ICAS-Accredited Degree Program
Doctor of Christian Counseling in Trauma Healing Ministry
D.C.C. credential
Explore compassionate pastoral care for people living with grief, trauma, or loss, grounded in patient listening and Christian hope.
Doctor of Christian Counseling in Trauma Healing Ministry: 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 Trauma Healing Ministry is for those leading crisis response and training carers. Trauma changes what a person can do in a worship service, and grief does not proceed in stages whatever the leaflets say. This ICAS-accredited Kingdom of Life University program covers lament as a theological resource, what trauma does to the body, disaster and critical incident response, funerals, suicide loss, and congregations that are themselves traumatised.
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 Christian Counseling in Trauma Healing Ministry 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
- Trauma Healing Ministry - Doctoral Competency-Based Ministry Assessment
- Credential
- Doctor of Christian Counseling (D.C.C.) in Trauma Healing Ministry
- 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
Use lament as a theological and pastoral resource rather than moving past it
Understand trauma's effects well enough to avoid compounding them
Respond competently in the acute phase of a crisis
Sustain care beyond the period of general attention
Learning Outcomes
Skills and competencies you will develop
Synthesize doctoral-level theological evidence, research judgment, and ministry wisdom for faithful leadership
Plan and lead a funeral that serves a grieving family and community
Deliver psychological first aid within an evidence-based framework
Design a congregational response to a corporate trauma
Build a long-term bereavement care plan including anniversary points
Career Opportunities
Where this degree can take you
Crisis response chaplain
Bereavement ministry leader
Pastoral counselor
Congregational care director
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
Reading Scripture with traumatised people, including which texts retraumatise and why the usual comfort passages often fail.
Doctoral Seminar: Old Testament Theology
The Old Testament's lament tradition — the psalms of complaint, Lamentations, Job — as the church's given language for unresolved suffering.
Doctoral Seminar: New Testament Theology
The New Testament on suffering and resurrection hope, and the discipline of not deploying hope too early.
Doctoral Seminar: Christian Doctrine
Doctrine at the graveside: providence, evil, the resurrection of the body, and what may honestly be said.
Doctoral Seminar: Theology of Suffering and Lament
Lament as a biblical form and a pastoral resource, and the theological account of suffering that permits protest without abandoning hope.
Doctoral Seminar: Understanding Grief
Grief as it actually proceeds, covering the evidence against fixed stages, anticipatory and complicated grief, and cultural variation in mourning.
Doctoral Seminar: Trauma and the Body
What trauma does to the body and memory, covering hyperarousal, dissociation, and the implications for worship, touch, and pastoral conversation.
Doctoral Seminar: Crisis and Disaster Response
Disaster and critical incident response, covering the phases, psychological first aid, spiritual care in the acute phase, and coordination with agencies.
Specialization Subjects
Six more that take the field into the places it actually gets used.
Doctoral Seminar: Funerals and Rites of Mourning
Funerals and mourning rites as pastoral work, covering the service itself, the family conversation, and the practices that help a community grieve.
Doctoral Seminar: Suicide Loss and Pastoral Care
Care after suicide, covering the bereaved, the congregation, the theological questions raised, and the evidence on safe communication.
Doctoral Seminar: Congregational Trauma
When a congregation is itself traumatised by abuse, sudden loss, or violence, including the corporate symptoms and the process of repair.
Doctoral Seminar: Resilience and Long-Term Care
Long-term accompaniment, covering anniversary reactions, resilience, post-traumatic growth and its overstatement, and care that lasts beyond the first months.
Doctoral Seminar: Spiritual Formation and Christian Vocation
Formation for people who absorb others' worst moments, and the supervision and sabbath that make it survivable.
Doctoral Seminar: Integrative Theology and Ministry
A trauma or bereavement project with an evidence-based framework, implemented and evaluated over time.
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 Christian 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 Trauma Healing Ministry 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.