PACO 611 Counseling the Child and Their Families

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Counseling children and their families requires a nuanced understanding of both developmental psychology and biblical principles to address the unique emotional, relational, and spiritual challenges they face. This course equips students with the skills and insights necessary to foster healing and growth in children and their families within diverse ministry contexts.

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

No details available.

Course Requirements Checklist

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

Discussions (4)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student will create a 400-word thread in response to the prompt provided for each discussion. Each thread must demonstrate course-related knowledge and critically interact with relevant sources. In addition, the student is required to submit 1 reply of 100 words to the thread of a classmate. The thread must include 2 scholarly citations; the reply must include 1 citation. Any sources cited must be published within the past 5 years. (CLO: A, B, C) 

Infant & Toddler Care Principles Assignment

This assignment explores guiding principles that assist in understanding infant and toddler care and unearths personal reflection. It allows for extrapolating and applying these principles in real-life caregiving, counseling, or educational settings. The student will provide a list of 5–10 relevant community resources and then write a 200–300-word description of his/her counseling approach. This description must reference at least 3–5 sources and use APA format. (CLO: A)

Brain Integration Assignment

The Brain Integration role-play video is an exploratory exercise to enhance the student’s understanding of brain development and responses during adolescence. This process will enable the student to apply brain integration principles while counseling children and their families. This video must be 3–4 minutes total. (CLO: B)

Whole-Brain Child and Trauma Interview

The impact of childhood trauma is crucial for addressing the challenges faced by children and their families. This assignment will examine key concepts related to brain development, trauma responses, and therapeutic interventions, integrating biblical principles where applicable. The student will interview a trauma specialist and submit a 15–30-minute recording of the interview. The student will then write answers to biblical integration questions in 200–400 words using APA format. (CLO: B)

Boundaries in Pastoral Counseling Assignment

The Boundaries in Pastoral Counseling Assignment critically analyzes the challenges of setting healthy boundaries in pastoral counseling. This assignment will allow the student to review “The #1 Obstacle to Setting Healthy Boundaries: Relationship Skills #5” video and critically reflect on ways to establish boundaries in pastoral counseling. This assignment must be 250 words and cite any sources used in APA format. A reference page must be included. (CLO: C)