Counseling and Family Violence from a Christian Perspective is one of the required courses for students pursuing a degree in counseling with an emphasis in family counseling, domestic violence counseling, substance abuse and addiction counseling and/or pastoral counseling. Counseling and Family Violence focuses on the etiology, context, methodology and effects of domestic violence within the family. This course is designed to acquaint students, pastors, chaplains, educators and church workers with the psychological, sociological and theological aspects of family violence and abuse in its many forms. The underlying purposes of the course are to: 1) provide students an understanding of the biopsychosocial antecedents to family abuse and violence; 2) to provide students an understanding of the cycle of violence and the behavioral patterns associated with each phase of the cycle; 3) to educate students in the various forms of abuse that can escalate to violence; 4) to provide students an understanding of the nature of both expressive and instrumental violence; 5) to teach students how to conduct an assessment and psychosocial evaluation of a domestic violence perpetrator (batterer) and victim (battered spouse); 6) to train students in effective therapeutic intervention techniques, and; 7) to increase students’ critical thinking, writing skills and report preparation.

Credits: 3