OPEN APR 27, 2020 – JUL 01, 2020 550 $
Pastoral Counseling/Mentorship
In the course of church history, a number of different soul-care practices have been developed, in order to meet the pastoral needs of people as well as possible. This course will examine the foundations and practices of pastoral counseling and to clarify the difference between this ministry and therapeutic counseling. Furthermore, it will examine the chances and risks of pastoral counseling, as well as its limits in terms of offering care for clinical mental illness and psychosomatic needs.

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What you´ll learn

Pastoral Counseling/Mentorship: Guiding others through challenges
In the course of church history, a number of different soul-care practices have been developed, in order to meet the pastoral needs of people as well as possible. This course will examine the foundations and practices of pastoral counseling and to clarify the difference between this ministry and therapeutic counseling. Furthermore, it will examine the chances and risks of pastoral counseling, as well as its limits in terms of offering care for clinical mental illness and psychosomatic needs.

Course Goals

  • The student describes his or her own identity and significant influences upon it.
  • The student articulates a model for biblical pastoral counseling.
  • The student summarizes the interaction between the creation of humans in God’s image, on the one hand, and the holistic model of humanity (anthropological model), on the other hand.
  • The student expresses the limits of the ministry of biblical counseling.

Acquired Skills

  • Recognizing counseling needs and opportunities.
  • Recognizing and describing relational problems and their consequences, how they influence marriage and family life, and how to offer assistance.
  • Describing and practicing foundations of affective counseling conversations.
  • Discerning and acknowledging personal limitations and the limits of effectiveness of biblical counseling in general.
OPEN APR 27, 2020 – JUL 01, 2020
550 $

Contents of the course in detail

Pastoral Counseling/Mentorship: Guiding others through challenges
  • The biblical counselor as person: vocation and self-image.
  • From which source, or to what end? Development of a personal counseling understanding, including questions of the significance of causation or purpose of pastoral needs.
  • Biblical anthropology.
  • Everything new, or just the new veneer? Discussion of the influence of one’s family of origin, and various typologies related to it.
  • Metanoia: the process of rethinking
  • Forgiveness and the power of the Gospel
  • Psychosomatic symptoms: physical/bodily expressions of inner conditions
  • Working with addiction problems and compensation behaviors.
  • Confrontation and transformation in counseling conversations: theory and practice.
  • The limits of biblical counseling: recognizing mental health needs. Depression. Burnout. Possible bi-polar symptoms. Schizophrenia.

Faculty

To be announced

Final exam

Online test

Evaluation and Grading

Small group participation (35%).
Personal assessment paper (35%).
Final essay exam (30%).

Preparatory tasks for the students

Required reading (20-30 hours)

Proof of achievement

to be announced

Required Reading

To be announced.

Additional Bibliography

To be announced.