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2026-2027 Academic Draft Catalog

Postgraduate Certificate in Spiritual Integration

Overview

The Postgraduate Certificate in Spiritual Integration is designed to train professionals who will integrate faith into counseling practice in ethical, professional, and therapeutic ways. This unique, multicultural specialty area allows students to engage faith as a resource as well as address related trauma–both clinically and personally. The program serves mental health professionals seeking this integration in faith-based and public settings. Most courses are taught in a variety of formats, including face-to-face, online synchronous, and blended (face-to-face and online meetings), such that the certificate can be completed by both hybrid and digital students. The 7-credit certificate can be earned within 1 calendar year or extended according to the student's own pace.

Student Learning Outcomes

Graduate mental health students and independent mental health practitioners will be able to:

  1. Act with integrity by naming how their own religion & spirituality (R&S) impacts what they bring into the counseling setting, whether a faith-based or more public-facing setting, and learn to hold this in ethical and professional ways.
  2. Think with clarity by incorporating their clients’ religion & spirituality (R&S) into professional counseling in ethical, professional, and therapeutic ways.
  3. Serve with passion by incorporating their own faith into their professional identity without imposing it on their clients.

Admission Requirements

Spiritual Integration Certificate courses and the Postgraduate Certificate in Spiritual Integration program are open to a variety of current graduate students in qualifying degree programs and post-graduate professionals in qualifying professions. Qualifying graduate degree programs and professions include mental health professionals.

Transfer Credit Policy

Transfer of up to 2 credit hours from accredited graduate schools is allowed toward the Post-grad Certificate in Spiritual Integration. Students must have earned a grade of B or better for a course to be considered for transfer. In addition, only courses taken elsewhere within 5 years of the date of matriculation to the Post-grad Certificate in Spiritual Integration will be considered for transfer. Continuing education workshops, seminars, and conferences do not qualify for transfer credit. Transferability of credits earned at this institution and transferred to another is at the discretion of the receiving institution.

Graduation Requirements

In order to complete the Post-grad Certificate in Spiritual Integration, students must:

  • Satisfactorily complete all required courses, a minimum of 7 semester hours, with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above.
  • Achieve no grade lower than a B in all courses. If a grade of a B- or lower is received in a required course, that course must be retaken (for more specific information, please refer to the student handbook).

Accreditation

The Postgraduate Certificate in Spiritual Integration program is regionally accredited by NWCCU. 

In addition, all Postgraduate Certificate in Spiritual Integration course outcomes reflect core competencies expected in accordance with CACREP educational standards.

Curriculum Plan

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Postgraduate Certificate in Spiritual Integration

Complete the following:
Core Coursework (4 credits):
This course explores how professional counselors can use their own religion and spirituality (R&S), appropriately scaffolded by ethics and professionalism, to resource their professional work. We will specifically explore both conceptual (worldview) and personal lenses, drawing on theology and spiritual formation to do integration with counseling theory and practice. Students will be encouraged to explore how their own unique faith perspectives can be integrated with their professional identity in personally meaningful ways.
This course examines both the content and process of the Christian faith as well as its implications for clinical practice. Explored are an introduction to spirituality in mental health, basic hermeneutics as applied to Christian Scripture, basic theological concepts, the relationship between theology and psychology, health and toxic faith systems, spiritual development, spiritual/religious assessment, the spiritual/religious orientation and value system of the therapist, and treatment interventions in the spiritual/religious realm. This course is intended for Graduate School of Counseling Students. Prerequisites for CMHC/MCFC students: GCEP 540. Prerequisites for School Counseling students: none.

Electives (complete 3 credits total):

It is challenging to understand the difference between guilt, shame, and grace. It is also difficult to know then how to apply this to our spiritual lives, and yet harder to know how to apply this to someone else's life. This course is designed to inform the therapist about family shame, guilt, and grace. Definitions, characteristics, and change strategies for shame in clients, both individuals and families, will be discussed. Models of grace and healing for shame will be identified. There will be significant emphasis on the student's own experience of shame and grace. No Pre-Requisites
A seminar involving a group of students with a professor studying a specially selected topic. Students are encouraged to submit suggestions for seminar topics to the department director. Such requests, as well as faculty interests and special opportunities, will be considered in arrangements for a seminar. Pre-Requisites vary.
These courses focus on best-practice strategies related to trauma-informed care within specific settings and populations. Course offerings may only be offered once, or might be rotated on an every 2 to 3 year basis depending on interest. Prerequisite: On a per topic basis.
This course explores how professional counselors can integrate religion and spirituality within professional counseling practice. Specific, elective topics will vary; examples include: Nature & Scope of Integration; Attachment & Spirituality; Religiously-Modified Treatments; Forgiveness and Reconciliation; Christian Theology & Counseling; Positive Psychology & Resilience; Professional Ethics for Christian Counselors.

Note:

*All courses within this certificate can also count toward either core or elective requirements for the CMHC and MCFC degrees.