Biblical Marriage and Family Counseling

Program Overview

The Doctor of Christian Counseling in Biblical Marriage and Family Counseling is for counselors who hold that Scripture speaks with authority and sufficiency to the problems of marriage and family life. It belongs to the biblical counseling movement that grew from Jay Adams's Competent to Counsel in 1970 and matured through the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation, where David Powlison, Paul Tripp, and Ed Welch gave it theological depth and pastoral warmth. Students study the movement's history and its convictions: the sufficiency of Scripture, the heart as the source of behaviour, the idols that rule a person's desires, and union with Christ as the ground of change. They learn to counsel marriages and families through careful listening and the probing questions that uncover what a person truly wants; through the biblical teaching on marriage, parenting, and conflict; and through peacemaking that confesses one's own wrong before addressing another's. Hard questions are faced directly: divorce and remarriage in the teaching of Jesus and Paul, abuse and the absolute priority of safety, and the boundary between counseling and medical care. Students also learn the debate with other Christian approaches, including the five views now argued in the field, so that they can explain their own convictions fairly. The doctoral project builds or evaluates a biblical counseling ministry for marriages and families in the student's own church or organization. Graduates lead church-based counseling ministries, train biblical counselors, preach and teach on marriage and family, and write for the church. The degree is ministry formation and does not confer any state counseling license.

Core Courses

• BMC 801 — The Sufficiency of Scripture and Biblical Counseling (6 credits)
• BMC 812 — The Heart, Desire, and Change (6 credits)
• BMC 824 — Marriage in Scripture and Counseling Practice (6 credits)
• BMC 836 — Parenting and Family Discipleship (6 credits)
• BMC 848 — Conflict, Peacemaking, and Restoration (5 credits)
• BMC 860 — Research Methods for Counseling Ministry (4 credits)
• BMC 899 — Doctoral Project in Biblical Marriage and Family Counseling (24 credits)

Admission Requirements

• Master's degree in counseling, pastoral care, ministry, psychology, or a related field
• Experience in counseling, pastoral care, chaplaincy, or lay care ministry
• Statement of purpose describing the people you care for and the question you want to pursue
• Current resume or ministry profile
• Official transcripts from prior institutions when available
• Signed acknowledgment that the degree does not by itself confer a license to practise counseling in any jurisdiction