Biblical Counseling Certification

In 2021 Inter-City Baptist Church became a certified training center with ACBC. Because our seminary is a ministry of ICBC, DBTS offers training that results in your ACBC certification. We offer two paths to biblical counseling certification.

Path #1: MDiv Concentration in Biblical Counseling

The first path is designed for MDiv students who are looking for an in-depth approach to learning how to counsel. As a future pastor or missionary, you will be doing counseling to one degree or another. So why not prepare for it?

For any current or prospective students interested in pursuing training in biblical counseling, we offer a concentration in biblical counseling that would give the in-depth biblical counseling training that you need, so that by the time you graduate, you will be an ACBC certified member. The concentration in biblical counseling consists of five courses:

• PT520 Introduction to Biblical Counseling
• PT527 Marriage and Family Counseling (offered in Spring 2023)
• PT535 Counseling Problems and Procedures
• PT611 Biblical Counseling Practicum I
• PT612 Biblical Counseling Practicum II

Students can take the first three of these courses for MDiv students in any order. This spring we are offering Marriage and Family Counseling. If you want to pursue biblical counseling certification while pursuing your MDiv, or if you want to get a taste of the training program, I would encourage you to take the Marriage and Family course that begins in January.

Path #2: Non-Degree Counseling Certification

The second path toward counseling certification is designed for pastors, men and women not pursuing a seminary degree, or for seminary students who have a different concentration than biblical counseling. This path toward certification includes five required courses that must be taken in order.

• PT521 Foundations for Biblical Counseling (offered in Spring 2023)
• PT522 Basics of Biblical Counseling (offered in Summer 2023)
• PT610 Biblical Counseling Observation and Exams (offered in Fall 2023)
• PT611 Biblical Counseling Practicum I
• PT612 Biblical Counseling Practicum II

Foundations for Biblical Counseling is the first course, designed to give students a basic theology for biblical counseling. The second course is Basics of Biblical Counseling, which we offer during the summer. This is the core biblical counseling training course (ACBC calls this fundamentals training). The third course in this path is Biblical Counseling Observation and Exams, which is a guided study to help you finish your counseling observation and written exam requirements. A student’s training would culminate in the final two courses, Biblical Counseling Practicum 1 and 2. These courses conclude the training process by providing supervision for you as you counsel in your church or ministry. Students can begin these courses once they finish all the requirements from the first three courses.

Since our second path for certification requires students to take the courses in order, you should know that the first course, Foundations for Biblical Counseling, begins in the Spring semester. If you are thinking about getting certified, this would be the place to start. You can begin the application and enrollment process here: https://dbts.edu/apply-to-dbts/. In the first dropdown box marked “Application,” choose “Counseling Certification.”

If you are a DBTS alumnus or you have already taken a masters level theology course from our seminary or somewhere else, you would be welcome to forego the first course in this second track and begin in the summer with Basics of Biblical Counseling.

What About Cost?

As far as we know, our seminary has the lowest ACBC certification cost of any training center. In a 2022 brochure, ACBC estimates the cost of getting certified at $1,450, which breaks down as follows

• Core training, observation, and books – $600
• Exams and evaluation – $100
• Supervision – $750).

However, at DBTS, an MDiv student will be certified for no additional cost. In other words, getting certified would be the same cost as it would be if a student got an MDiv and didn’t take the biblical counseling concentration. Additionally, students pursuing certification through the non-degree path (the second path described above) will pay $220 per course for a total of $1,100 if they take all five courses, or $880 if they have already taken a masters-level theology course. A student taking the second path who enrolls in these courses would not have to pay any additional fees for training, grading of exams, or supervision. Those are all included in the cost of the five courses.

If you would like to hear more about our program, you can listen to a podcast on the topic here, or you can read more about it here. If you have specific questions, you can call me at (313) 880-3009 or email me at [email protected].