Instructor & Contact Information

The People tab in Canvas provides information on the course instructor and you can send a message to your instructor following these instructions. Faculty are expected to: 1) grade and return assignments, with feedback, within 7 days from the date of submission; 2) reply to your Canvas messages within 72 hours; 3) reply several times each week in total in the discussion forums (not to each individual student); and 4) demonstrate the core values of City Vision University.

Course Description

This course examines the role and theory of lay counseling as it applies to urban ministry settings. The coursework guides the learner into increased awareness, knowledge, and skill in interacting with multicultural and diverse populations. Counselor attributes, cultural sensitivity, and the concept of contextualized counseling will be explored. This course also focuses on client assessment, and approaches to addressing problems common to distressed urban dwellers seeking counseling.

Course Outcomes

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Summarize the historical, philosophical, and theological foundations of Christian movements serving multicultural and urban communities.
2. Demonstrate effective use of spiritual care practices such as counseling, evangelism, discipleship, and preaching in diverse urban contexts.
3. Evaluate Christian counseling approaches to complex issues, including trauma, addiction, single parenting, marital conflict, and crisis pregnancies, using biblical principles and culturally sensitive strategies.
4. Apply principles from urban ministry programs such as addiction recovery, community development, services to the homeless, youth and family support, and women's ministries in real-world counseling scenarios.
5. Reflect on personal and professional growth as a Christian counselor by integrating trauma-informed care, cultural intelligence, and biblical principles in ministry in urban and multicultural environments.

Degree Program Outcomes

Degree outcomes are the overall skills and knowledge we expect you will have after successfully completing a degree program at City Vision University. This course supports the following program outcomes, marked with an asterisk (*).  After completing the degree, you will be able to do the following in each of the listed domains:

1. Christian Integration. Integrate Christian principles and counseling theories in an ethical manner in both Christian and secular counseling environments.*
2. Certification Exam Prep. Identify the key concepts needed to take a licensure exam either to apply to be a peer support specialist or certified addiction counselor.
3. Case Management. Develop case management plans to help clients identify areas where they need help and connecting them with personal and community resources that will help them.
4. Chemical Dependency. Describe foundational concepts of chemical dependency including a range of psychoactive drugs and how they work.
5. Psychology. Describe the foundational concepts of psychology and apply that in both Christian and secular counseling environments.
6. Clinical Counseling Skills. Utilize foundational skills for clinical addiction counseling.
7. Multicultural Counseling. Utilize effective methods to counsel diverse clients in both Christian and secular counseling environments.*
8. Specialized Skills. Apply knowledge and skills in specialized domains related to Addiction Counseling.

Required Texts

Students are required to purchase these texts before the first day of classes. 

• Montgomery, D. (2018). Christian Counseling that Really Works. Montecito, CA: Compass Works. ISBN 9781411687530, 1411687531
• Ellison, C. & Maynard, E. S. (2002). Healing for the City: Counseling in the Urban Setting.  Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers. Ebook Edition from Publisher. 
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2015). TIP 59: Improving Cultural Competence.HHS Publication No. SMA15-4849. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Guidelines for Written Work

All written work must follow our Writing Format and Forum Requirements. You must read these to understand how to cite sources appropriately.

Critical Policies to Read for This Course

Note: These policies are critical for all students to read. In case of change, we have linked to the versions on our website to make sure you have the latest version.

• Grading Scale 

• Deadlines to Drop Courses

• Attendance, Late Policy and Extensions

• Technology Requirements for Courses

• Standards of Academic Integrity & Plagiarism Policy

• What plagiarism is and how to avoid it 

• Credit Hour Policy, Grading Policy and Other Academic Policies

• ADA Policy, Learning Accommodations & Disabilities Services
• Student Code of Conduct 

• Library Services

Additional Policies:

• Privacy Policy

• Consumer Disclosures
• Additional policies are listed in our catalog

This syllabus is subject to change without notice up until the first day of the semester. Last updated: April 8, 2022