Counseling

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Jeffrey S. Black, Ph.D., Chair

Associate Professor

William J. Librizzi III, Psy.D.
James C. Meyer, Ed.D.

Assistant Professor

Susan K. Childers, M.S.

Part-time Faculty

Thea Gallagher, M.S.

Adjunct Faculty

Charles Arnold, M.S.
Baron S. King, M.S.
David J. Wiedis, J.D.
 

The Department

Human beings struggle in profound ways: broken marriage relationships, divorce, single-parent households; addiction, depression and suicide, anxiety disorders, and problems controlling eating, sexuality, and anger; ADHD and Autism. How do broken lives change? Where do problems of living begin and how does personal responsibility factor into human suffering? Where does brain functioning fit into understanding problems of living? Most importantly, how does a Christian understand and solve these struggles within the context of a relationship with Jesus Christ and the Christian community?

These questions and many more are the focus of the departmental offerings. Since its inception, the Counseling Department has trained men and women to be biblically-minded, professionally competent counselors who offer professional help in a variety of counseling settings. Graduates of the department serve in the church, inpatient and outpatient counseling agencies, addiction recovery treatment centers, crisis counseling programs, residential care; as mental health providers, pastoral counselors, and private practitioners.
 

The Program

The Counseling Department offers a dual-level program in which the student simultaneously earns a B.S. in Bible and an M.S. in Counseling. Like all Cairn undergraduates, students take the University Core classes in Bible and theology and the liberal arts and sciences. Students enrolled in the previously offered undergraduate Discipleship Counseling program may apply to the program after completing 60 credits, 30 of which must have been taken in residence. Students who are accepted into the dual-level program build on the foundational undergraduate courses by adding graduate classes designed to train students as practitioners in individual, marriage, family, and group counseling. Students also receive instruction in psychological research, the multicultural aspects of counseling, psychological assessment, and professional ethics.

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