COUN630 - Belhaven University Lectures

Case-based applications demonstrating integrative interventions (e.g., REACH model for forgiveness, marital recovery protocols, assessment and treatment of spiritual abuse), with resource recommendations and phased treatment examples that combine empirical methods and Christian resources.

Considers personal and professional integration by prompting clinicians to assess their own faith narratives, attachment to God, and spiritual practices; it argues that self-awareness and spiritual resilience are necessary instruments for ethical, sustainable ministry in clinical contexts.

Explores how key Christian doctrines (e.g., Trinity, imago Dei, grace) translate into clinical assessment and intervention—emphasizing relationality, unconditional regard, and treatment goals that cultivate support systems, realistic self-view, and the extension of grace within therapy.

An analysis of Scripture as a formative resource for counseling that clarifies its sufficiency for theological grounding (not as a technical treatment manual), and describes how biblical narratives, lament, and hope inform pastoral-clinical responses to suffering and grief.

A theoretical module linking doctrines of human nature and sin with clinical models, inviting critical evaluation of psychotherapeutic theories through a Christian worldview and outlining how to modify or exclude practices (e.g., ancestor invocation) that conflict with core Christian commitments.

A focused examination of ethical practice in Christian counseling that juxtaposes professional codes (e.g., ACA) with religious commitments, highlighting informed consent, cultural humility toward religion/spirituality, counselor self-awareness, and the limits of value-based referrals.

Introductory orientation to the course that situates Christian counseling historically and pedagogically, outlines student competencies, and offers practical guidance for succeeding in an online graduate course while framing the aim of being both “Christlike and clinical.”