Pastoral Counseling

Office: Columbia Campus
Telephone: 410‑617‑7620 or 800‑221‑9107, x7620
Website: www.loyola.edu/academics/pastoral-counseling

Chair: L. Mickey Fenzel, Professor

Founding Director: Barry K. Estadt
Director, M.A. Program: Thomas E. Rodgerson
Director, M.S. Program: Lawrence M. LeNoir
Director, C.A.S. Program: Gina Magyar-Russell
Director, Ph.D. Program: Gina Magyar-Russell
Director, Clinical Education: Matthew W. Bonner
Director, Program Operations: Vacant

Professors: Sharon E. Cheston (emerita); Barry K. Estadt (emeritus); L. Mickey Fenzel; Joanne Marie Greer (emerita); Ralph L. Piedmont; Robert J. Wicks (emeritus)
Associate Professor: Gina Magyar-Russell; Kari A. O'Grady; Jill L. Snodgrass; Joseph Stewart-Sicking
Lecturer: Matthew W. Bonner; Lawrence M. LeNoir; Thomas E. Rogerson
Affiliate Faculty: Eleanor Donaghue; Brenda Dorsch; Karyn M. Felder Moore; Geraldine M. Fialkowski; Cheryl Y. Fisher; John S. Jeffreys; Janet R. Merkel; Bernard M. Raiche; Mary M. Raphel; Frank J. Richardson, Jr.; Deborah G. Rollison; Heidi Schreiber-Pan; Allan Tsai; Anne Marie Wheeler; Teresa Ann Wilkins; Adona Wimberly

This program is no longer accepting applications.

The Pastoral Counseling Department offers programs that are holistic in scope. Students in these programs seek to understand the human search for meaning and purpose in all its complexity. The department's vision espouses a growth-oriented, interactional approach that attempts to interpret human behavior and human experience as an integration of the physiological, the intellectual, the emotional, the social, and the spiritual. Further, the Pastoral Counseling Department's programs address the individual search for meaning within and beyond the concrete circumstances of daily life and the reaching out for spiritual understanding. It encourages a transcendent faith in which students explore the richness of the human person and of their own individuality.

In alignment with the mission of Loyola University Maryland, the overall purpose of the Department of Pastoral Counseling is to educate its students in counseling and caregiving techniques which integrate the pastoral/spiritual, clinical, and scientific dimensions. The department creates a collaborative culture that encourages students to flourish in a rapidly changing and diverse global society and helps them develop deeply and broadly into competent caregivers and counselors. Members of the department seek to be a reflective presence to students, embodying the Jesuit values of discernment, social justice, and cura personalis. The department implements this mission through inspired teaching, service to others, and rigorous scholarship that addresses contemporary clinical, research, and pastoral concerns. The department aspires to be a leader in the pastoral, counseling, and psychological professions.

The master's in clinical mental health counseling, certificate of advanced study, doctoral degree program in counselor education and supervision, and the master's program in spiritual and pastoral care allow for both full- and part-time participation. The department recognizes that candidates vary widely in prior theoretical background, counseling experience, and experience in ministry. Candidates who believe they possess experience or background that could alter their program of study will need to discuss their situation with the program director.

Graduates make a point of stressing that the training had a profound impact on their style of ministering in areas other than counseling and individual pastoral care, pointing to an increased person-centeredness in their teaching, preaching, organizing, and celebrating.

Accreditation

The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), a specialized accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), has conferred clinical mental health counseling accreditation to the Master of Science (M.S.). CACREP has accredited the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) under the Counselor Education and Supervision standards.

Admission Criteria

This program is no longer accepting applications.

Credits Required

The M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling requires 60 credits. The M.A. in Spiritual and Pastoral Care requires 45 credits. The C.A.S. in Pastoral Counseling requires 30 credit hours beyond the counseling master's degree. To assure competency in several areas of study, the Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision requires a minimum of four academic years of graduate-level preparation, defined as eight semesters with a minimum of 65 total graduate-level credit hours, beyond the master's degree.

Therapy Requirement

All M.A., M.S., C.A.S., and Ph.D. students are required to have engaged in a minimum of 20 sessions of professional mental health counseling or psychotherapy. For master's level students, at least the first 10 sessions must be completed by the end of PC 675 . The final 10 sessions can be completed by the end of the first clinical year. To receive a waiver of the therapy requirement, the 20 sessions must have occurred within the previous five years.

Professional Assessment Review (PAR)

If concerns are raised about a student's professional development, a faculty member may request a Professional Assessment Review (PAR) Committee to meet with the student to discuss those concerns and provide recommendations for remediation. For full details regarding the PAR process, refer to the student handbook.

Language Requirement

A high proficiency in oral and written English is expected of all applicants. In addition, because of the verbal requirements of the clinical portion of the M.S. and Ph.D. programs and the internship portion of the M.A. program, all international students for whom English is not their first language must demonstrate an excellent command of the English language, including nuances of every day speech that will occur during the counseling experience. High level skills in writing in English are needed in order to be successful with the doctoral dissertation.

Supervisory Process

Supervision of the ongoing counseling or pastoral care experience is regarded as the primary catalyst for professional and personal integration. Supervision is a special kind of tutorial relationship in which people with less experience present their work for the scrutiny and critique to people with more experience. The focus of the supervisory session is the work-sample presented along with the variety of issues which the work-sample generates.

Programs

Certificate

Pastoral Counseling, C.A.S.

Doctoral

Counselor Education and Supervision, Ph.D.

Master

Courses

Pastoral Counseling