PTC Melbourne (part of the Australian College of Theology consortium) - available fully online
PTC Melbourne now has a biblical counselling program focus within a range of ACT degrees - with around a full year in total, all available fully online across Australia.
Pastoral Care – a face-to-face/online/hybrid unit at BTh or MDiv level taught with biblical counselling perspectives throughout Semester 1 every year. Running in the evening, this is available for credit or just attendance and is easily credited to other ACT programs.
Pastoral Skills and Methods – a face-to-face/online/hybrid unit at BTh or MDiv level taught with biblical counselling perspectives throughout Semester 2 every year. Running in the evening, this is available for credit or just attendance and is easily credited to other ACT programs.
Advanced Biblical Counselling Topics and Practices - a fully online distance mode unit with some small group tutorials, at BTh, MDiv & MA(Min/Th) level. Teaching content incorporates the audio from Ed Welch’s MA(Th) level unit at PTC Melbourne. This unit can be credited into various degree programs.
Biblical Counselling and Human Physiology - a fully online distance mode unit available at BTh, MDiv & MA(Min/Th) level. This unit is based around audio and video from Mike Emlet’s MA(Th) teaching at PTC Melbourne.
Theological Perspectives on Mental Health - a directed study contract unit with small group tutorials at BTh & MDiv level. This unit includes biblical perspectives on Christian and secular approaches to mental health and can be taken across Australia.
Counselling Research Project - equivalent to one or two regular length units in an area of the student’s choice
Capstone Project - customised study near the end of a diploma or degree in an area of the student’s choice that brings biblical and theological studies together with biblical pastoral counselling.
PTC also has Basics of Biblical Counselling – a six evening certificate level short course that is available in distance mode as part of an ACT certificate.
BCA Biblical Soul Care Certificates
Workbook and DVD based courses
Good introductions to biblical counselling can be found in various courses that have come out of CCEF. They work best in group settings. Here are a few of them:
How People Change by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp
REAL CHANGE by Andrew Nicholls and Helen Thorne (edited by David Powlison)
Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp
Crossroads a step by step guide away from addiction by Ed Welch
Change and Your Relationships by Tim Lane and Paul Tripp
CCEF distance courses and certificates
CCEF currently (2021) awards three certificates for various groups of its courses. These courses have also been taught for Westminster Seminary. CCEF, with Westminster, has been the main leader in biblical counselling since 1968 and is responsible for many advances in biblical counselling. Distance lecturers include Ed Welch, David Powlison, Paul Tripp, Tim Lane, Winston Smith, and Mike Emlet.
These are highly recommended and many Australians have been working their way through them.
Please note that CCEF is introducing major changes to the level, structure and content of their certificates.
Westminster Theological Seminary
Westminster offers a fully online MA (counseling) program that is highly recommended. Transfer of CCEF distance units is available (for units done up to 2022). All of the MA counselling units are taught by CCEF faculty and lecturers.