Ethics of Counseling

My last class of the summer is here, and will occupy my mornings (8am-12pm) for the next two weeks. It’s entitled Ethics of Pastoral Care and Counseling, and so far I’m loving it. It is taught by a Dr. Francis Bridger, an excellent professor who insists on being called Francis.

The course description reads thus:

This course is designed for those who wish to become more effective pastoral practitioners. It aims:

• to enable students to bring together theological and counseling insights from a practitioner perspective.

• to address such topics as: the nature of pastoral care; the importance of ethics for effective pastoral care and counseling; the counselor as ethicist; issues in the professional ethics of counseling; learning from codes and guidelines of churches and professional counseling organizations; developing frameworks for Christian ethical practice; ethical problem-solving.

• to develop practical skills in pastoral casework from an ethical standpoint.