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Priests, pastors, ministers, and other clergy who wish to better serve the needs of their parishioners have many avenues for further training. For those interesting in the counseling aspects of religion, a masters degree in pastoral counseling might be the next logical step in their educations. A pastoral counseling degree combines traditional psychological theories and counseling methods with the religious teachings of the Christian church. Here are some of the typical classes that comprise a pastoral counseling masters degree program.
Psychology
To become effective counselors, students must first have a solid foundation in psychology. This means studying many different aspects of psychology, like moral development, behaviorism, and human sexuality. In order to serve their communities, pastoral counselors learn the same psychological theories and therapy practices that traditional psychology students learn.
Psychology and Scripture
After studying many aspects of online psychology degree, pastoral counseling students learn how to apply their academic learning to a religious environment. Pastoral counselors need to understand how many passages from the Bible and psychology overlap, and they become well-versed in which Bible passages may be used to give comfort to those in need. They may also study where church teachings and secular psychology differ and how to navigate those differences in their own counseling.
Marital and Premarital Counseling
Because the Christian church places so much importance on the sanctity of family, one of the most important tasks of a pastoral counselor is to help couples before and after marriage. Premarital counseling services help couples understand each other and marriage better, while marital counseling helps couples resolve differences and weather problems together.
Childrens and Family Counseling
Parents of children with behavioral issues, the children of divorcing parents, families caring for elderly relatives, and families who have experienced a recent loss may all turn to their churches for advice and compassionate listening. Pastoral counselors study the unique dynamic of families and also how individuals function inside family units.
Individual Counseling
A pastoral counselor will be called upon to work with people from all walks of life, some of whom will be very different from himself. He may spend time studying the best ways to reach children, teens, women, and the elderly. If his particular church is located in a disadvantaged area, he may also spend time learning about how to best counsel homeless men and women who face their own unique set of psychological concerns.
Crisis Counseling
In addition to learning how to counsel all different types of people, pastoral counseling students will also learn how to counseling psychology programs individuals in crisis. Job loss, divorce, grief, poverty, homelessness, and illness are all very real problems that pastoral counselors will be expected to deal with on a regular basis. Training in crisis counseling allows a pastoral counselor to handle these situations with a cool head while providing the best possible care to the parishioner.
Dissertation/Thesis
Every masters degree student should be responsible for completing an in-depth research project about one aspect of their chosen field. Pastoral counseling students are no different, and they will be expected to independently research and write dissertations on a variety of subjects.
Internship
Pastoral counseling students are often required to complete an internship toward the end of a masters degree program. A pastoral counseling internship allows students to practice counseling parishioners in a church setting under the supervision of another pastoral counselor. The internship is designed to give the student the real-world experience and confidence to handle the clinical and spiritual problems they will encounter in their own practices.
