In the Counselling Open Course, we will lay the theological and psychological foundations for the practice of Christian pastoral care and introduce basic counselling skills.


LECTURER
Dr. Maire Latvala
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TIME AND DATE
20.03 10.00-17.45
10.05 at 11.00-17.45
5.06 at 11.00-17.45


PLACE
Participation on site, room 207
Narva mnt 51, Tallinn


COURSE VOLUME
18 academic hours, 3 ECTS.


TARGET GROUP
All interested.

LANGUAGE
The course will be conducted in Estonian, with translation into English and Russian.


GOAL
To provide a theological and psychological basis for the practice of Christian counselling and to introduce basic counselling skills.


LEARNING OUTCOMES OF THE COURSE
The student will know the essential elements of the counselling process, and will be able to:
* analyse the self, the client and the counselling process at a basic level.
* make sense of his/her own life events by looking at them through the lens of Christian theology and pastoral care theory;
* apply active listening, reflection and crisis support skills in pastoral work;
* recognise when a person needs the help of another professional.

CONTENT OF THE STUDY
The basic principles of pastoral care as a Christian church ministry. Relationship between personal theology and pastoral practice. Methodology of pastoral care: the person of the counsellor. The personal characteristics and communication skills. Communication as a process. The art of listening and conversation. A process of listening and listening as a process of communication. Listening and support. Counselling as a systematic and structured approach to the problems of the person in need. Automaticity, defence mechanisms and coping strategies.

SCHEDULE
20.03.2025. 6 academic hours. Type of work: lecture, seminar.
Analysis of the counselling process.
Group dynamics and its impact on the counselling process.
Person of the counsellor. Character traits, communication skills, past life events and theological convictions of the counsellor as a shaper of his personality and work style. The use of the personality of the counsellor in the counselling process, including obstacles arising from the personality of the counsellor.
Working with religiously abused clients. Theological views that do not support help-seeking.
The genogram as a tool.


10.05.2025. 6 academic hours. Type of work: lecture, seminar.
Analysis of the counselling process (continuation). Establishing and maintaining contact. Agreements. Listening skills. Strategies for dealing with conflict situations. Client resistance. Transmission and countertransmission processes and their analysis.
Brief overview of couple and family counselling.
Analysis of specific cases.

5.06.2025. Capacity 6 academic hours. Type of work: lecture, seminar.
Work with different target groups: young people, elderly people, ex-prisoners, clients with psychiatric disorders.
Review of some psychiatric disorders: dementia, schizophrenia, personality disorders.
Intergenerational trauma.
Possibilities for the caregiver to collaborate with different professionals.
Analysis of specific cases (continued).

COURSE FEE
105 EUR for non-credit enrolment.
135 EUR for credit enrolment, which also requires at least 75% attendance of lectures and completion of all assignments.

PAYMENT INFORMATION
Recipient: Eesti Metodisti Kirik
Invoice number: EE842200221010980782
Explanation: Nõustamine - avatud kursus 
Amount: 105 or 135 EUR


ORGANISER
BMTS, Kaire Lotamõis, 6688467, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..


MAXINIMUM NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS
20 pre-registered participants. To participate please register here: