MA in Pastoral Counseling – Military Resilience Courage, Compassion, Counseling: Serve Those Who Serve

36

Credit Hours

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Online,* 8-week courses

Transfer in up to 50% of the degree total

Liberty University’s 100% online Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling is designed to train ministry professionals and church leaders to become biblical counselors in Christian ministries and agency-based, non-licensure settings. Students in the online Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling will study psychology and the Christian understanding of human nature and God’s creation, which informs biblical counseling. The online Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling provides balanced training in spiritual and mental health which will equip ministry professionals in the field or students who want to move into a Christian counseling role.

The military resilience area of study for the Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling provides ministry professionals and pastors with specialized training and knowledge to assist service members, veterans, and their families. The military resilience specialization of the Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling gives students the tools they need to help these families heal and grow closer together.

*Some exclusions apply. Please refer to our exclusions page for more information.

Accreditation

Liberty Theological Seminary, as part of Liberty University’s John W. Rawlings School of Divinity, is accredited by the Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS). Your seminary degree is approved by ATS and has met rigorous accreditation standards, so you can feel confident that your degree is both academically excellent and well-respected among churches, ministries, and nonprofit organizations.

ATS Accreditation

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What Sets Us Apart?

  • Private Nonprofit University
  • 600+ Online Degrees
  • No Standardized Testing for Admission
  • Transfer in up to 75% of an Undergrad Degree
  • Transfer in up to 50% of a Grad/Doctoral Degree

If you are already a ministry professional and desire additional training to help people struggling with spiritual and mental health crises, completing an online Christian counseling degree like the online Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling will help fill in the gaps. This program is designed to build on your ministry experience to support your Christian counseling and pastoral care. If you want to branch out into a Christian counseling role, the field-specific training and biblical counseling techniques in the online Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling will provide much-needed support for biblical counseling in a variety of settings.

If you are currently in a ministry that serves military families and service members, you already know that these groups have unique needs and deal with stresses that civilians often struggle to understand. If you are not already involved with the military, then you may struggle to find ways to connect and support these families. The pastoral counseling military resilience area of study provides you with tools to help military families and personnel so that you can give them the support and love they need.


The core content of the online Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling provides a broad set of foundational Christian counseling skills and knowledge along with field-specialized topic courses and hands-on skill areas. Students who pursue biblical counseling training in the online Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling can learn how the science of psychology reflects biblical principles of personhood and human nature and how mental health treatment benefits from spiritual health. Students in the online Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling will have the opportunity to pursue hands-on training on campus during 2 optional intensives, and all pastoral counseling students will gain experience in their communities through the pastoral counseling internship.

The military resilience area of study for the online Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling expands on the psychological and biblical understanding of mental health and helps you apply these skills and knowledge to the unique struggles of military families. To master resilience training for military personnel and their families, you will need a solid understanding of psychological resilience and its part in healthy military family life. The military resilience track will focus on how these struggles impact marriages, leaders, and the difficulty of transitioning from military to civilian life.

*Please note that the online Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling is not designed to fulfill all clinical requirements for state-licensed professional counseling and may not fulfill all requirements for military chaplaincy. You can view Liberty University’s licensure-track Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling degree for more information about counseling licensure.

Degree Completion Plan


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Your success is our success, which is why we are committed to providing quality academics at an affordable tuition rate. While other colleges are increasing their tuition, we have frozen tuition rates for the majority of our undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs for the past 9 years – and counting.

Grad & Postgrad Divinity Block Rate (9-15 credit hours) $2,750
Grad & Postgrad Divinity Part Time (1-8.99 or over 15 credit hours) $395/Credit
Military Grad & Postgrad Divinity Block Rate (9-15 credit hours) $2,475
Military Grad & Postgrad Divinity Part Time (1-8.99 or over 15 credit hours) $275/Credit

Tuition rates may change annually. For the most current information, please visit our LU Tuition Cost page.


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Military

Liberty University is dedicated to providing world-class educational experiences to military students across the globe.

Who May Qualify?

  • Active Duty
  • Reserve/National Guard
  • Veterans/Retirees
  • Spouses of Service Members and Veterans/Retirees
  • Current Department of Defense Employees

Available Benefits:

  • Tuition discounts – $275 per credit hour for part-time graduate and postgraduate divinity courses
  • Discounted divinity block rate – $2,475 per semester*
  • Additional discount for veterans who serve in a civilian capacity as a First Responder (less than $625 per course)**
  • 8-week courses, 8 different start dates each year, and no set login times (may exclude certain courses such as practicums, internships, or field experiences)

*Credits taken below 9 and above 15 credit hours per semester are charged at the part-time rate.

**Not applicable to certificates.

Tuition rates may change annually. For the most current information, please visit our LU Tuition Cost page.