4 years part-time

• Online (Distance Education) with compulsory Intensives in Canberra.
• For location, accommodation options, and upcoming Intensive dates, please refer to our Intensives timetable.
• Charles Sturt University students may be eligible for financial support to attend compulsory Intensives in person.

Enrolment 
To enrol, students apply directly to Charles Sturt University.

• The non-specialised course consists of 10 core subjects (88 credit points) plus 2 compulsory subjects (40 credit points).

• Clinical specialisation involves completion of the 10 core subjects, followed by 1 compulsory subject (8 credit points) and 2 specialisation subjects.

  ---

10 Core Subjects (88 credit points)

1. 1. Pastoral Counselling Skills (8pts)
   2. Pastoral Counselling: Theory and Professional Issues (8pts)
   3. Pastoral Counselling: Grief and Loss (8pts)
   4. Applied Pastoral Theology (8pts)
   5. Pastoral Counselling: Crisis Intervention (8pts)
   6. Pastoral Counselling: Relationship and Family (8pts)
   7. Pastoral Counselling: Mental Health and Trauma (8pts)
   8. Spiritual Direction in the Christian Tradition (8pts)
   9. Advanced Pastoral Counselling (16 points)
   10. Social Research Methods for Pastoral Studies (8 points)

Non-specialisation (40 credit points)

• • Pastoral Counselling: Research Proposal (8 points)
  • Pastoral Counselling Dissertation (32 points)

Specialisation  (Clinical; 40 credit points)

• • Theological Ethics for the Helping Professions (8 points)
  • Pastoral Counselling Professional Practice (16 points)
  • Reflective Practitioner Perspectives in Pastoral Counselling (16 points)

Please Note:

The Graduate Diploma of Pastoral Counselling consists of the first 8 Core Subjects above (64 credit points)—i.e., the first 8 subjects are an essential set of subjects that needs to be completed to earn a Graduate Diploma in Pastoral Counselling, should you choose to exit the Master’s Program early.

The Graduate Certificate of Pastoral Counselling [Exit point only] consists of the first 4 Core Subjects above (32 credit points)—i.e., the first 4 Core Subjects listed above is an essential set of subjects that needs to be completed in order to be awarded with a Graduate Certificate of Pastoral Counselling.  The Graduate Certificate is an exit point only, meaning that you will need to enroll into either the Master’s Program or the Graduate Diploma of Pastoral Counselling. Should you choose to exit these programs after completing the first 4 core subjects, you will be eligible for gaining a Graduate Certificate.

For further information please see Charles Sturt University’s Course Guide (School of Theology Handbook).

Part-time

Year 1 – Session 1
THL400 Pastoral Counselling Skills
THL420 Pastoral Counselling: Theory & Professional Issues

Year 1 – Session 2
THL428 Pastoral Counselling: Grief and Loss
THL435 Applied Pastoral Theology

Students may choose to exit at this point with the Graduate Certificate in Pastoral Counselling

Year 2 – Session 1
THL430 Pastoral Counselling: Crisis Intervention
THL433 Pastoral Counselling: Mental Health and Trauma

Year 2 – Session 2
THL432 Pastoral Counselling: Relationship and Family
THL434 Spiritual Direction in the Christian Tradition

Students may choose to exit at this point with the Graduate Diploma of Pastoral Counselling

Year 3 – Session 1
THL520 Advanced Pastoral Counselling (16) (commence)
THL521 Theological Ethics for the Helping Professions

Year 3 – Session 2
THL520 Advanced Pastoral Counselling (16) (complete)
THL530 Social Research Methods for Pastoral Studies

Year 4 – Session 1
THL558 Pastoral Counselling Professional Practice (16) (commence)
THL559 Reflective Practitioner Perspectives in Pastoral Counselling (16 points) (commence)

Year 4 – Session 2
THL558 Pastoral Counselling Professional Practice (16) (complete)
THL559 Reflective Practitioner Perspectives in Pastoral Counselling (16) (complete)

• The Master of Pastoral Counselling (Clinical) has been accredited by the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) as a postgraduate counselling training program. It satisfies the academic and professional training requirements for ‘Provisional Membership’ with PACFA. Further client and supervision hours will be required beyond the Master of Pastoral Counselling (Clinical) program to meet the  ‘Clinical Membership’ (750/75) category.

• The Graduate Diploma of Pastoral Counselling and the non-specialised Master of Pastoral Counselling have been accredited by Australian Counselling Association (ACA) as an approved postgraduate counselling training program.

This Masters course in counselling emphasises face-to-face practical sessions for role play and hands-on learning. This course includes a focus on applying course learning to the student’s background context for all assessment tasks.

When you study Master of Pastoral Counselling you will be able to make a difference to people’s lives by providing spiritual and psychological support to those who need it most. You will develop the skills and experience to offer counselling across a wide range of settings – pastoral and clinical practice, church and community work, and lay or ordained ministry – to help people with any issue, be it personal, family, marital or faith.