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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)
Additional fee for assessment material
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; 3thical 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 and Evaluation
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
Psychopathology
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
CNS 6310
Human Growth and Development
This is a course in applied developmental counseling. Drawing from the biological, cognitive, socio-emotional, and spiritual markers set
forth by the major theories of human growth, students will be able to conceptualize the needs of their clients within a developmentally
appropriate framework. Personal exploration of one’s own developmental process is built into course assignments. Consideration also is
given to the process of spiritual transformation as an integral part of the Creator’s design for growth. (3)
Prerequisite: Undergraduate
Developmental Psychology
CNS 6410
Counseling Techniques
This course is an introduction to the basic counseling skills that are foundational to doing effective individual counseling and marriage &
family therapy. Students are required to understand and to successfully demonstrate basic counseling skills in the form of video-recorded
competencies in order to progress through the course. While counseling techniques and therapeutic skills are important, they do not
replace the person of the counselor as the primary intervention tool. Emphasis is on how a counselor impacts the therapeutic alliance
with clients and not just what the counselor does in the session to help facilitate client change. This course is taught largely from a client-
focused, strengths-based model untilizing client feedback in each session. (3)
CNS 6420
Diagnostics of Psychopathology
This course provides the student with advanced skills in the diagnostics of psychopathology, including coverage of the most current
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), with a focus on differential diagnosis. The student develops the ability to
synthesize skills and understanding from other courses into an integrated process of client engagement, assessment, case
conceptualization, and treatment planning. Students are trained to diagnose using role plays, and are being presented with atypical
symptoms, multiple diagnoses, and overlapping criteria. In order to develop a whole person and contextual understanding of pathology, a
variety of perspectives is presented, including biological, systemic, spiritual, developmental, intrapsychic, interpersonal, and cultural. The
student then builds treatment plans that demonstrate a grasp of the client’s strengths, resources, family structure/relationships,
pathology, and readiness for change. (3)
Prerequisite: CNS 5420
218 │Columbia International University
Course Descriptions