Addiction Counseling

Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts (BS/MA)

Healing a broken world with God’s love

Study Addiction Counseling at LBC

Helping People Break Free from the Power Addiction

Imagine if you could integrate your passion for helping others break free from addiction by using your faith and your professional knowledge of counseling. At Lancaster Bible College, you can. Through LBC’s robust professional counseling major, you’ll learn the skills you need to effectively treat and assist individuals facing all types of addictions.

Through Lancaster Bible College’s addiction counseling degree, you’ll learn how to become a substance abuse counselor from professionals with extensive field and classroom experience. Your growth will then continue through first-hand professional exposure through practicum and internship. Graduates of our program are fully-equipped for professional counseling employment with an additional specialized skill set in addiction therapy.

If you’re ready to get the training you need to help those struggling with addictions like substance abuse or drug and alcohol abuse, apply to Lancaster Bible College.

Why Study Addiction Counseling Education at LBC?

  • Earn both your bachelor’s and master’s degrees in addiction counseling in just five years.
  • Learn from experienced professors and practitioners.
  • Become a drug and alcohol counselor or addiction counselor.
  • Graduate with your master’s in addiction counseling
  • Prepares you to sit for the state licensure exam (AADCE)
Your Journey

Program Credits: 165

Locations: Lancaster


Degree

Bachelor of Science and Biblical Studies and Master of Arts with a major in Professional Counseling: Addictions
Learn about licensure/certification for this major


Internships

Here are some examples of internships completed by students in the past:

  • Intern at a Rescue Mission
  • Intern at a Substance Abuse Treatment Facility
  • Intern at a Halfway House

Options

  • Traditional
  • Online & Evening (Adult Education)
  • Available as Minor

“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” – 2 Corinthians 5:14 – 15

A Closer Look: Addiction Counseling

Ryan Kuehner.

Get an overview of Lancaster Bible College | Capital Seminary & Graduate School’s counseling programs, hear from our faculty and students in the counseling programs, and see if LBC | Capital is where God is leading you.

Meet the Faculty

1

Day Butcher, EdD

Assistant Professor

“Teachers possess the power to create conditions that can help students learn a great deal or keep them from learning much at all.” Parker, P. J. (2007). The courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life.” – San Francisco: Jossey Bass/Wiley

Read Bio
1

Jon Shacklett, MA

Assistant Professor

“We can get beyond merely embracing the tensions between piety and learning by fostering a piety for learning, by becoming the kind of people who see deeply into the reality of things and who love that reality–for the Savior who shed his blood for us also descended into the deep places of the creation so that he might fill all things. Jesus not only rules over every square inch of the creation, he also loves those square inches.” -Richard Mouw

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Sample Course Outline

PCN 122 – Group Experience & Self-Evaluation

The course provides students with an in depth self-evaluation for both personal development and professional development for the human services field. Student learning occurs through in-class instruction and group participation during class. The teaching method is experiential in nature. The course consists of an off campus weekend seminar during the first semester of the freshman year. Students will be required to read a textbook on spiritual formation and complete a reflection journal post seminar.

PCN 201 – Systems of Counseling I: Christian

This course examines the history of Christian counseling as it relates to the integration of theology and psychology. Consideration is given for the broad range of approaches including: biblical counseling, levels-of-explanation, integration, and Christian psychology. Course content includes study and application of the principles and methods for effective biblical change.

SOC 228 – Principles & Techniques of Counseling

This introductory course aims to apprise students of the basic tools necessary for effective counseling. As might be expected, the course covers a broad range of topics ranging from professional ethics to specific techniques used in therapy. Although most of the current theories and techniques are not necessarily derived from specific scriptural texts, a biblical worldview is foundational to the views advanced in this class. To that end, students are encouraged to interact with several sources outside the classroom setting in order to provide rich illustrations for the benefit of their classmates.

PCN 212 – Systems of Counseling II: Psychology

This course surveys the various psychological systems of counseling beginning with the early pioneers extending to the most recent therapeutic methodologies. Consideration is given for an eclectic approach that utilizes a foundational methodology with intervention strategies from various schools of thought.

CPS 541 – Group Counseling Leadership Skills

This is a clinical course designed to give students their first training in the theory and practice of group psychotherapy. Emphasis will be given to identifying and developing group leadership skills. Practical group experience outside of class will be required.

CPS 520 – Applied Counseling and Psychological Methodologies

This course will introduce the student to a variety of traditional counseling methodologies along with our appraisal from an evangelical biblical perspective. Students will also have opportunities to develop a breadth of concrete and functional skills to facilitate helping of the “whole” person. Consideration will also be given to contemporary issues facing the practitioner.

CPS 525 – Counseling and Psychological Assessment Techniques I

This course is designed to be a primer in psychological testing and assessment. Students will be familiarized to the salient clinical and ethical concerns surrounding the assessment process and not only to the content areas of specific testing techniques. The “hands on” nature of this class will furnish students with resources that will strengthen their diagnostic skills and ultimately their clinical effectiveness.

CPS 510 – Human Growth and Development Across the Lifespan

This course will examine developmental theory and research as it relates to the interconnected roles of biology, family/social context and culture. The special tasks, challenges, and concerns for age-stage related issues will be considered in light of applicable biblical principles and appropriate counseling practices.

CPS 531 – Abnormal Psychology

A survey of assessment categories based on abnormal psychology classifications will be evaluated and compared to cultural norms and theological perspectives on abnormality. The application and meaning of these concerns to the practice of counseling will be considered.

CPS 572 – Addictions Counseling

This course is designed to assist the student with an understanding of addiction, the effects of addiction on the family, as well as the process of counseling these individuals toward recovery. The focus will be on alcoholism, but also pertain to all substance abuse and related addictions. The course will be beneficial to those who minister to addicts at any level, but especially those who desire a more thorough understanding of counseling the addict and their family. This course will attempt to integrate psychological findings on addiction, governing biblical principles, along with professional and practical ministry experience of the professor.

Careers and Jobs in Addiction Counseling

  • Addictions Counselor
  • Counselor at an Inpatient Treatment Facility
  • Counselor at a Halfway House
  • Counselor at Homeless Shelter
  • Outpatient Drug and Alcohol Counselor
  • Chemical Dependency Counselor
  • Drug and Alcohol Counselor

What’s your next step?