BCOU 400 Contemporary Issues in Biblical Counseling

This class reviews contemporary issues in biblical counseling. These issues could include but are not limited to, philosophical and scientific assessment of the human person, human sexuality, ability for human change, and contemporary mental health issues. The goal of the class is for the biblical counselor to understand the cultural moment and speak competently to the contemporary moment as a biblical counselor.

The contemporary mental health crisis continues to be a pressing issue. The field of mental health counselors offers various assessments of the problem and the best treatment plans for pressing mental health concerns. This class prepares the biblical counselor to more fully address these issues and develop an appropriate response as a biblical counselor. 

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

No details available.

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (3)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the students is required to provide a thread in response to the provided prompt for each discussion. Each thread must be 500 words and must use at least 5 footnotes from the videos and/or reading and/or scholarly sources in current Turabian format and demonstrate course-related knowledge. In addition to the thread, the student is required to reply to 2 other classmates’ threads. Each reply must be 300 words and use at least 3 scholarly citations in current Turabian format (at least 1 of which has to be on a different chapter than the 1 selected for the original posting). Any sources cited must have been published within the last 5 years. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E, F)

Reflection Paper Assignments (3)

The student will submit a 2-3 page paper in Turabian format with in-text citations from the selected chapter, sharing a critical reflection of the information from the chapter and how he/she would apply the chapter information to a counseling situation, and demonstrating engagement with course Learn materials through the appropriate documentation of sources. (CLO: A, B, C, D, E, F)

Assessing DSM-5-TR Patterns Assignment

This assignment will train the student to read the DSM‑5‑TR descriptively by identifying key symptoms associated with Obsessive‑Compulsive Disorder and Bipolar II Disorders, then applying those symptoms to short fictional vignettes. The student will map the symptoms of each disorder, practice recognizing how those patterns may appear—or not appear—in real‑to‑life scenarios, and conclude by summarizing the presenting concerns and treatment considerations. The visual map must be 1 page, the analysis for each vignette must be 150-200 words, and the summary will be 1 paragraph (include 2 citations in Turabian format). (CLO: C, F)

Applied Counseling Theory Video Assignment

The student will create a 5-minute video that highlights their understanding of a key concept from the course and demonstrates their ability to connect that learning to practical ministry. The goal is to show how the ideas the student has studied can be clearly explained and meaningfully applied within a church counseling context. (CLO: E, F)