Winter 2015/Pasadena

CN504

Roozeboom

CN504: FAMILY THERAPY AND PASTORAL COUNSELING (4 Units: 162 Hours). William Roozeboom.

DESCRIPTION: The individual-in-family-within-community is the focus of study in the pastoral care and counseling of families. Family systems theory, theology, and therapy will be integrated as the student explores his/her own multigenerational family system and applies learnings to one’s own role in his/her family of origin and to family ministry.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: At the completion of this course, the student will have gained a greater understanding and new ways of connecting with family of origin, learning clear self-definition and differentiation with clean boundaries, and balancing separateness and connectedness in healthful ways. Additionally, the student will discover new clarity of self-in-relation with oneself, with others, and with God. Lastly, the student will be able to think through and apply systems theory in relationships and ministry.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets once per week for three-hour sessions for a total of 30 hours of classroom instruction for lecture and discussion plus 10 hours of directed learning activities for a total of 40 instructional hours. The course focuses on assisting participants in understanding, differentiating, and deepening relationships in their family of origin in personal development as a basis for work in family intervention. Lectures, reading reflections, experiential process, case studies, and audiovisuals will be utilized to assist the pastoral counselor in growth toward effective preventative and creative change in family systems.

REQUIRED READING: 1,250 pp. required reading.

Friedman, Edwin. Generation to Generation. Guilford, 1985. ISBN: 978-1609182366, Pub. Price $30.00. [319 pp.].

McGoldrick, Monica. Genograms. 3rd ed. Norton, 2008. ISBN: 978-0393705096, Pub. Price $27.00 [416 pp.].

Napier, A., and Carl Whitaker. The Family Crucible. Bantam, 1977. ISBN: 978-0060914899, Pub. Price $14.99 [301 pp.].

Richardson, Ronald W. Becoming a Healthier Pastor: Family systems theory and the pastor’s own family. Fortress Press, 2004. ISBN: 978-0800636395, Pub. Price $17.00 [150 pp.].

Course Reader with selected chapters, articles, and other resources [approx. 64 pp.].

RECOMMENDED READING: Available in the course syllabus.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. Wide reading of 1,250 pages in theory and cases. [62 hours]. [This assignment meets learning objectives 1, 2, and 3].

2. Participation in course activities, reflections, and experiential processes. Assignments 1 & 2 make up 10% of the final grade. [This assignment meets learning objectives 2 and 4]. [30 hours].

3. Forum Posts and Responses. You will post reflections on the readings four times during the course. Each forum post will consist of two parts: (1) Your post engaging the readings in a critically reflective way, and (2) a response to one of your classmates’ posts. Forum posts will make up 35% of the final grade. [This assignment meets learning objective 4 and 5.] [20 hours].

4. Present a four-generation (minimum) analysis of your family system, including a genogram [20 hours] and discuss the implications for your sense of self, relationships, and ministry (approx. 20 pages) [20 hours]. This assignment makes up 55% of the final grade. [This assignment meets learning objectives 1, 4, and 5]. [40 total hours].

PREREQUISITES: None. This is a central pastoral counseling course open to all students.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets 144 MDiv core requirement in Pastoral Counseling (MIN 5). Option to count in the Recovery Ministry or Youth, Family, and Culture emphases.

FINAL EXAMINATION: Final project serves as final examination.