Mid-America's Institute for Nouthetic Studies

A Biblical Counseling Training Program Built on the Legacy of Dr. Jay E. Adams

Dr. Jay Adams is best known as the founder of the modern Biblical counseling movement. After the publication of his groundbreaking book Competent to Counsel in 1970, he tirelessly championed the cause of biblical sufficiency and stood against the encroachment of secular psychology in the counseling rooms of pastors and Christian laypersons.

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Explore the Options and Benefits

what is Nouthetic (biblical) counseling?

is biblical counseling a good fit for me?

what makes mid-America the leader?

Eleven Courses Designed to Equip You

Introduction to Biblical Counseling

This is our foundational course dealing with the need for and the fundamentals of Biblical Counseling. The student will gain an understanding of what is meant by nouthetic counseling and how it differs from the prominent secular and religious counseling models. The student will be introduced to the key elements of the counseling process including data gathering, questioning, homework, giving hope, methods of change, and the role of the Holy Spirit in counseling. Other topics include the sufficiency of Scripture, self-esteem, and counseling failure. 22 hours.

Instructor: Dr. Jay E. Adams

Required textbooks: Competent to Counsel; The Christian Counselor’s Manual

Cost: $35

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Counseling Problems

Counseling Problems – Specific counseling problems will be discussed in this course. Subjects include worry, anger, depression, fear, grief, guilt, life dominating sins, demon possession, slothfulness, decision making, and suicide. Special attention is given to the pertinent Scriptures that deal with these problem issues. 15 hours.

Instructor: Donn R. Arms

Required textbooks: How to Overcome Evil, How to Handle Trouble, The Christian Counselor’s Manual, What to do When…(Pamphlet series). Suggested textbooks: Wrinkled but not Ruined, The Christian’s Guide to Guidance.

Cost: $35

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The Use of Scripture in Counseling

Students will receive instruction in the fundamentals of hermeneutics and exegesis as these relate to biblical counseling. 14 hours.

Instructor: Dr. Jay E Adams

Required textbook: What to do on Thursday, How to Help People Change

Cost: $35

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Church Discipline

This is A thorough study of a neglected but vital aspect of counseling and church ministry. Because of the great confusion about and necessity for church discipline in churches today we make this course available to churches who desire to use it at an elders or deacons retreat with the goal of helping them arrive at an understanding of the blessing of church discipline and to develop a church policy as to its practice. 5 hours.

Instructor: Dr. Jay E. Adams

Required textbook: Handbook of Church Discipline

Cost: $35

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Forgiveness

Most counseling cases require at some point the discussion of forgiveness and yet few counselees have an understanding of the dynamics of biblical forgiveness. This course examines the basic biblical passages on the subject and identifies the world’s substitutes for forgiveness. 5 hours.

Instructor: Dr. Jay E. Adams

Required textbook: From Forgiven to Forgiving.

Cost: $35

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Marriage and Family Counseling

An examination of the biblical concept of marriage and the specific Scripture passages that relate. The student will be challenged to lead couples to biblical solutions to marriage conflict. Specific topics include communication, the purpose of marriage, gender roles, the sexual relationship, adultery, finances, raising children, and the dynamics of counseling couples. 15 hours.

Instructor: Donn R. Arms

Required textbooks: Christian Living in the Home, Solving Marriage Problems, Biblical Principle of Sex (Dr. Robert Smith).

Cost: $35

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Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage

A study of the relevant Scripture passages dealing with the issue of divorce and remarriage with the goal of leading the student to a biblical view of the issue and application of that view to counseling situations. 5 hours.

Instructor: Dr. Jay E. Adams

Required textbook: Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage in the Bible

Cost: $35

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Critical Stages in Biblical Counseling

This course builds on the introductory course with a focus on the actual counseling sessions. Three specific sessions are identified as critical to the entire counseling process: the first, the final, and the breakthrough sessions. Specific “nuts and bolts” are discussed in detail as they relate to these vital sessions. Course concludes with an examination of specific counseling cases. 10 hours.

Instructor: Dr. Jay E. Adams

Required textbook: Critical Stages in Biblical Counseling

Cost: $35

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Theology and Counseling

The entire corpus of Systematic Theology is considered in relation to biblical counseling. While not a study of any specific theological system the implications of various systems to counseling will be examined. 14 hours.

Instructor: Dr. Jay E. Adams

Required textbooks: The Theology of Counseling, Is All Truth God’s Truth?, Growing by Grace.

Cost: $35

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Medical Issues in Counseling

Topics include the use of drugs in counseling, dealing with pain, pastor/physician relationships, the reason for illness, and specific medical issues i.e. anorexia, bulimia, STDs, ADHD, and sleep loss. 10 hours.

Instructors: Robert Smith, M.D.

Required textbooks: The Christian Counselor’s Medical Desk Reference, Pain, the Plight of Fallen Man

Cost: $35

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Counseling Women

This course focuses on issues that are specific to women and women counselors. Topics include submission, living with an unbelieving husband, divorce, manipulation, and children. 12 hours.

Instructor: Martha Peace

Cost: $35

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Casebook Studies

A detailed analysis and discussion of each case presened in Dr. Adams’ book The Christian Counselor’s Casebook. 22 hours.

Instructors: Dr. Jay E. Adams, Donn R. Arms

Required textbook: The Christian Counselor’s Casebook, The Case of the “Hopeless” Marriage.

Cost: $35

Register for this class

Program Faculty

John Babler, PhD
Chairman of the Biblical Counseling Department; Professor of Biblical Counseling

Phone: 901-751-3015 Email: jbabler@mabts.edu
Donn R. Arms
Director of the Institute for Nouthetic Studies

Explore the Options and Benefits

What Is Nouthetic (Biblical) Counseling?

Biblical counseling is best defined by how a counselor views the Bible in his or her counseling practice. Many biblical counselors view the Bible as their supreme source for counseling but combine it other non- or extra-biblical sources. Other biblical counselors view the Bible as their sole source for counseling and do not integrate non- or extra-biblical sources. At Mid-America, because we believe the Bible is all sufficient for teaching, reproof, correction, and disciplined training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16), we train students to view the Bible as both the supreme and sole source for their counseling.

What is the objective of Biblical Counseling?

If biblical counseling is best defined by how a counselor views the Bible, the objective of biblical counseling is best defined by who the counselor views as the authority. A counselor has the option of viewing the counselee as the authority, himself as the authority, or Scripture as the authority. At Mid-America, we believe Scripture is the authority; therefore, the objective is always what Scripture identifies as the greatest need in the counselee’s life—whether comfort, confession, conviction, or conversion.

How does Biblical Counseling differ from other forms of counseling?

All counseling has as its goal to help people get from where they are to where they want or need to be. Because the destination for Christians is Christlikeness, the aim of biblical counseling is the sanctification of the counselee. The goal of the many other types of counseling, even some forms of biblical counseling, is to help a counselee improve his or her condition, irrespective of God’s will or conformity to the image of Christ. At Mid-America, we help students understand that biblical counseling produces heart change because it relies on the Holy Spirit’s work in the counselee’s life. To help distinguish true biblical counseling, the kind based on the Bible as the supreme, sole, sufficient source of truth, the term “nouthetic counseling” is often used, a term made popular by Dr. Jay E. Adams, founder of the Institute for Nouthetic Studies.

Is Biblical Counseling a good fit for me?

All Christians should be able to counsel biblically (Colossians 3:16), but not all Christians are called to be biblical counselors. God’s Spirit is the only One Who can definitively tell you if you’re called to biblical counseling as a vocation or avocation. Below are five indications that you may have an aptitude for it.

If you select two or more, biblical counseling may be a good fit for you, and you should read further.

What Makes Mid-America the Leader?

Building on a half-century of commitment to the sufficiency of Scripture, Mid-America in 2015 truly bolstered its position as the premier training center for biblical counseling. At that time, the now late Dr. Jay E. Adams, father of the modern biblical counseling movement, selected Mid-America to carry on the biblical counseling equipping program he developed called the Institute for Nouthetic Studies (INS). Beginning with his landmark book Competent to Counsel in 1970, Dr. Adams has demonstrated the importance of counseling with the conviction that the Scripture is God’s sufficient resource for dealing with life’s problems.

Mid-America, a SACSCOC-accredited institution, partnered with Dr. Adams to build a counseling curriculum that is faithful to the Scriptures, academically rigorous, and intensely practical. By combining two institutions with a strong history of teaching the sufficiency of Scripture, we have created one of the nation’s most comprehensive and accessible educational programs for training men and women to counsel biblically. Our biblical counseling program offers students the highest quality training in biblical counseling, including five fully accredited degree programs, plus two certificate options—a total of seven levels to one fit everyone desiring to become competent to counsel.

The legacy of Dr. Adams is being expanded by Mid-America’s new Chairman of the Biblical Counseling Department, Dr. John Babler. The heir apparent to Dr. Adams’ influential position in the academic universe of true biblical counseling, Dr. Babler leads our equipping programs, teaches courses, and has even developed a certificate program of his own, Counseling by the Book. If you want to learn biblical counseling from the men who literally wrote the book on true biblical counseling, come to Mid-America and take advantage of the wide breadth of training options we offer.

Academic Resources

Questions about our academic programs or scheduling? Explore our catalog, calendar, or course schedules for additional information.