Where are you? Home | Degree Programs | index

Master of Arts in Counseling, Mental Health Track

Purpose

Consistent with its vision to serve the diverse ethnic communities of Boston and surrounding cities, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s Center for Urban Ministerial Education (CUME) now offers a Master of Arts in Counseling (MACO)-Licensure and a Master of Divinity in Community Counseling Non-licensure Track. The counseling program at CUME is unique in that it integrates Christian theology and psychology within a multi-ethnic urban context. Understanding that the city is a positive locus of God’s redemptive grace, the MACO program embodies CUME’s Philosophy of Contextualization to reach out to the multicultural and socio-economically diverse communities of the Greater Boston area. Being conscious of the fact that culture has increasingly come to the forefront of the Greater Boston theological debate, knowing that our understanding of culture reshapes our approach to evangelism, the program structures its courses toward discipleship development (equipping one to become like Christ) and apprenticeship (equipping one to become a disciple maker) in their professional field.

The Master of Arts in Counseling is a degree program for individuals who wish to prepare themselves for professional counseling positions as mental health counselors; marriage and family therapists; and community counseling. The MACO program attempts to provide its students with integrated training in biblical, theological and psychological disciplines. The outstanding feature of this program is its major commitment to a supervised clinical practicum and internship. It offers a colloquium or integrative seminars which are designed to integrate biblical and theological studies with counseling theories and practice. The student admitted to this program will be placed in varied but highly professional practicum sites. Regular individual supervision of students will take place in the clinical setting. Students will often have the opportunity to participate in seminars, workshops, staff meetings, group supervision and other professional development activities. Those who complete this training program in counseling may expect significant growth in their professional development in preparation for Christian and/or secular employment opportunities.

Following the recommended guidelines of the State Board of Allied Mental Health and Human Services and Professions, the licensure track program prepares its students for application to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as Mental Health Counselors and/or as Family therapists. Recipients of this degree are also qualified to seek work in a variety of settings, including mental health centers, human and services agencies, substance abuse programs, correctional institutions, health care settings, social service agencies, as well as business and industry.

Practicum and Internship Sites:

  • Abundant Life Christian Counseling Center
  • Birth Tree Counseling
  • Boston Christian Counseling Center
  • Boston Rescue Mission
  • Brigham and Women Hospital
  • Center for Eating Disorders Management
  • Charis Psychological Services
  • Family Continuity Programs
  • Health and Education Services
  • Lawrence Day Treatment
  • McLean Hospital North shore Emergency Services
  • New England Baptist Hospital
  • New Life Counseling and Wellness Center
  • North American Family Institute
  • Old Colony YMCA
  • Tewksbury Hospital

Program Profile

Marriage and Family Counseling Licensure Track
The structure of the curriculum in the Marriage and Family track is designed to meet basic requirements for preparation in this specialized field of counseling. In addition to core requirements, students take the particular courses outlined along with a clinical practicum and internship. The course of study will also provide a solid foundation for further graduate study in Marriage and Family. Click here for required courses in PDF format.

Mental Health Counseling Licensure Track
The structure of the curriculum in the Mental Health Counselor track is designed to meet basic requirements for preparation in this specialized field of counseling. In addition to core requirements and specific courses in some categories, students may choose from a variety of courses according to their counseling interests or to prepare for further graduate study. The practicum and internship experiences are designed to provide variety of clinical opportunities in line with the expressed interests of students. Click here for required courses in PDF format.

Master of Divinity with Concentration in Counseling, Non-Licensure Track or
Master of Arts in Urban Ministry with Concentration in Counseling-both Non-Licensure Track
The structure of the curriculum of M.Div and the MAUM with concentration in counseling is designed to prepare students to work in church counseling facilities and human services agencies. Students are trained in counseling theories, participate in individual and group practica experiences utilizing various counseling approaches with adolescent and adult or child clients and engage in supervised field experience in a professional setting reflecting their counseling interests. This program fosters a training model that recognizes the interactive effect between people and their environment. The program approaches counseling from an educational and developmental perspective, emphasizing prevention and promoting enrichment in people’s lives while also providing skills for effective intervention. Click here for the Master of Divinity with Concentration in Counseling required courses in PDF format. Click here for the Master of Arts in Urban Ministry with Concentration in Counseling required courses in PDF format.

Both in its course content and lifestyle practices, the MACO program encourages students to:

  • Become knowledgeable of God's inerrant Word, competent in its interpretation, proclamation and application in the contemporary world.
  • Maintain academic excellence in the highest tradition of Christian scholarship in the teaching of the biblical, historical and theological disciplines.
  • Train and encourage students, in cooperation with the Church, to become skilled in ministry.
  • Work with the churches towards the maturing of students so that their experiential knowledge of God in Christ is evidenced in their character, outlook, conduct, relationships and involvement in society.
  • Provide leadership and educational resources for shaping an effective evangelical presence in Church and society.
  • Develop in students a vision for God's redemptive work throughout the world and to formulate the strategies that will lead to effective missions, evangelism, discipleship and counseling.

The goals of the Master of Arts in Counseling, Mental Health Track are:

  • To understand the basic content and themes of the Old and New Testaments in their historical and cultural settings, (1) as well as the historical and theological dimensions of the Christian faith
  • To demonstrate academic excellence in the ability to communicate effectively materials from the study of psychology and the biblical, historical and theological disciplines
  • To integrate psychological theory with biblical truth so that the knowledge and skills learned in studies and practice will be realized in professional application
  • To evidence a commitment to the authority of Scripture in personal and community relationships, as well as a personal commitment to spiritual formation
  • To foster love for God and his word and therefore to cultivate the practices of spiritual maturity and Christ-like character, and to understand the Christian’s ethical responsibility in church and society
  • To gain experience in an understanding of cultural backgrounds toward effective expression of biblical truth, with the goal of ministering to Christians and to those who are not Christian believers
  • To demonstrate an awareness of national, racial, ethnic and cultural factors that impinge upon the teaching and modeling of biblical truth, and to develop the capacity for a critical evaluation of important cultural changes within the discipline of counseling.

Student Profile

The MACO Program serves a student body which is gender and culturally diverse. They are Christians whom by their devotion to God and to their community evidence a commitment to the authority of Scripture. They display essential qualities of wisdom, maturity and skills necessary of those who desired to pursue excellence in the field of counseling. They come to be better equipped for greater service. The MACO students reflect an “urban kenosis” concept (emptying oneself to serve others). They are bi-vocational. Our student body is composed of nationalities, races and ethnic groups. To accommodate their needs, CUME offers its courses in the late afternoon, evenings, and on weekends.

The MACO students are leaders among the people of God. They are experienced in social, cultural, and historical contexts of their community. They served as agents of transformation in their churches and communities. They come to the MACO Program to learn how to integrate their ministerial challenges with their theological education from a problem-centered to a more person-centered viewpoint. The MACO students come to CUME with an undergraduate degree or higher, and directly from a vast ministerial and professional experiences. The students are committed to ministerial and professional excellence. Therefore, adheres to the core mission of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, students are encouraged to apply biblical knowledge to their daily life experience.

Community Life Statement

  • We affirm that the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the ultimate guide for our values, attitudes and behaviors in all relationships.
  • We will seek to foster the development of spiritual maturity through maintaining a personal devotional life and through participating in community worship and prayer.
  • We will seek to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace, and in gentleness, patience and humility, accept one another in love.
  • We will seek to encourage one another to mature in Christ-likeness through attempting to speak the truth in love in the classrooms, in business affairs, in social relationships and in all other areas of our common life.
  • We will seek to encourage unity in families through responsible relationships.
  • We will seek to respect and encourage our uniqueness in Christ, which includes our diversity of denomination, race, culture, personality, experience, gifts and goals.
  • We will seek to become involved individually and corporately with the Church in ministering to spiritual and social needs within and beyond our own community.
  • We renounce attitudes such as greed, jealousy, false pride, lust, bitterness, hostility, an unforgiving spirit and prejudice such as that based on race, sex, and academic or socio-economic status.
  • We renounce behaviors such as distortion of God's Word, deception, falsehood, drunkenness, stealing, and sexual immorality such as premarital intercourse, adultery and homosexual behavior.
  • We believe where conflict or sin occurs in the Gordon-Conwell community, a biblical process such as stated in Matthew 18:15-20 should be followed to seek correction, forgiveness, restitution and reconciliation.
  • We will seek to practice an attitude of mutual submission according to the mind of Christ, recognizing that at times our personal rights and preferences must be put aside for the sake of others' conscience and the good of the community.
  • We will seek to encourage the cultivation of such spiritual attitudes as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Faculty and Staff Profile

For CUME, the faculty, administrative staff and boards are reflective of Boston’s multiethnic and multicultural reality, with African Americans, Hispanics, Brazilians, Haitians, and Anglos represented in various positions. Faculty members are drawn from combined faculty of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary as well as a unique group of adjunct faculty members from their respective professional field of expertise to teach our courses at CUME.

Resources

The Boston Campus has a reference collection housed in its administrative building, which is available for student use while in residency. Computers that are fully networked and Internet accessible provide access to the computerized card catalog for the Seminary’s network of libraries. A student can access all of the resources of the Goddard Library’s collection via the computer links housed in Boston. In addition, there are multiple resources available on CD’s, allowing students to search the periodical literature as well as utilize various biblical reference tools.

Course of Study

It is estimated that the counseling program at Boston will take at least four years part-time to complete. Courses will not be scheduled with as much frequency as a residential program, and it will be expected that the students will be heavily involved in their communities. At this time CUME does not provide housing for students and financial aid is limited to student loans.

Prospective students must meet departmental admissions requirements and procedures. Applicants should meet the admission procedures of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary.

Admission requirements- Applicants admitted to this program:

  • Must have a vocational goal requiring the specialized preparation available in the Master of Arts in Counseling (MACO) Program.
  • Will have met the general admission requirements of the Seminary.
  • Applicants to the Master of Arts in counseling degree are required to have a completed bachelor’s or master’s degree from an accredited college or university. The application deadlines for the program are as follows:
    • Fall semester: April 29
    • Spring semester: August 30
    • Summer semester: December 30
  • Must have followed an undergraduate or prior graduate degree program that included at least nine credit hours of undergraduate work in psychology or counseling. Twenty credit hours of prior work in psychology and/or related disciplines are recommended. Life experience will be evaluated on an individual basis and considered as modification of the academic background requirements stated above.
  • Must have an undergraduate GPA 3.0+
  • After meeting general admissions requirements candidates must complete a series of psychological tests. This is followed by a personal interview to review and interpret the tests assessment, the candidates' academic program, and personal readiness to participate in the program.