THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF GRIEF COUNSELING
CHRISTIAN GRIEF COUNSELING
The American Academy of Grief Counseling offers a full Continuing Education program of online courses for those seeking to receive an additional Certification in Grief Counseling, with a Christian focus. Up
on completion of the six (6) courses detailed below, applicants are eligible to apply for and receive Certification in Christian Grief Counseling, in the American Academy of Grief Counseling. Each course is provided for in a dedicated online classroom. The courses are designed as independent study/continuing education courses, with one-to-one faculty mentoring. There is open enrollment and students may register and begin the education program at anytime.
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Christian Grief Counseling
CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSES
Course Fees
Below are listed the required courses for this curriculum. At the end of each course description you will find the course cost listed.
The following CE Courses have provider approvals: The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc. is a licensed Continuing Education Provider in the State of California, Board of Registered Nursing, Provider # CEP 15595.
1. Christian counseling
This course approaches various counseling aspects from a Christian prism. The first segment primarily deals with the ethics, world views, and procedures of a Christian counselor. Since it is biblically based, it emphasizes Christ as the central figure and paradigm for all Christian counselors. The second segment deals with the Christian world view of happiness. It is imperative that one understands the importance of a proper ultimate end when counseling to the downtrodden. This course directs the future Christian counselor to the proper road of a Christ centered happiness. In addition, to cultivating a proper world view for the Christian counselor, the third segment of this course addresses the multiple “isms” and problems Christians face in the modern world. This undoubtedly is the largest component of the course for it covers everything from marital problems and abortion to drug abuse and depression: all under a Christian and biblical perspectives. This course is particularly designed for those who would like to apply for Certification as a Certified Spiritual Counselor in Christian Counseling by the American Institute of Health Care Professionals, Inc,. Course Code: SC 570. Contact hours of Education = 50. Course Fee: $ 150.00.
2. CHRISTIAN DEATH AND DYING
The Christian perspective on death and suffering has always presented a unique theism of a personal God who willing allowed himself to experience suffering and death through the Incarnation of the 2nd Person of the Trinity. The story of Jesus offers the perfect paradigm and example on how Christians should greet suffering and death. This does not mean the Christian is immune from the emotional, psychological, or spiritual pains of suffering, but it does mean via Christ, the ultimate teacher and example, Christians can transform suffering into something greater than mere loss. Through Christ’s death was life, and through a proper understanding of Christian suffering, eternal life and merit can be found and applied to one’s life. This course explores the sufferings of Christ, his saints, and looks at the Christian notion of death and man’s final eschatological end. It sets the foundation for the Christian perspective on Christian grief. Course Code: GC 600. Contact hours of continuing education = 35. Course Fee: $ 150.00
3. CHRISTIAN principles for survivors of traumatic grief
War, plague, disaster and sudden and personal loss all define the temporal human condition. The previous courses have attempted to explain them under a Christian light and better alleviate pain and loss via the sacrifice and example of Jesus Christ. The next course in this program bases itself off of the story of Julian of Norwich, a Christian Mystic, who lived during the Black Plague. During her intense visions of Christ’s death, she found a perspective not only on suffering in general, but also suffering during times of great death and loss. The text, “Transfiguring Loss”, extensively covers the psychological aspect of survivors who have dealt with horrendous ordeals and apply them to the spirituality of Julian of Norwich. This course goes beyond the “normal” grief one experiences from day to day, and analyzes catastrophic loss from a Christian prism. Course Code: GC 610. Contact hours of continuing education = 40. Course Fee: $ 150.00
4. CONTEMPORARY GRIEF: THEORY AND PRACTICE
The striking disconnect between the world of ministry and the world of grief research and theory has existed in many texts and courses. Alienating God from suffering and grief and hoping to meet the challenges of grief from a purely secular view has stripped the healing process of its most vital source; the divine. This course hopes to bridge the gap between science and God and give the grief counselor a comprehensive guide for both the mind and the soul. Kelley, in her work, “Grief: Contemporary Theory and the Practice of Ministry” incorporates new modern ideals on grief while including the most important element in healing: God. This course aims at better equipping those who minister to the downtrodden in explaining the modern concepts of grief but clothing them with the warmth of God’s love and teaching. In addition to this, the primary emphasis of the program continues in the topic of Christian suffering via the encyclical, ‘Salvifici Dolaris” by Pope John Paul II and shares some of the late Pope’s ideas on human suffering. Course Code: GC 620. Contact hours of continuing education = 40. Course Fee: $ 150.00
5. COUNSELING MINISTRY TO THE BEREAVED
Christianity has always viewed grief as a true human reality that is not to be escaped but accepted and transformed into something new and redeeming. GC 630 continues this Christian theology and attempts to apply it to ministry. The text for the course “The Unwanted Gift of Grief” exemplifies this notion as grief as a gift. The text is not intended for one to escape the pain but hopes to invite one into it and through that pain create a “transformation and new life”. The course Christianizes the behavioral sciences not only within the text but also looks at the “Unwanted Gift of Grief” through the story of Job. This second text and commentary on Job nourishes the spirituality of the counselor and equips the counselor with greater understanding of one of the greater Old Testament works on grief. Course Code: GC 630. Contact hours of continuing education = 50. Course Fee: $ 150.00
6. CHRISTIAN APPROACHES TO SURVIVORS OF SUICIDE
The tragic nature of a loss involving suicide is more than a simple death but a tragedy of despair and anguish—one society can at times stigmatize and leave family members in a state of grief saturated with ambivalence. The Christian’s answer to this catastrophic event has for the longest time been aligned with the “Death of Judas” leaving the mark of suicide as a state of betrayal. While it is true Christian moral theology has viewed it as a sin of despair, there are other elements of Christianity that has always sought to understand the despair and find love in the chaos. This is especially true in recent years as Christianity has embraced a more loving pastoral understanding of the misfortunes associated with suicide both for those who have attempted it and those who have been victims of lost family members who have succeeded in it. This course aims at first identifying the Christian theology on suicide, including both suicide and assisted suicide, and then giving the Christian counselor feedback on how to administer to those who contemplate suicide and those who are victims of suicide within the family. Course Code: GC 640. Contact hours of continuing education = 40. Course Fee: $ 150.00
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Additional Information:
- Pre-requisite to enrolling in the continuing education program: registrants must be currently Certified in Grief Counseling by the American Academy of Grief Counseling.
Certified members may take the courses below at any time. - All courses are continuing education courses and are provided in online classrooms via our website. Upon enrollment a unique identification and password is provided for classroom access. The online classrooms provide full syllabi and course information, including the course exams and evaluations. Students must a achieve a minimum score of 70% on the course examination to pass the continuing education courses.
- Participants are given two (2) years from the date of enrollment into the first course, to complete the entire program of six (6) continuing education courses.
- Upon completion of each course, you will be awarded the corresponding continuing education contact hours and receive the CE certificate verifying course completion and the award of education credits. Registration may be completed online, by accessing the links below.
- Participants must complete the entire continuing education program to be eligible to receive this certification, and must also maintain their current status as a Certified Grief Counselor by the American Academy of Grief Counseling.
- The courses in Christian Grief Counseling are also approved for use by Certified Grief Counselors for achieving continuing education requirements for Recertification of their GC-C status in the Academy.
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