Introduction to Christian Counselling – Year 1

OBJECTIVES

To acquire comprehensive understanding of the various components of psychology, both general and developmental.
To obtain a fair knowledge on abnormal psychology.
To gain accurate account on the basics of Christian counselling.
To fully understand and apply the different theories of counselling and psychotherapies 

 
 
LEARNING OUTCOMES

 
This modular block provides opportunities for students to demonstrate knowledge and understanding (K) cognitive (thinking) skills (C) and other skills and attributes (S) in the following areas:
K: Understanding different components of general psychology.
K: To understand the different components of developmental psychology
S: To be able to detect any abnormal psychological features in Christian counselling sessions.
C: To understand the basics of Christian counselling and how to apply them in Christian counselling sessions.
K: To develop the academic approach towards understanding different counselling theories.
S: To be trained on how to apply different psychotherapeutic approaches in counselling sessions. 

 
 
COURSE CONTENTS 
Christian Counseling Course Syllabus

(A) First year

1. General psychology: study of frustration, conflict, stress, psychological motives, needs, emotions, development of self-image, psychological defence mechanisms, stages of moral development, theories of personality, stages of grief and terminal illnesses.

2. Developmental psychology: Study of preschool children psychology, gender identity development, school children psychology, adolescent psychology, midlife psychology, male and female psychology, geriatric psychology, family psychology.  

(B) Second year

1. Basics of Christian counselling: differences between secular and Christian Counselling, integration of Christian faith and psychology approaches, The Holy Spirit and Christian spirituality in counselling and psychotherapy, Motives Behind Serving in Counseling, Pre-requisites for Serving in Christian Counseling,  traditional Christian counsellor, transference and countertransference, stages and techniques of counseling process, criteria of counseling relationship, how to conduct first sessions and repeated sessions, skills of counseling, body language and communication, boundaries in counselling, code of ethics in counselling, telephone counselling, counselling children, counselling adolescents, counseling sheet.

2. Counselling theories and psychotherapies: The Counsellor: Person and Professional, Psychoanalytic Therapy, Adlerian Therapy, Existential Therapy, Person-Centred Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, Behaviour Therapy, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Reality Therapy, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, Family counseling, Separation and divorce counselling, Infidelity counseling, An Integrative Perspective & Case Illustration: An Integrative Approach.

3. Abnormal psychology: Studying mental health, symptoms of psychiatric disorders, DSM-V of psychiatric disorders, substance abuse disorders, personality disorders, behavioural disturbances in children, child abuse, suicide.
 

 
 
TEACHING METHODS

TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES AND METHODS USED TO ENABLE THE ACHIEVEMENT OF LEARNING OUTCOMES: these include lectures, seminars, tutorials, practicals, workshops, laboratories, distance learning, projects, formative assessment and other methods

Lectures to introduce new knowledge to the candidates, basic definitions, concepts and facts.
Distance learning and listening to recorded lectures and watching illustrative videos and relevant movies should broaden the scope of people’s understanding of each of the above topics.
Clinical practicing through case studies, virtual and real.
 

 ASSESSMENT

ASSESSMENT NUMBER
 

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT METHODS WHICH ENABLE STUDENT TO DEMONSTRATE THE LEARNING OUTCOMES :
 

WEIGHTING:

First year: 2 Examination

Second year: 2 Examinations

Third year: 2 Examinations

Examinations: 60% 

Clinical Case studies: 40%