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involvement in a cross-cultural job or ministry, whether within the United States or in another country. Open to sutdents in the MACNS
program or by permission of the professor. (3)
CNS 5305
Applied Biblical Foundations of Counseling
This course is the application of the biblical texts and doctrines to clinical mental health counseling and marriage and family therapy that
utilizes a Christian perspective sensitive to multicultural settings. This course will orient students to basics in the interpretation of biblical
data, the biblical doctrines relevant to counseling, and how to apply these concepts when providing Christian-oriented counseling services
to clients. Students will learn how to analyze Christian counseling materials for underlying doctrines and how to translate biblical
doctrines into useful concepts for clinical practice within a Christian population. (3)
CNS 5306
Foundations of Clinical Mental Health Counseling
This course is an introduction to the history, philosophy, roles, and functions of mental health counseling within the context of other
mental health professionals, mental health services, systems, and programs. This includes the principles of mental health for prevention,
intervention, consultation, education, and advocacy in a multicultural society. A key focus of the course is how the biblical texts and
Christian traditions of soul-healing provide perspectives on human nature, suffering, and redemption to develop a model of clinical mental
health counseling consistent with students’ own biblical worldview. (3)
CNS 5310
Counseling Theory
This course provides a broad, foundational overview and critique of personality and counseling theories. Emphasis is on the application of
these theories by exploring the techniques and strategies of each theory, including systems theory. The philosophical presuppositions,
theological implications, situational appropriateness, and effectiveness with client populations are addressed. Students are encouraged to
begin the process of synthesizing various approaches into their personal paradigm of counseling. (3)
CNS 5313
Personal & Spiritual Development
This course emphasizes personal and spiritual well-being and growth within the context of professional development as a clinical mental
health counselor and/or marriage and family therapist. To this end, students will be asked to personally engage in a psycho-educational
process of self-care and self-understanding through readings, reflection papers, and assessments. Spiritual development will be
encouraged through a biblical understanding of and connection with God and His transformational processes, such as spiritual disciplines
and connection to others through a weekly small group. The student's professional impact and ministry will be developed as a natural
outgrowth of their active engagement with these processes of development. (3)
CNS 5330
Professio al Orie tation and Ethics
In this course students study the practice of professional counseling within the context of ethical and legal standards, and potential future
directions of the field. Information about legal responsibilities and liabilities in the practice of marriage and family therapy is also covered,
including research, family law, confidentiality issues, and codes of ethics. The course focus is on the following four areas: Models of ethical
decision making are presented and practiced through case presentations; Ethical standards that govern the professional practice of
counseling and marriage and family therapy are studied and integrated with personal, theological, and cultural values and professional
and legal standards; Legal standards that impact the field of professional counseling and marriage and family therapy are examined in
light of the realities of daily practice; and The future direction of counseling and marriage and family therapy as a profession and ministry
is explored. (3)
CNS 5342
Foundations of Marriage and Family Counseling
This course provides students with an overview of God's design for developing and maintaining meaningful relationships. His design
includes four foundational areas which include: 1) Receiving God's love as the starting point for all other relationships; 2) Finding one's
true identity as God's workmanship; 3) Loving others as we have been loved by God; and 4) Using what was learned from the first three
areas to connect well in personal and professional relationships. In order to establish a paradigm from which to work with couples and
families, students will be introduced to family therapy models and will receive practical resources for getting started. Couples and
families are viewed in the context of larger influential systems which have their own cultural and community distinctiveness. (3)
CNS 5410
Research, Statistics nd Eval ation
This course provides an advanced understanding of research statistics, report development, implementation, program evaluation, needs
assessment, and ethical and legal considerations. The course also will focus on research methodology, data analysis, and the evaluation of
research. Students apply this understanding in a variety of venues such as clinical mental health counseling and research, marriage &
family research, and research that needs to be done within the religious community. Students will be introduced to research as it is
conducted for single-subject designs, experimental/quasi-experimental designs, and system-oriented designs. Both quantitative and
qualitative processes are explored. Students conduct literature review and produce a research proposal. (3)
CNS 5420
P ychopathology
This course provides an understanding of mental illness with focus on the behavioral manifestations, experiential dynamics, and
relational/family impact of these disorders. Study is done in the most current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM) in order to learn the categories of symptoms of psychopathology necessary to diagnose and treat mental disorders. A variety of
perspectives on psychopathology are presented to form a whole-person (or bio-psy-cho-social-spiritual) and systemic context for
understanding. Students are challenged to determine theologically what they believe are the standards for pathology and how these
correlate with the DSM. (3)
Prerequisite: undergraduate General Psychology or Introduction to Psychology
OLUMBIA NTERNATIONAL NIVERSITY
OURSE ESCRIPTIONS