Pastoral Care and Counseling Seminar

Center for Pastoral Counseling of Virginia

Rev. Catherine McCollough, LCSW

Erin Swenson-Reinhold, LCSW

OVERVIEW:

The Center for Pastoral Counseling of Virginia offers a Pastoral Care and Counseling seminar that enables participants to more effectively integrate the values of emotional healing and personal wholeness inherent in faith traditions with the principles and techniques of sound clinical practice in psychotherapy.  This program is open to a variety of persons including:

       – Clergy and lay professionals involved in congregational or other specialized ministries,

       – Individuals who have completed a master’s degree in counseling, and

       – Clinicians (licensed and otherwise) who are currently practicing but wish to further develop their ability to integrate spirituality and issues of faith into the practice of psychotherapy.

PROGRAM  DESCRIPTION AND LEADERSHIP:

The program consists of 18 seminars of two hours each which will be held from September through May.  With some possible exceptions the seminars will be conducted on the second and fourth Wednesday mornings of each month from 9:30-11:30 am in the CPC counseling center at Fairfax Presbyterian Church, Fairfax, Virginia.

In general, the first meeting of each month will be a didactic session focused on some aspect of working with congregants/clients around issues of concern. A schedule of proposed topics is listed below.  These sessions will include insights into the dynamics of each problem; good clinical practice in addressing it; and focused theological reflection by participants seeking to integrate the teachings of their faith tradition with the task of being effective caregiver/healers in the lives of others.

The second meeting of each month will be a case conference focused on a case which exemplifies the clinical issue dealt with in the first session. This could be a case presented by one of the participants or a case “borrowed” from elsewhere to enhance learnings on the issue. In addition to clinical reflection, the second session will also involve significant theological reflection and insights on the dynamics of the case.

The program will be led by Rev. McCollough and Dr. Swenson-Reinhold, of the CPC staff with occasional help from other staff members or visiting professionals. In addition to the didactic and case conference aspects of this program, time will be given regularly to group process among participants and leaders.  Attention to the quality of relationship within the group will serve to enhance the learning experience.

This program is designed to be a one year program though it may be expanded to two years. (See Clinical Residency Track below).

The topics proposed are as follows:

SEPTEMBER:  ORIENTATION and PROGRAM PROCEDURES; THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION AND GROUP PROCESS.

OCTOBER:  DISORDERS OF ANXIETY AND STRESS

NOVEMBER:  PREMARITAL COUNSELING AND COUPLES COUNSELING I

DECEMBER:  MODES OF COUPLES/MARITAL COUNSELING II

JANUARY:   LOSS AND GRIEF

FEBRUARY:    PARENTING AND FAMILY ISSUES

MARCH:   DEPRESSION AND MOOD DISORDERS

APRIL:   ADDICTION AND ADDICTIVE DISORDERS

MAY:     ABUSE AND TRAUMA.

COST:  The cost for the program will be $1200 per semester ($2400 per year) payable at the beginning of each semester. The tuition is non-refundable for each semester.  There is a required minimum of four participants for this program and a maximum enrollment of eight, so spaces are limited.

CLINICAL RESIDENCY TRACK:

    An alternative track in this program is for persons who have completed a master’s degree in counseling. They may also choose to apply for a Resident Counselor position with the Center for Pastoral Counseling. These persons, if accepted, will be allowed to practice in one or more of the CPC centers in Northern Virginia. They will deposit all client fees into the CPC account and will receive 60% of their client fees each month as payment for their work.  Their hours can count toward licensure but they must be registered with a CPC approved supervisor and participate in the Seminar program.  CPC will provide supervisors for residents at the rate of $85/ hour payable by the resident.  The resident is responsible for registering his/her supervision with the appropriate state agency to receive credit toward licensure. It must be clearly understood that CPC does not guarantee any clients to residents on this track. Each must develop her/his own referral network and find his/her own clients. Residents will be advertised on the CPC website and be recipients of any clients from our referral line that they may serve.  Participants who have followed this track in the past have in some cases decided to practice as pastoral counselors and some of those have eventually been given a position on the CPC clinical staff.  

ADMISSION:

Applications for admission must be filed by August 1. Decisions about admission will be made by September 1.  In addition to the application form, a copy of relevant transcripts, and three letters of recommendation are required and each applicant must have a face to face interview with the program leaders.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THIS PROGRAM OR HAVE QUESTIONS PLEASE CONTACT:

Rev. Catherine McCollough, Clinical Staff Member and Residency Coordinator

703.903.9696 ext. 202 or Email: mccolloughministries@gmail.com

Center for Pastoral Counseling of Virginia

Box QQ

McLean, Va. 22101     

Application for the Residency in Pastoral Care and Counseling Seminar

Click here to download the PDF application.

Once it is filled out- you can email it to Cathy@pastoralcounseling.com or mail it to:

 Center for Pastoral Counseling of Virginia
 The Residency in Pastoral Counseling c/o Rev. Catherine McCollough, LCSW
 Box QQ
 McLean, Virginia, 22101