Graduate Certificate in Transforming Communities with a focus in Spiritual Caregiving, Therapy & Mission

Providing support in the mission of God

Why Spiritual Caregiving, Therapy & Mission?

The Graduate Certificate in Spiritual Caregiving, Therapy & Mission offers chaplains, community ministry practitioners, community development managers, community outreach coordinators, pastoral staff members, and other missional leaders with the following capabilities:

  • ability to create democratic and generative spaces for theological reflection and understanding through interpersonal dynamics of adult learning
  • ability to develop spiritual development and soul-care plans that encourage participants in both their spiritual depth and missional practice
  • ability to increase the capacity of spiritual caregiving to generate personal and social transformation
  • ability to develop and implement a customized plan of self-care that fosters an ongoing development and maturation of strong faith in God
  • ability to integrate spirituality into the practice of group therapy
  • ability to address various aspects of the marital relationship and family systems and incorporate models of family and systemic interventions in marriage and family therapy

Spiritual care is that care which recognises and responds to the needs of the human spirit when faced with trauma, ill health or sadness and can include the need for meaning, for self-worth, to express oneself, for faith support, perhaps for rites or prayer or ordinance/sacrament, or simply for a sensitive listener. Some people find meaning, comfort, hope, goodness, and community through their religious practice, beliefs, and/or community of faith. Some people do not. Regardless of whether religious faith is a part of a person's life, spiritual concerns, resources, and needs can still be very important. Spiritual caregiving provides an opportunity for missional Christians to join in the mission of God who is at work in the lives of others. The Graduate Certificate in Spiritual Caregiving, Therapy & Mission equips students to provide spiritual, emotional, and relational support to people who are seeking answers to what we call the "big" questions of life in the contexts of group therapy and marriage and family therapy.

Core faculty