Course Description
This class discusses the ethical and legal issues in biblical counseling. The class will address issues of appropriate counselor/client disclosure, issues of billing, scope of treatment offered, limits of competency, and other pertinent legal and ethical issues. The biblical counselor wants to offer care that maintains integrity of their firmly held Christian beliefs while giving appropriate disclosure to the client seeking help.
For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.
Course Guide
View this course’s outcomes, policies, schedule, and more.*
*The information contained in our Course Guides is provided as a sample. Specific course curriculum and requirements for each course are provided by individual instructors each semester. Students should not use Course Guides to find and complete assignments, class prerequisites, or order books.
Rationale
Biblical counseling will typically operate outside of state licensure protocols. Thus, the legal protocols that are offered to licensed counselors are not mandated to biblical counselors. While this allows biblical counselors to operate with more flexibility, it also raises ethical and legal concerns that need to be addressed apart from state licensing standards.
Course Assignment
Textbook readings and lecture presentations/notes
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 student is required to provide a posting in response to the provided prompt for each Discussion. In addition to the initial posting, the student is required to reply to 2 peer posts. These peer responses are designed for the student to dive deeply into a discussion on one central idea versus trying to cover a lot of ideas broadly. Each post should demonstrate critical insight and evaluation. (CLOs: A, B, D)
Theoretical Framework Assignment
In this assignment, the student will develop a theologically informed ethical framework as they explore the intersection of theology and ethics and consider how biblical principles can shape ethical decision-making in various contexts. (CLOs: A, C)
Legal Considerations Assignment
In this assignment, the student will consider principles and strategies that can minimize personal liability and bring one’s ministry and/or biblical counseling endeavors into alignment with relevant laws and codes of practice. The goal is to identify key considerations that can help mitigate legal risks and establish practices that are in accordance with applicable regulations. (CLOs: A, B, C)
Counseling Ministry Plan Assignment
In this assignment, the student will imagine that they have been tasked with creating a biblical counseling ministry at their church. They will then consider the principles and elements necessary to organize a biblical counseling ministry that adheres to legal and ethical guidelines. (CLOs: A, B, C)
Personal Code of Conduct Assignment
In this assignment, the student will identify key aspects of a personal code of conduct to promote integrity, professionalism, and accountability in ministry or biblical counseling scenarios and help ensure that their actions align with biblical, ethical, and legal standards. (CLOs: A, C)
Quiz: Ethical Codes and Criteria
The student will complete an assessment on key principles, codes of conduct, ethical standards, and ethical vulnerabilities related to Christian counseling. This quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 30 multiple choice and true/false questions and 1 short answer question, and have a 1 hour time limit. (CLO: A)
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