychology) and CC (Christian Counseling) are, but also how to go about teaching it.
Our role as educators is one with great impact and not to be taken lightly, as we are reminded in James 3.1, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”
August 28th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Have you ever taken advantage of the psychology and counseling resources available through Logos Bible Software?
They have several different collection of some classic Christian Psychology/Counseling texts, and you can store all of them in your digital library.
A new collection just went up this week. It’s three books from Baker, including the text from Minirth and Meier.
Baker Counseling Collection (3 Vols.)
September 1st, 2008 at 1:58 pm
I have spent more of my life as a trainee, but being a member of AARP, I have lived some life and also counseled some. I have received training in both secular and Christian models. I have found it all helpful, but have come to hold them all loosely as I have seen God work more out of the box than in any model- Christian or secular. If all we are offering/training people to do is to try to make life work then we have possible helped them feel a bit better and maybe they got some relief. However we may have missed encouraging them to enter the deeper, messier struggle God often calls all of us to in His attempt to draw our hearts and lives closer to Him.
One aspect of my training that I think was an eye opener is that the most powerful tool to bless or to harm others is our own heart and character and how we live the life we call others to live. The crucial question on a daily basis should be what am I doing with my own heart and soul? I have found reflecting on that question and coming to God for the answers, the guidance, the forgiveness and the overwhelming love He radiates to me and others helps ground me and guide me in helping others wherever that may be.
September 7th, 2008 at 2:11 am
Dr. Williams,
I appreciate your posting. It helps those of us who are also wandering in the maze. I am of the opinion that you need to touch on all that you have listed. For the languages I would suggest that you approach the language department and get some graduate students involved.
One area which you did not mention, maybe you did and I didn’t pick up on it, is the foundation for understanding the biblical ontology of being and the personaliy of being. I find that the Bible is very precise in how it present those two subjects. With that knowledge one is able to go to the tabernacle of Moses and see the operations of those two entities. Creation presents the blueprints of our being and personality of being, and Mt. Sinai presents the tabernacle as the physical model of the same. The NT writers drew their theology of the life of the believer from the creation account and from the Mt. Sinai event.
Without this biblical foundation,counseling becomes a topical text oriented body of knowledge that has no definite focus on how we get from point A to point B. The ministries in the tabernacle show us the pathway from point A to point B.
Thanks again for your posting.
October 4th, 2008 at 12:47 am
Is there any on line training for christian counseling psychologist?
If yes, how much is the fee and what’s the process? How about the certificate etc.?
Please let me know as soon as possible.
Thank you for your posting.
from Hyung Sook Kang from Seoul,South Korea
October 5th, 2008 at 8:43 am
The Society itself does not offer training outside of conference or seminar presentations. However, you can get Christian counseling training from a large number of schools in the US. Are you looking for bachelor, masters, doctoral, or postdoctoral level training?
October 8th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Can you recommend schools in the southeast with a christian counseling program (undergraduate and graduate schools)and well as those with online study programs. Thank you.
July 24th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
I am a doctorate level psychologist who is interested in pursuing training specific to Christian Psychology. Can you send od all US schools that provide training?….Please help!!! I would also like to submit my home mailing address, because soon this computer and email address will no longer be available to me.
Many thanks,
Dr. Thornton
July 25th, 2009 at 4:49 am
We have added some links to Christian Psychology educational programs on our resources page. Click on Resources, then Educational Institutions, then Christian Psychology programs.