The Bible teaches that believers have the responsibility to admonish the unruly, encourage those who are struggling, help the weak, and be patient with everyone (1 Thess. 5:14). We find, however, that many Christians, even some pastors, are intimidated by the implications of that passage to those whose marriages are declining, to those who are struggling with anger, to those who are depressed, and those with other problems.
We believe that God has provided the hope and answers we need in his sufficient Word.
Therefore, we have designed a counseling training program, based on over 40 years of counseling experience, that will help you help those who are struggling – whatever their particular concerns might be.
2020
- Fall: September 14 – November 23
2021
- Spring: March 15 - May 24
- Summer: June 7 - August 23 (No Class on 7/5)
- Fall: September 13 – November 29 (No Class on 10/4)
Eleven Mondays to a Changed Ministry
Our class meets for eleven weeks, but holidays are observed. Therefore, the length of the class will range from 11 to 13 weeks depending on the holiday schedule. The training course begins at 9:00 am and concludes by 9:00 pm.
This is a certified training Center for those wishing to pursue ACBC Certification. For more information on ACBC Certification, please visit www.biblicalcounseling.com.
Lectures
From 9:00 am until 1:00 pm the counseling staff presents lectures on the most common counseling problems. Topics include:
- Understanding the reasons for biblical counseling and the basic methods for doing biblical counseling. Included are lectures on why do counseling, the goal of counseling, what makes biblical counseling biblical, a comparison of counseling methods, and the six key elements in the counseling process.
- Ministry to people involves both helping them overcome their sin and helping them grow to be more like Christ through the trials and suffering that they face. Thus, we have sessions devoted to help you understand how to minister to people that struggle.
- It is also important to recognize that genuine change is change that occurs on the inside. Thus, we spend a lot of time talking about the heart not simply the behavior that Scripture would command.
- We will discuss the most common counseling subject: marriage and the family. We will provide specific teaching on communication, husband/wife roles, parent/child relationships, priorities, and sex.
- Introduction to counseling and common medical issues. Included in this section is a discussion of illness, counseling those with an illness, and how to counsel those on psychotropic drugs.
- Helping people understand and process their emotions properly is another significant counseling subject. So we will discuss how to help people who are struggling with worry, guilt, sinful anger, fear of man, and depression.
- The implications of this course to pastoral ministry are far reaching including evangelism, helping your people grow, equipping them for ministry, and pastoral responsibilities.
- Discussion of written case studies with our staff.
Observation
Our staff counsels from 1:00 pm until 9:00 pm in five different counseling hours. You will have an opportunity to observe about 20 hours of actual counseling sessions during the course.
Those who have taken the course before consider the observation time as a crucial part of helping them prepare for their own ministries.
Required Books and Pamphlets
- Counseling: How to Counsel Biblically
- Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands
- Shepherding a Child’s Heart
- Strengthening Your Marriage
- The Christian Counselor's Casebook
- The Heart of Anger
- When Anger Gets The Upper Hand?
- When You Become Depressed?
- When Fear Overcomes You?
- When You Know That You're Hooked?
- When Your Marriage Goes Sour?
- When You Worry All The Time?
The current cost of the training course is $295. This fee includes over 40 hours of training from 10 speakers. Each attendee will receive the course notes, syllabus and dinner on the first day of class.
The required books and pamphlets should be purchased prior to the first day of class.
Please Note: The cost of the training course is subject to change. The $50 deposit is only refundable if one attends all lectures and observations.
The application process is a three stop process:
- Acquire a letter of recommendation from your senior pastor. In that letter we ask that he include a brief statement of his relationship to you and why he believes it would be helpful for you to receive the training.
- Once you have the letter of recommendation, submit your application online.
- Once your application has been approved, a confirmation letter will be sent to you along with instructions regarding payment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. In fact, we ask that you sign up for a session (e.g. Spring, Summer, or Fall) only if you plan on attending each week. We understand that emergencies can arise whereby a person is not able to attend a given week. However, outside of extreme situations we expect each trainee to attend every week.
The course is open to any member of a Bible-believing church, assuming there is pastoral approval. However, this course was designed specifically for pastors and lay leaders interested in making a difference in the lives of others. Pastors have often commented that this training helped them with their preaching in addition to their counseling.
Lunches are always on your own. We recommend that you bring your lunch since the time is often fairly short, but there are a few restaurants within 2 miles of the church. Since dinnertime is in the middle of our counseling sessions, we order dinner from a local restaurant (except the first night when FBCM provides the dinner at no cost to you). A sign-up sheet will be available when you arrive each Monday with a menu and the name of the restaurant for that week and you will pay our office staff later that afternoon for your orders.
Technically, the answer is no. However, we recognize that some of you will travel a great distance to be here. As a result, you are free to leave after your last scheduled counseling observation session. We do not allow trainees to skip sessions in order to leave early. If your last case ends at 7:45 pm then you are free to leave, but if you are an observer until 9:00 pm then you are not free to leave until that case is over.
In our opinion, the observations set our training apart from other training centers. We emphasize content, but we also show you how that content is applied in real cases. The observations are actual counseling cases with folks from our town and surrounding community. We work to provide you with 20 hours of observation with several different counselors so you can watch, learn, and grow.
The Monday program includes three components: (1) reading; (2) lecture; and (3) counseling observation. The lecture component of our Monday training matches the lectures taught during track 1 of the conference (there are actually 2-3 lectures from track 2 as well). The other two components, reading and counseling observation, are unique to the Monday training program.