America and much of the world is becoming biblically illiterate and it is having an affect on our society.  Nearly one-half of marriages end in divorce, at least one-fourth of the women have been sexually or physically abused, at least one-fourth of the members of our society are codependent, and one out of ten are chemically dependent.  Almost everyone knows someone who is in desperate need of help. Unfortunately, these statistics apply in the church as well as in society. Consequently, every Christian needs at least a basic knowledge of how to effectively help these hurting people, and every church needs at least a pastor who is also qualified to counsel, a certified or degreed counselor to assist him with long term difficult cases, support groups, and a Bible-based life coach to help members of the congregation find and fulfill their callings.

      Every flock of sheep needs a shepherd or they will scatter.  As the flock grows it will eventually need a veterinarian (the counselor) to tend the sick sheep, a sheep dog (the Bible-based life coach) to help them find and achieve their calling, and under-shepherds (small group/support group leaders), because one shepherd realistically can only spend personal time with a limited number of sheep.  

      Another reason to incorporate these roles into the church body is that counseling, life coaching, and support groups provide an excellent means for growing your church.  In the Outreach Magazine Pastor Rick Warren stated that Celebrate Recovery groups draw 70% of their members from outside of the church and that 85% of them remain in the church.

         Support groups automatically result in some of the members wanting more individualized counseling.  Counseling provides an excellent means of leading people to Christ because when they come for help they will find that Christ is the answer that most of them have really been looking for. The need for the counseling ministry continues to grow as our society comes into the church and the post-Christian culture continues to deteriorate around us.

         In addition, many people in our society and churches also need direction in their lives. This is the mission of the Life Coach--to help people find their calling and to disciple them in their Christian lives and calling until they achieve it.

C. A Christian bachelor's and master's degrees are for those called to a part or full time paid counseling position in the church. A state license is not required to do Christian counseling as an ordained or licensed minister or as part of an official program of a church. Unless you are an ordained pastor a degree is required in most cases to obtain counseling liability insurance, a necessity to cover yourself if counseling fees are charged. Life coaches do not usually require liability insurance to charge fees. For more information select the College Degree link on this page.

D. A state counseling license can only be obtained through secular counseling training to obtain at least a master's degree at a regionally accredited university or college. You must meet the requirements of your state of residence so that you can accept third party health insurance payments for your services to clients. Of course, additional Christian counseling training should also be obtained in order to effectively counsel in a church environment.    

B. By home study using  flash drives, or MP3s if you do not have adequate Internet available.  In this case, all of our courses can be purchased on  flash drives, or by downloading MP3s. These courses were video taped during actual in-residence class sessions. The drawbacks to this type of study is that you must ask questions via Email or phone, you must find some way to provide your own clients, and if you cannot attend our in-residence supervision sessions you must find a qualified counselor near your location to supervise you,  or you must take individual supervision by E-mail.  There is an additional charge for individual supervision. The advantage is that you can take courses at any time to fit your schedule even if you do not have high-speed Internet access.

C. On-line. Almost all of our classes are also available on-line on this website. The only course not currently provided on-line on this website is Healing the Inner Man because Theophostic Prayer Ministry materials are copyrighted and are now available on-line for free at Transformationprayer.org.  Again, the disadvantages of this type of study is that you miss out on the class discussion, you must find some way to provide your own clients, and if you cannot attend our in-residence supervision sessions or find a qualified counselor near your location to supervise you, individual supervision must be provided via E-mail at submit@freechristiancounselingtraining.com.  There is an additional charge for individual supervision. The advantage is that you can take courses at any time to fit your schedule.

Faith Therapy--Understanding salvation by faith and resolving deeply-rooted problems. This book and course provide a psychological understanding of the process of salvation by faith, winning the trial of your faith, how to increase faith, how to assess faith, and how to apply it to meet your deepest needs for self-worth, significance, security, and love. It includes models for conquering the common problems of low self-image, pride, selfish desires, strife, fear, spiritual oppression, lust, and for developing healthy attachment. It is easily taught and applied in churches because it is completely based on the Bible.

Transformation!--Biblical Models for counseling some of Life's most difficult and complex problems in the church. This book and course contains many new insights including a comprehensive plan for Christian counseling derived directly from the Bible, in-depth biblical answers for complex psychological problems based on the types and shadows interpretation of biblical stories, models and quick reference guides for counseling 20 of the most difficult problems in the church today including inferiority, abandonment, dysfunctional families, setting boundaries, six types of codependency, abuse, four types of addictions, bitterness, depression, grief, and suicide.

Revelations That Will Set You Free--An eight step road map for spiritual growth. This book and course material includes a summary of biblical growth models and Old and New Testament revelations of the character of God, a comprehensive explanation of each of the eight steps of spiritual growth found in 2 Peter Chapter 1: Faith, for salvation; Virtue, making Jesus Lord; Knowledge, learning I cannot keep the law; Self-control through grace, Perseverance by knowing who I am in Christ; Godliness allowing Christ to live His life through me, Brotherly Kindness, letting Jesus love His bothers through me: and Love, letting Jesus be Himself through me.  It also provides a model from the Bible demonstrating how each step is achieved so you can grow spiritually toward Christian maturity.

Principles for Life--Using biblical principles to resolve problems not directly addressed in the Bible. This book and course explains 44 of the most important principles in the Bible from a psychological perspective and provides an in-depth method for developing counseling plans using biblical principles for common psychological problems based on Proverbs Chapter 3. This material includes a discussion of 13 classical methods of biblical change, a new model for understanding the human heart called "The Train of Psychological Wholeness," and techniques for applying biblical principles in counseling. It includes counseling plans and methods for treating anxiety, panic attacks, obsessions, compulsions, sexual abuse, domestic violence, marital problems, and Borderline Personality Disorder.