This degree is designed to prepare students for membership in a variety of professional associations and offers courses that are related to the guidelines set by these associations. First and second year students will be involved in the development of counselling skills which are honed during the counselling internship requirement in the third year of the program.

Upon completion of the Master of Divinity - Counselling Track, students should:

• Have a competent grasp of the biblical story.
• Be able to effectively communicate the message of the biblical text and its application to their audience.
• Possess the skills to exegete the context in which they live so as to intersect their culture with the message of the Bible in a relevant manner.
• Be actively involved in spiritual formation on an individual and corporate level.
• Have the appropriate leadership philosophy and skills development that permit them to serve the church effectively.
• Possess a competent overview of theology from a biblical, historical, and systematic perspective.
• Possess a competent overview of counselling theory, recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to helping others.
• Be able to reflect on issues using the perspectives of theology and social science.
• Have an understanding of the church as a spiritual organism and organization.
• Understand the relationship of counselling to the Christian calling and to the missional nature of the church.
• Be able to link theories, principles, concepts and practices taught in the classroom to the practice of ministry.
• Develop a professional self in terms of the values, ethics, principles and practices that govern the profession.
• Engage in and maintain counselling relationships, assessing needs on “multiple levels,” evaluating strengths, conceptualizing and implementing appropriate ministry responses to the needs of individuals, couples and families, modifying ministry interventions as needed, and evaluating progress, change and/or the need to refer to other community supports.
• Be able to document work in accordance with established professional practice guidelines.
• Be able to recognize, discuss, and deal thoroughly with the ending of counselling relationships, as well as the change process, at individual and interpersonal level.

Curriculum 

Language Studies

Hermeneutics

Biblical Studies

Biblical Introduction 
Pentateuch
Old Testament Elective
Synoptic Gospels
New Testament Elective

Theological and Historical Studies

Theological Foundations 1 & 2
Theology of Church & Ministry
Moral Theology
Worldview & Culture/ Missions Elective
Church History 1 & 2

Spiritual Formation Studies

Spirituality Elective  

Psychology and Counselling Studies

Psychotherapies
Psychopathologies
The Therapeutic Relationship
Communicating Counselling Concepts
Theories of Human Growth & Development
Assessment & Measurement
Theories of Marital & Family Therapy
Marital & Premarital Counselling
3 Counselling Electives
Professional Ethics for Counsellors & Chaplains
Integration of Psychology & Theology
Theology of the Human Person
Counselling Internship 1 & 2