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Introducing The Center and its Programs

 

Thousands of people have consulted with various professionals to determine their particular calling to ministry.  We are particularly equipped to serve those who are beginning to explore a calling to ministry, those in the process of ordination and those wanting to do a mid-career "tune-up."

Career Counseling is a process designed to help you shape the direction of your life and career, given your own capabilities and potential. The question for us is always "What is your best fit in life?"  At key points in your life (early career, mid-career, nearing retirement) career counseling can help you take charge of your life in a firmer, more focused way.

 

The Staff's View

The heart of the entire process is the quality of dialogue that takes place between you and your counselor, strengthened by the interpretation of carefully selected testing instruments and input from the clinical psychologist.

Rigorous confidentiality is absolutely insured. No information about you will be released to any other person or agency without your written permission.

The Center's Staff

Counselors hold graduate degrees in theology and psychology and/or counseling. Their experience includes parish ministry, career counseling, pastoral counseling, clinical psychology, and education. All are licensed by the state in which they work.

 

The Center staff custom-designs programs that will help participants:

Analyze abilities and most satisfying achievements.

Identify personality characteristics leading to a better "fit" in work situations. If a major transition looms, career counseling can help persons maintain perspective and avoid panic.

Develop a unique profile of strengths, weaknesses, motivations, values, and other factors that provide clues for career directions.

Organize career goals and lay plans for the future, including continuing education or study leaves, techniques to deal with stress management and burnout, other ways to improve life and health, possible career changes, or pre-retirement planning.

These factors critically affect the level of satisfaction everyone feels in their chosen careers.

 

How the Programs Works

The One-Day Individual Program is designed for those who have done a full vocational assessment process within the last five years (at The Center or any other certified assessment center) and need a follow-up session.  This may occur when they may have postponed ordination for a few years, are required by specialized ministry certification committees (e.g., chaplaincy, pastoral counseling, etc.) or just want a quick check-in about their ministry fit and goals.  The testing, written materials and interview process will be determined by the needs of each individual in conversation with The Center's counselor.  Only a brief report is written as an adjunct to the full report previously written, if required in the individual circumstance.

 

The basic Two-Day Program focuses intensively on one person.  The Three-Day Program involves your spouse or partner, with joint career evaluation where dual careers are involved.   For couples, The Center staff feels that involving the spouse is so crucially important that this option is made available at less than the actual cost.

 

Candidates for church vocations may participate in The Center's programs, depending upon the requirements of their committees.  The Two-day, Three-Day and Group Programs are options you may explore to fulfill those requirements.  Click here for more information on programs for candidates.

 

All clients work with one counselor who has reviewed preliminary materials (detailed autobiography, testing, medical reports, and references).  The Two-Day and Three-Day Programs may sometimes include an interview with one of The Center's consulting clinical psychologists to explore personal needs.  The testing tools assess interests, personality, and values as they relate to ministry or other occupations.  Mid-Career is a good time to assess how you want to fulfill your latter days of ministry.  Transitional Counseling it is a good time to explore how you might want to focus the latter part of your ministry.  Retirement Planning will help you anticipate, plan, and shape your own retirement and how you want to focus  those years.

 

The Center's staff members provide Group Programs for Candidates seeking ordination through their denominations.  These workshops will be offered quarterly.  Please attend to the following upcoming dates:

September XX, 2010

January XX, 2011

(dates to be determined soon)

Call to insure your place in the next group program.

Special Staff Programs can be arranged for an entire church staff to examine the way that they administrate, complete tasks, interact with people, create new ideas and work together on a team.  These programs can be customized to fit your staff requirements and needs.  Please call us to arrange a Staff Program specially designed for your particular needs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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