Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling

Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling programs prepare individuals, including but not limited to, ordained clergy and other counseling professionals to respond to the emotional and/or spiritual needs of patients and families in health care emergencies and other situations, and to consult with and counsel other health care professionals. Includes instruction in advanced interpersonal communication; individual and small group counseling; interdisciplinary teamwork; crisis management; extended care relationships; self-analysis; medical ethics; pastoral care art; spiritual dimensions of human growth and health; counseling psychology and therapy; and applications to grief, death, emotional collapse, injury, individual/family adjustment, and chronic illness situations.

While Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling offers degrees up to the Doctors degree research scholarship, the majority of students earn a Masters degree. Students study Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling all around the US, though the major at the Doctors degree research scholarship level has the most graduates in Maryland. The average annual income for a graduate with a bachelor's degree in Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling is $37,200.