Biblical Counseling

Overview

The Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling (MABC)* is a 63-credit program designed to offer students (both men and women) a Reformed and Baptist theological education that uniquely provides them with the best of both biblical counseling training and certification.

The MABC student begins by building an exegetical and theological foundation at RBS in Hermeneutics and Systematic Theology.  Next, the student learns Practical Theology with the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF). Their School of Biblical Counseling features some of the most experienced professors and skilled biblical counselors. These courses are further supplemented by counseling courses offered by RBS.

Finally, the student is mentored by observing more experienced counselors and by being evaluated as he counsels others; this takes place through two practicums, whereby RBS gives the student credit for completing the certification process provided by the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC).

This unique program seeks to provide the student with a solid foundation in Reformed theology (RBS), together with the best practical theological education available in biblical counseling (CCEF), combined with a mentoring process to excel in discipling and counseling others (ACBC). By offering this counseling program in the shorter format of a Master of Arts instead of a Divinity degree, the length is more feasible for “laypeople” and bi-vocational elders. However, our hope is to simultaneously offer a sufficiently robust and flexible enough program to also sharpen busy vocational pastors who want to excel in pastoral counseling and in training counselors in the church.

Courses

* Courses presently under development.

STEPS

1. The student begins by taking the courses under Seminary Prep, and Theological Core. At this point, BC601 Fundamentals of Counseling (ACBC Phase 1–2) can also be started.

2. Next, the student must be accepted into the CCEF’s School of Biblical Counseling and complete the 5 courses under Biblical Counseling listed above. These are available under the “Formation Certificate” and “Essentials of Biblical Counseling Certificate.” See a detailed description of all courses and registration deadlines here.

3. RBS will accept CCEF courses as transfer credits when the student sends their transcript to RBS. The student is also able to complete the 5 courses with CCEF before beginning his studies with RBS, but this is not recommended.

4. The student will finish his degree by returning to RBS and completing the 6 RBS Biblical Counseling courses and BC630 Counseling Practicum (ACBC Phase 3) course, which guides them through the final phase of certification with ACBC.
   (Please note that ACBC has specific deadlines once you start Phase 1, which is during the Introduction to Counseling course at RBS. Additionally, ACBC has a required reading list in preparation for your exams, and this reading list should be consulted regularly so that students actually complete most, if not all of their ACBC required reading during their RBS and CCEF coursework. Please speak with an RBS staff if you have any questions.)

Costs

Costs for the counseling program are unique since the student will attend both RBS and CCEF’s School of Biblical Counseling. See the CCEF schedule, pricing and important dates here. Additionally, ACBC has its own fees. All of these should be taken into account when considering this program.

* A BA or BS is required for acceptance into the MABC. For students without a Bachelor of Arts degree, the same program listed above may be completed for an Associate of Arts in Biblical Counseling. In the application process, please use the undergraduate application for the AABC instead of the graduate application (for MABC).