Goals and Objectives

We expect that students will demonstrate:

• A basic understanding of the roles and functions of clinical mental health counseling (Counseling Identity).
• Knowledge of the ethical standards of the counseling profession and basic skills in ethical analysis and decision making including the unique ethical dilemmas faced by Christian counselors (Professional Ethics).

We expect that students will demonstrate:

• Awareness of how self and others are shaped by culture and society including knowledge of theories of multicultural counseling, identity development, and social justice (Social and Cultural Diversity).
• Understanding of the counselor’s role in promoting social justice and eliminating intentional and unintentional oppression and discrimination (Advocacy).
• Awareness of self as a person of culture and how this impacts others (Cultural Self-awareness).

• Understanding of the nature and needs of persons at all development levels, including theories of wellness and development over the lifespan (Human Growth and Development).
• Basic interpersonal skills that are necessary for the conduct of mental health counseling interventions including empathy, a respectful and nonjudgmental attitude towards all persons, insightfulness, and self-awareness (Interpersonal Skills).
• Understanding of the basic theories and interventions shaping the counseling field today including humanistic, cognitive behavioral, psychodynamic, family systems, and community based prevention approaches (Basic Theory and Interventions).
• Understanding of theories and interventions in group counseling, career development and counseling, trauma interventions, and the treatment of addiction and addictive behaviors (Specialized Theory and Interventions).
• The ability to do assessment in counseling including basic interviewing and observation skills, differential diagnosis, assessment of suicide risk, and the selection and administration of tests including career inventories (Assessment).
• Understanding of research and program evaluation methodology and skills and their application in the applied clinical context (Research and Program Evaluation).

We expect that students will demonstrate:

• A Christian view of personhood that informs the development of empathy and a profound understanding of the nature of human suffering (Theological Anthropology).
• A knowledge of the basic method, models, and approaches to the integration of Christian faith with the discipline of counseling (Christian Integration).
• A commitment to one’s own personal and relational growth toward spiritual, psychological, and professional maturity (Person of the Therapist).
• A valuing of mental health counseling work and faith-based initiatives as an outreach of the individual Christian and the church to the widest possible community throughout the world (Service Orientation).