If you are a Christian who wishes to help others in their time of crisis, you may be considering a job as a Christian counselor. If this is the case, you need to know what it will take to follow you dreams. Read more to learn about the education and other requirements you need to consider to become a Christian counselor.
Many Christian colleges and theological schools will offer bachelors and master's degrees in counseling. They blend psychology with Christian morals. They will teach you how Bible passages are used in counseling family issues, addiction, regret, depression and christian counseling services stress.
Areas that you may study include family and child counseling, premarital and marital counseling, statistics, human grown and development and integration of theology and psychology. You will very likely be required to take part in clinical internships where you will work directly with clients who need spiritual guidance and counseling.
There are some specific licensing requirements that you must meet. For instance, must at least hold a master's degree. Other than this requirement, the requirements in each state will vary by the state laws and the area of counseling that you choose. For instance, all state will require that family and marriage counselors hold state credentials but the requirements for other types of counselors may vary.
Once a pastoral counselor has earned the doctorate, they will be required to become either certified or licensed in order to be able to practice in either a church or community setting. This information is from the American Association of Pastoral Counselors or A. A. P. C. Two examples of the designations include Certified Clinical Pastoral Therapist and Licensed Pastoral Psychotherapist.
People who choose to study in this field come from all lifestyles. Many of them are already ordained ministers. The major requirement to become a Christian counselor is that you have the desire in your heart to help other people. Although these counselors tend to receive more than average wages, money should not be your motivation for this line of work.
In order to become a certified pastoral counselor, a bachelors degree from an accredited university or college is required as well as a three year professional degree from a seminary. It is also required that you have a specialized masters or doctoral degree in mental health. All of these requirements make pastoral counselors among the most highly educated of mental health professionals.
There are many reasons that one may choose a career as a Christian counselor although money should not be the top motivator. This line of work requires that you have a genuine desire to help other Christians to overcome some of life's obstacles. These counselors pray with their clients and ask God for His help when it is needed. They offer sound biblical advice and encourage them with scripture based information. Although a lot of education is part of the requirement for this position, those who have been called on by God to be Christian counselors will thrive in both the courses and this line of work.