Counseling FAQs
- Does this program help me to achieve licensure?
- Is the program biblical / nouthetic?
- How long will it take to complete the program?
- Cohort students are full time. Is there are a part time option?
- What is our counseling approach?
- Where do graduates use their degrees?
- Will I be completing any Fieldwork?
FAQs Answers
1. Does this program help me to achieve licensure?
The primary license for master’s level counselors in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is the Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) credential (enacted in 1998). To obtain this license, individuals need to complete 60 graduate hours in a counseling related program of study, 3600 hours of postgraduate supervised work, and pass a national counseling exam. Details can be found at the following Commonwealth website http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/049/chapter49/chap49toc.html
Biblical has designed its 52 hour degree program and the 10 credits of the Certificate in Advanced Professional Counseling (CAPC) to fulfill the academic requirements listed in Pennsylvania's published LPC rules. However, no graduate program can guarantee licensure upon graduation. We encourage students to consult the appropriate agency to determine specific requirements and to ensure that Biblical's program meets their specific needs. Biblical makes every effort to stay abreast of licensing changes but our primary goal is to train and educate wise, godly couselors for kingdom work.
2. Is the program biblical / nouthetic?
Nouthetic counseling is a label for a biblical counseling movement begun by Dr. Jay Adams in the late 1960s in response to secular psychotherapy models of that time. Dr. Adams used the Greek word, noutheteo (translated as admonish, correct, and instruct), to describe his goal of helping others change through loving concern and confrontation. This movement gained significant popularity in the 1970s and 80s because it gave room for bible believing Christians to explore how the bible speaks deeply to the struggles of living in a fallen world. By the late 1980s, many sympathetic with this counseling model adopted the name biblical counseling as it avoided the possibility of overemphasizing the confrontational aspects of counseling.
Our program teaches important principles of biblical change but goes beyond the limits of this instructional approach to counseling. Students in our program find the skills for Christ-centered change and the art of counseling in one program.
Biblical’s counseling program encourages students to carve out and consider broader territory, as noted in our Program’s Purpose:
To prepare Christian counselors for professional and non-professional ministry who love people in all their God-given diversity, who engage science and culture with wisdom and discernment, and who skillfully apply the grace and truth of the Gospel first to their own lives and then to their counselees.
3. How long will it take to complete the program?
Students complete the 52-hour degree program in 24 months by attending class one night a week and one Saturday a month.
4. Cohort students are full time. Is there a part time option?
Students who are not yet able to join a cohort and become a full-time student may apply for the Certificate in Biblical Counseling and complete 12 hours of graduate study in counseling over the course of one year. If accepted, students may then enter the degree program having already completed approximately half of the first year credits.
5. What is our counseling approach?
Although we value learning from all of the social sciences, we give the Bible and Christian theology a place of precedence both in theory building and in resolving conflicting truth claims. We do not believe that the bible intends to be taken as a textbook on psychology or counseling, and thus does not provide all there is to know about these topics. But we do believe that it has a lot to say about human nature, motivation and relationships both with God and with others. We begin with the study of the biblical narrative and then use this paradigm to critique information gleaned from other sources and to provide wisdom on how this material can be used to further the kingdom of God. Because of this desire to shape our program according to the bible, we do not favor any specific counseling approach (or method of joining faith and practice), but seek to learn from all of them. Our primary goal is to train up wise counselors (Proverbs 2:2).
6. Where do graduate use their degrees?
In our 2004 survey, our alumni told us where they are using their degrees in the following paid positions:
- Private practice
- Psychiatric and Residential Facilities
- Church-based counseling
- Educational Institutions
- Social Services
- Pastoral Care
Many of our alumni also use the degree in a volunteer capacity such as lay counseling and teaching.
They counsel people across the lifespan -children to the elderly- as well as couples and families. Working in cross-cultural environments, they counsel people dealing with issues such as substance abuse, mental illness, low income, crisis intervention and general life concerns.
7. Will I be completing any Fieldwork?
The Program includes 9 credit hours of Practicum and Internship courses and the student will complete 700 hours of fieldwork. The Fieldwork Director maintains a database of sites, relationships with sites and supervisors and assists in obtaining new sites. However, the student is responsible for securing their fieldwork placements based on interests and desired outcome (i.e. licensure, a paid position in a specific population after graduating etc.)
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