Lay counselors and pastors are popular people to go to when there is a need for faith-based counseling. However, few are actually formally trained to be an expert in this area. Although these individuals may be “qualified” to render aid, there is an ever-increasing need of specialized care for people in dire need of emotional and mental breakthrough.

A degree in Christian counseling will help individuals earn licensure, certification, and a higher level of professional education that will lead to the creation of a reputable Christian Counseling practice.

Earning a Christian Counselor Degree

Earning a degree in Christian Counseling will enable you to utilize your gifts to help other people. Individuals who find joy in helping others overcome challenges and analyze the roots of their problems are qualified for this career. There are lot of fulfilling challenges to address in the areas of mental health, childhood, family relations, and work. There is also that exciting possibility of being self-employed or collaborate with other people to form a private practice.

Skills and qualities that will make an impact in the pursuit of a degree in Christian counseling are communication, empathy, listening, compassion, mentoring and leadership.

There are a big variety of Christian Colleges to choose from in the country that offer a Degree in Christian Counseling. Most accredited learning institutions have the common desire to give future counselors an education that is faithful to both textbooks and the Bible. There is also a strong emphasis in the importance of leading a life of kindness and integrity.

C.J. Harrison is an educational writer and editor for a number of top educational directories, including the Degree in Christian Counseling directory where students can compare accredited universities offering Christian Counselor Degrees and Programs.

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The journey to become a Christian counselor is a lot like earning the standard counseling credits. However, there are a few added elements that are part of the mix.

If you feel you are called to become a Christian counselor, the proper training is critical in order to make this happen. There are several excellent Christian colleges that offer courses in psychology and counseling. Degrees on all levels – bachelor’s, master’s and a doctorate – are available for this type of career goal.

Other learning institutions even offer Christian counseling classes on evenings and weekends. This is a great option for people who want to become a Christian counselor but have current work commitments. There are also part-time study options available for people who can only devote a specific amount of time to study in a given week.

There are individuals who have to juggle responsibilities at home and in the workplace. There are current roles to fulfill such as being an employee, a spouse and a parent all at the same time. If you can relate to this scenario, you can be a Christian counselor by opting to take classes online. This presents an ideal situation for your current lifestyle. It allows you to participate in classes in your free time and minimizes time spent commuting to and from campus.

You must also be open to joining to professional associations if you would like to become a Christian counselor. Efforts in connecting with other people in the same field may open doors for you. Networking by attending special seminars and conferences will help you out. You new contacts may be your go-to people for advice, mentoring, and training. You will also receive a lot of assistance in terms of getting licensed and certified. Finding out about hot job openings are also a great bonus!

The most important foundation in order to become a Christian counselor is to have a firm faith in the foundations of Christianity. There must be a thorough and solid understanding in the core beliefs. You will need this knowledge to impart as you help someone go through a deep healing process.

C.J. Harrison is an educational writer and editor for a number of top educational directories, including How to Become a Christian Counselor, where students can learn more about pursuing a degree in Christian Counseling.

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Earning a Degree from a Christian University

Online Christian Colleges allow students the ability to earn their degree from the comfort of their home, office, or at their favorite local hangout, as long as they have a working computer with a decent internet connection. The student is also expected to know how to use an online chat or bulletin board feature, send and receive e-mail, and have basic internet knowledge.

Christian Universities may also offer accelerated programs. Many schools know how busy working adults are, and that committing to four years of online learning can be a difficult and arduous task for most. Now, many colleges offer associates degrees in less than 2 years, and bachelor degrees in less than 4 years. And since Online Christian Colleges have the same level of accreditation as those found in a traditional campus degree program, graduates have the same benefits as those who enrolled in an on-campus program.

Types of Degrees Offered

Christian Universities offer degrees in a variety of fields and at all degree levels. While some schools focus primarily on faith-based degrees such as Christian Counseling, Ministry, Theology, and Biblical Studies, most universities also offer degrees in education, business, the liberal arts, and more.

Online Christian Colleges are certainly worth considering, simply based on the spiritual value it presents to the student, not to mention the convenience, flexibility, and timeframe of certain degree programs.

C.J. Harrison is an educational writer and editor for a number of top educational directories, including the Online Christian Colleges directory where students can compare accredited Christian Colleges offering online degrees.

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It could be your desire to further your education by earning a higher degree in Christian counseling. As a busy professional working long days it may be hard to find the time. You may be a pastor of a large or small congregation or a lay counselor and have a need for a degree in Christian counseling. You may be able to have an opportunity to do just that by working on your Christian counseling degree online.

Christian Premarital Counseling

Counseling degrees can be quite specific. One degree can be for counseling Christian couples wanting to get married. Christian premarital counseling is one of the most important and rewarding aspects of this specialized counseling. To see a couple through this process and witness the results of this counseling in a strong and solid marriage is quite exciting. Couples learn through Christian premarital counseling how important it is to keep God as the center in their marriage.

Our Troubled Society

In the troubled world we live in today there are many Christians suffering with financial debt, depression, drug addictions, sex addictions, or possibly have a problem child at home. There are more and more single or married adults requiring professional counseling. As a Christian, it is desirable to seek guidance, direction and advice through solid Biblical counseling.

Biblical Examples

In the Bible there are many examples of men, women, sons, daughters, kings, princes, and even the disciples falling into times of great trouble. There is the story of King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel chapter four verses 31 & 33 describe his fall into mental duress due to the guilt of not walking according to God’s commands. He had become self absorbed and egotistical.

4:31 “While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice

fell from heaven: ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is

spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!

4:33 That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning

Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass

like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till

his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds claws.”

He lived like this until he was directed back to the Lord.

4:34 “And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar,

lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding

returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised

and honored Him who lives forever:”

It is the job of a qualified Christian counselor with the proper training to redirect a person’s focus off of themselves and back onto the Lord and what the Lord requires of them. As it says in verse 34 “his understanding returned to him.” When a person is in deep depression or trapped in an addiction their “understanding” has left them. Even a son or daughter walking down the wrong path needs their “understanding” returned to them through Christian counseling.

Many people will not seek help from a counselor unless they have the proper credentials. Some may even be required to get counseling and direction from a professional with a degree in Christian counseling due to a rehabilitation recommendation from the courts. Earning a Christian counseling degree online can equip you with the skills certification required to help these lost souls gain back their “understanding” and live a full Christian life serving God and others.

To find the latest information on Christian Counseling visit Christian Counseling Degree Online as well as Christian Premarital Counseling

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Christian boarding schools encourage learning through a Biblical life skills curriculum, biblical guidance, church attendance, home discipleship courses, devotion times and community living. Students are taught various aspects of life like forgiveness, leadership, money management, failure management, adherence to truth, self-value, boundaries and respect, mood management, self-control, time management, authority and various issues that relate to dating, sex and marriage.

Children, who have learning disabilities receiving treatment by individual therapists, group family therapy, integrated education and treatment and round-the-clock supervision. They also provide several recreational activities like horseback riding, sports and games. Teaching students to make the right choices in life led by spirituality and religion is the aim of Christian boarding schools.

There are also Christian boarding schools meant for troubled kids. These schools deal with children who come from troubled homes or have gotten into trouble using alcohol and/or drugs. They are also special boarding schools for children with eating disorders, violence/bullying, teen pregnancy or oppositional defiant disorders. They them help these children to overcome problems like ADHD, depression, stress, learning disabilities, bipolar disorder, anxiety, obesity, and more. Special needs boarding schools offer secure environments that foster positive attitude and therapies that include counseling for the entire family. With smaller student-teacher ratios of 10:1, they ensure compliance with accreditations from organizations like the Association of Christian Schools International, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) or the Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation.

Boarding Schools provides detailed information on Boarding Schools, Boarding Schools For Troubled Teens, Boys’ Boarding Schools, Christian Boarding Schools and more. Boarding Schools is affiliated with Military High Schools [http://www.e-MilitarySchools.com].

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Many home schooling parents choose Christian distance education as an alternative to public schooling. The curriculum is based upon Christian principles and beliefs. The Bible is the foundation for all subjects. Secular theories and ideologies are not presented as truth. In addition to the benefits of avoiding the influences of drugs, alcohol, and crime, the laws governing the separation of church and state do not restrict Christian distance education students. For example, prayer is allowed. Students acquire a high school diploma, while simultaneously strengthening religious and moral beliefs.

Beyond the high school diploma, Christian distance education affords individuals the opportunity to study for the ministry. Students may aspire to become a full-time pulpit minister or a youth minister. Contrary to popular belief, speaking on Sunday is only a small portion of ministry, and education is necessary. Ministers counsel, teach, comfort, and physically labor for the various needs of a congregation. In addition, youth ministers answer to the unique needs of today’s youth. Many youngsters come from broken homes. With drugs and alcohol so prevalent in today’s society, home may no longer be a child’s safe haven from the world’s troubles. Youth ministers may fill the roles of a parent, friend, counselor, teacher, and confidante. Again, youth rallies and fun activities are only a small portion of a youth minister’s job. Christian distance education may enable an individual to enter the ministry and benefit the community, without uprooting a family, or losing a means of support.

Laymen may also seek distance education, thus benefiting the community through Christian psychology and counseling. Many people are more comfortable seeking help, if the counselor or psychologist shares a foundation in Christian principles and ideals. Also, Christian counselors and psychologists want to practice according to personal moral and religious beliefs and not by worldly standards. Therefore, Christian distance education answers the needs of both patients and doctors.

In summary, in answer to the growing problem of violence, drugs, and alcohol in the public schools, parents are opting to enroll children in Christian distance education. Many graduates may also seek a post-secondary education in the ministry or Christian-based careers in psychology or counseling. Whether a student signs up for a correspondence course in a particular subject, or a degree program, accredited Christian distance learning is now a reality.

Dana Stephens is a freelance writer for several online publications and websites. For more information on distance learning programs please visit http://www.eLearningTips.com today.

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What does that mean for homeschoolers? Some Christian homeschoolers accept psychology wholesale, some reject it entirely, and some wrestle with which aspects to accept and which to reject. This article suggests that whatever you believe about psychology, the time to address academic psychology is BEFORE your student leaves home for college.

If your student goes to college, there is an excellent chance he/she will take an introductory (at least) psychology course. Most medical schools, liberal arts colleges, seminaries, and teacher’s colleges require students to have some exposure to psychology. Psychology is one of the most popular undergraduate majors at public and Christian colleges and universities. College enrollment in psychology courses outpaces every other scientific discipline. Christian students are often ill prepared to confront the criticisms of Christianity and the anti-Christian worldview presented by modern psychology. The material taught in introductory psychology courses WILL challenge their worldview. University level instruction in modern psychology is generally atheistic and humanistic. Psychology departments often are home to the most anti-Christian intellectuals on college campuses. As a group, psychology professors have high levels of agnosticism, skepticism, and atheism. The psychology professor is unlikely to be sympathetic to your child’s Christian worldview and may attack their faith as unscientific, irrational, prudish, exploitive, controlling, inhibitive, oppressive, and naïve.

If psychology is fraught with such danger, shouldn’t Christian homeschoolers reject it completely? Maybe. But isn’t the humble investigation of all of God’s creation part of what it means to love God with one’s mind? Do Christians, and by extension Christian homeschoolers, have a duty to explore all of God’s creation? Does that duty to explore extend to His grandest creation; Mankind? Does that duty extend to Mankind’s mind? Though the conflicts between modern psychology and a Christian worldview are many and perilous, it may be a mistake for Christians to completely reject the study of psychology.

The bottom line is this. Beginning with Darwin’s Origin of Species, all sciences, including psychology, underwent a transformation. Scientific data were interpreted in ways to exclude supernatural beliefs. Darwinian evolution imposed itself on the Christian understanding of life (biology) and then tried to exclude anything Christian. Darwinian evolution imposed itself on the Christian understanding of Man (psychology) and then tried to exclude anything Christian.

The study of the soul, the mind, the brain, and behavior (psychology) are right and proper for Christian homeschoolers. The goal of Christian education, in biology, physics, theology, chemistry, and in psychology, is to understand God’s creation and, in the words of Johannes Kepler, to “think God’s thoughts after Him.” Christians have a duty to assert the Christian worldview in academia and Christian homeschoolers have an opportunity to lead that effort. The involvement of homeschoolers in the study of psychology is an integral part of that effort.

Now browse your favorite homeschool catalogue. Count the number of biology, physics, history, and chemistry texts (and every other academic discipline) written from a Christian perspective. Lots right? Now count the number of psychology texts. Zero right? This article suggests that the absence of material for Christian homeschoolers to study psychology is a function of those critics referenced in the opening paragraph.

Those who condemn psychology cast their nets too wide. Those on the web and in Christendom who criticize psychology are generally critical of “counseling” psychology. The criticisms may be correct, but psychology is much more than counseling. It is not the purpose of this article to evaluate the criticisms of counseling psychology. Many critics seem to be thoughtful God-fearing Christians. But painting the entire discipline with the same brush used to paint counseling psychology causes many Christians to shy-away from the whole field. The study of the mind, memory, emotions, learning, development, sensation, neurons, and all the other topics that comprise psychology, is right, proper, and important for Christian homeschoolers.

Want to use this article in your website? You have my permission, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Tim Rice, D. Min. is the author of Homeschool Psych: Preparing Christian Homeschool Students for Psych 101 available at http://www.homeschoolpsych.com

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