ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Doctor of Biblical Counseling in Biblical Counseling
D.B.C. credential
Explore how Scripture, careful listening, and Christian compassion can guide conversations with people facing difficult seasons.
Doctor of Biblical Counseling in Biblical Counseling: Your Grant Price
Applications are free. Eligible applicants receive their admission and Grant decision before any one-time program fee is requested.
Published tuition
$24,900.00
$649.00 Registry & Assessment Fee
$149
Doctoral Degree
2026 Life in Christ Grant is active
Ministry Experience, Evaluated Against Academic Standards.
Documented prior learning may be considered when it aligns with program outcomes; every credit decision follows academic review.
Program Overview
About this program
Doctoral study in Biblical Counseling is for those supervising counsellors and evaluating outcomes. Counselling in a church setting is bounded work: you can do a great deal, and there is a point past which continuing is harmful. This ICAS-accredited Kingdom of Life University program covers the theological account of the person, the working alliance, grief and trauma, family cases, crisis and suicidality, and referral treated as a duty rather than an admission of failure.
Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
Recognition of demonstrated learning in theology and ministry
Experienced ministry practitioners demonstrate competencies developed through years of service, theological study, and continuing learning. The assessment connects that learning with the published outcomes of the Doctor of Biblical Counseling in Biblical Counseling through biblical understanding, theological reflection, research, and ministry judgment.
70
Audited questions in this pathway bank
30
Questions drawn for each sitting
60 minutes
Time available for the knowledge component
24 hours
Interval before reassessment
Theological knowledge and degree outcomes
- Published bank title
- Biblical Counseling - Doctoral Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Doctor of Biblical Counseling (D.B.C.) in Biblical Counseling
- Question construction
- 14 pathway subject-bank sources contribute 5 questions each, producing the complete 70-question bank.
How completion is reported
- The knowledge component contributes 40% and assessed ministry experience contributes 60% to one weighted result.
- The reported result is no lower than 80%, matching the 80% degree pass mark.
- Reassessment draws a fresh question set and is included in program access, with no additional fee or limit on sittings.
- The integrated assessment covers the published degree plan; separate course assessments, a capstone paper, and a dissertation defense are not required.
Program Objectives
What you will achieve
Integrate advanced theological inquiry and ministry judgment in service to the church and its mission
Ground counselling practice in a theological account of the person
Form a working alliance that makes change possible
Assess risk accurately and act on it
Practise within your competence and refer as a matter of duty
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize doctoral-level theological evidence, research judgment, and ministry wisdom for faithful leadership
Conduct an initial assessment and agree a focus with the person
Respond appropriately to a disclosure of suicidal intent
Work with a couple or family using a systems-informed approach
Identify an ethical boundary issue and resolve it with supervision
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Pastoral care minister
Church counseling director
Chaplaincy care worker
Family ministry leader
Major Subject Areas
The fourteen subjects you study, and the ones the ministry assessment draws on
Foundational and Major-Core Subjects
Four foundations every pathway shares, then four that belong to this field.
Doctoral Seminar: Biblical Interpretation
Using Scripture in a counselling room without proof-texting distress, and knowing when a text will do harm this week that it would not do next year.
Doctoral Seminar: Old Testament Theology
Lament, complaint and the Old Testament's refusal to hurry people through suffering, which is most of what a counsellor needs from it.
Doctoral Seminar: New Testament Theology
The New Testament on the renewed mind, the body of Christ and bearing burdens, and its limits as a clinical framework.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Doctrine
A theological account of the person — image, embodiment, sin, suffering, community — that determines what counsel is for and what it can promise.
Doctoral Seminar: Theological Anthropology and Care
What a person is, theologically: image, embodiment, sin, suffering, and community, and how that account shapes what counsel is for and what it can promise.
Doctoral Seminar: Helping Relationships
The helping relationship itself, covering rapport, agenda, the working alliance, and the evidence on what actually makes help helpful.
Doctoral Seminar: Pastoral Counseling
Pastoral counselling as a distinct practice, including its setting, its limits, its relationship to preaching and sacrament, and its usual presenting problems.
Doctoral Seminar: Grief, Trauma, and Hope
Grief and trauma in counselling practice, covering normal and complicated courses, the body's role, and the place of lament.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Doctoral Seminar: Marriage and Family Ministry
Counselling couples and families, covering systems thinking, alliances, sequences, and the decision about who should be in the room.
Doctoral Seminar: Crisis Care
Acute crisis work: assessment, immediate safety, suicidality, and the first conversation when someone arrives in extremity.
Doctoral Seminar: Addiction and Recovery Ministry
Addiction in a counselling caseload, including assessment, stages of change, motivational approaches, and coordination with treatment services.
Doctoral Seminar: Counseling Ethics and Referral
Ethics and competence, covering confidentiality and its limits, dual relationships, record keeping, supervision, and referral as a duty rather than a failure.
Doctoral Seminar: Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
The counsellor's own formation and supervision, and the boundary between compassion and the need to be needed.
Doctoral Seminar: Integrative Theology and Ministry
A case-based project with formulation, intervention, supervision and evaluated outcome, written to professional standards.
Admission Requirements
What you need to apply
- Master's degree in theology, ministry, or a relevant field from an accredited or recognized institution
- Official graduate transcripts demonstrating advanced academic preparation
- Research statement identifying a proposed area of theological or ministry inquiry
- Scholarly or ministry-focused writing sample
- Current curriculum vitae documenting relevant research, church, or ministry leadership experience
- Three ministry or academic recommendations and a faculty interview
Degree Completion Requirements
Requirements for the Doctor of Biblical Counseling
Graduation Requirements
- Complete at least 60 doctoral semester credits in the approved degree plan
- Pass the Competency-Based Ministry Assessment for the degree
- Satisfy every doctoral-core, research-methods, specialization, elective, and Competency-Based Ministry Assessment requirement group
- Integrate theological knowledge with assessed ministry experience under the published result-weighting policy
- Recognize demonstrated learning against every published degree-plan requirement
Culminating Experience
Demonstrate doctoral-level theological synthesis, research judgment, and ministry leadership through Competency-Based Ministry Assessment, combining theological knowledge with assessed ministry experience.
Credit Distribution
| Requirement Area | Credits | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Doctoral Core | 24 | 8 courses. Doctoral theory, disciplinary foundations, and scholarly leadership. |
| Research Design and Methods | 12 | 4 courses. University-wide doctoral preparation in quantitative, qualitative, measurement, and research-ethics competencies. |
| Area of Specialization | 15 | 5 courses. Focused doctoral inquiry supporting the learner's research agenda. |
| Doctoral Elective | 6 | 2 courses. Any doctoral-level major course from any school that is not already part of this degree plan. |
| Competency-Based Ministry Assessment | 3 | 1 course. Integrated doctoral theological knowledge and assessed ministry experience, recognizing demonstrated learning across the published degree plan. |
| Total Degree Credits | 60 | All requirements must be completed within the approved degree plan. |
Program Details
Program Length
Self-Paced
Self-Paced Learning
Total Credits
60 credit hours
Up to 30 Transfer Credits
Published Degree Plan
20 courses
Across 5 required curriculum groups
Format
Flexible Study
Assessment Format
Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
Selected Degree
Doctorate
School
School of Theology and Ministry
Institutional Status
ICAS Accredited
Ready to Begin Your Accredited Biblical Counseling Degree?
Applying costs nothing, and the work you have already done may count. Have a look at what this pathway asks for before you decide.