Course-Diploma in Clinical Pastoral Counseling

General Introduction on Diploma in Clinical Pastoral Counselling:

Preamble:

In the context of stress and strain experienced by persons, families and communities following rapid social change and consequent collapse of support systems in the Indian society, the Senate of Serampore College offers the Diploma in Clinical Pastoral Counselling to the Church so that those among its ranks, lay and ordained, may be equipped to participate effectively in the healing ministry of the church through theologically and psychologically sound training in counselling.

Clinical:

The word “Clinical” in the title of this diploma programme highlights the intention to equip the trainees to offer formal and systematic counselling service to the general public in an institutional setting. The setting may be that of a parish, counselling centre, hospital, educational institution or social work programme. Clinical does not exclusively refer to the hospital setting.

Pastoral:

“Pastoral” in the title of this diploma programme refers to the pastoral quality of the counselling ministry and not to the ordained status of the counsellor.

The Pastoral quality of the Counselling is derived from the counsellor’s (i) own identity with the totality of ministry of the Church and (ii) an awareness of God’s active presence in the counselling situation between the counsellee and the counsellor.

Objectives:

The objectives of the Diploma in Clinical Pastoral Counselling are:

To provide an understanding of healing and wholeness from a Christian perspective;
To provide an awareness of and sensitivity to the various areas of need for healing;
To provide with disciplinary approach in dealing with issues in healing;
To impart skills in Pastoral care and Counselling;
To enable the development of attitudes and sensitivity to relate oneself in depth to those in need;
To develop and enhance the inner strength and potential capabilities required for personal growth;
To help, recognize and utilize the spiritual resources;
To help understand Biblical vision of the church as the healing community and thereby enter creatively into the healing ministry of the Church;
In all these, to emphasize the centrality of Christ while being sensitive to the religious plurality and spiritual traditions of India.

CURRICULUM

A. Structure of the Course:

There shall be 4 (Four) compulsory courses and not less than 2 (Two) optional courses. The compulsory courses shall be of 60 hours length and the optional courses 40 hours. (Three hours per week and two hours per week respectively.) Learning shall be through lectures, role-plays, peer counselling, observing the counselling work of trainers and Counselling in real life situation. “Learning by doing” shall be the predominant pedagogical principle.

The counselling work of the students shall be supervised by trainers through review of verbatims, case studies and with the help of audio and/or video tapes of live sessions.

The supervisory sessions will focus on enhancing personal awareness in the trainee and on improving Counselling skills. Opportunities shall also be available to trainees to do Counselling for themselves.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DCPC COURSE:

Prior to admission a candidate should have –
passed the B.Th./B.D. Degree of Serampore College or its recognized equivalent (academic)
completed 3 years in Pastoral Ministry (professional)
passed the Entrance Test and Interview conducted by the Institution approved by the Senate (aptitude).

A person who holds a Bachelor Degree of a University and has completed at least three years of work experience or involvement in some form of Lay Ministry of the Church as determined by the admitting institution and subject to passing the aptitude test as under 1(c).

ATA M. Div. Graduate with HSLC (+2) and above shall be allowed to join for DCPC program. Prior approval is required to identify ATA registered graduates.

Nature of the Course:

DCPC is a regular program. The candidate shall be in residence during the entire study period and shall not accept any other responsibility other than those assigned by the Centre. The Institution or persons directly responsible or appointed to supervise may require a candidate to be in attendance any time during the practical training.

B. i. Compulsory Courses (4 Courses)

DCPC001	Biblical & Theological Foundations of Clinical Pastoral Counselling (a) Introduction to Clinical Pastoral Counselling (b) Biblical and Theological Bases of Clinical Pastoral Counselling
DCPC002	Theories of Personality and Psychology (a) Introduction to Personality Theories (b) Introduction to Schools of Counselling and Psychotherapy
DCPC003	Care and Counselling through Human Life Cycle (a) Human Development and Counselling during Development Stages (b) Marriage and Family Counselling
DCPC004	Counselling in Crisis Situations (a) Crisis Counselling (b) Counselling the Addicts and the HIV/AIDS Infected (c) Psychopathology and Counselling the Mentally and Physically Ill

ii. Optional Courses (2 Courses minimum)

DCPC006 Ministry to the DifferentlyAbled Persons

DCPC007 Ministry to the Aged

DCPC008 History of Medicine, Medical Terminology and Medical Ethics

DCPC009 Healing ministry and the Sacramental Life of the Church

(Required optional for pastors)

DCPC010 Counselling Children with Special Problems

DCPC011 Management Skills

DCPC014 Substance Abuse, Chemical Dependency and De-addiction Counselling

DCPC015 Alcoholism and De-addiction Counselling

DCPC016 Counselling and Gender Issues

iii. Project – 5000 words:

The following guidelines shall be observed in Preparing the Project.

The Project should be contextually relevant and academically sound. It should reflect a specific activity in which a candidate is involved in councelling in clinical and pastoral situations and indicate the positive results than providing mere statistical data or report.

Mode of Study and Evaluation:

The centre/college shall evaluate the candidate’s work through verbatims, book reviews, examination and supervision of the Counselling situations for a maximum of 500 marks, whereas the Senate will evaluate the four Comprehensive Examinations and the Project for 500 marks, for a total of 1000. The internal assessment must be through group assessment. There must be more than one person involved in the process of assessment.

The Comprehensive Examinations conducted by the Senate will cover the following group of courses:

DCPC001	Biblical & Theological Foundations of Clinical Pastoral Counselling (a) Introduction to Clinical Pastoral Counselling (b) Biblical and Theological Bases of Clinical Pastoral Counselling
DCPC002	Theories of Personality and Psychology (a) Introduction to Personality Theories (b) Introduction to Schools of Counselling and Psychotherapy
DCPC003	Care and Counselling through Human Life Cycle (a) Human Development and Counselling during Development Stages (b) Marriage and Family Counselling
DCPC004	Counselling in Crisis Situations (a) Crisis Counselling (b) Counselling the Addicts and the HIV/AIDS Infected (c) Psychopathology and Counselling the Mentally and Physically Ill

Course Schema:

Paper Code	Paper Title	Paper Type	Credit	Total Marks
DCPC001	Biblical & Theological Foundations of Clinical Pastoral Counselling	S	4	100
DCPC002	Theories of Personality and Psychology	S	4	100
DCPC003	Care and Counselling through Human Life Cycle	S	4	100
DCPC004	Counselling in Crisis Situations	S	4	100
DCPC005	Project	S	4	100
DCPC006	Ministry to the Differently Abled Persons	C	4	100
DCPC007	Ministry to the Aged	C	4	100
DCPC008	History of Medicine, Medical Terminology and Medical Ethics	C	4	100
DCPC009	Healing Ministry and Sacramental Life of the Church	C	4	100
DCPC010	Counselling and Psychotherapy for Children with special Problems	C	4	100
DCPC011	Management Skills	C	4	100
DCPC012	Verbatims (Compuslory)	C	4	200
DCPC013	Book Review (Compulsory)	C	4	100
DCPC014	Substance Abuse, Chemical Dependency and De- addiction Counselling	C	4	100
DCPC015	Alcoholism and De-addiction Counselling	C	4	100
DCPC016	Counselling and Gender Issues	C	4	100