What Is Pastoral Counseling? Training, Certification and Career Overview

More churches, hospitals and military chaplaincy programs now look for people trained in both mental health support and ministry. Pastoral counseling sits at that intersection. It blends recognized counseling techniques with scripture, prayer and faith tradition, rather than treating the two as separate tracks.

This guide covers what pastoral counseling is, how it differs from secular counseling and from everyday pastoral care and what training and certification require. It also looks at where the work happens day to day: how Master of Divinity (MDiv) programs, such as the online MDiv from Campbellsville University (CU), prepare you for it.

What Is Pastoral Counseling?

Pastoral counseling combines mental health support with spiritual and theological guidance. Clergy, chaplains and ministry-trained counselors provide it. They help people work through grief, marital conflict, addiction and depression. Along the way, they draw on scripture, prayer and faith tradition alongside recognized counseling techniques.

The result is a hybrid practice that borrows structure and method from clinical counseling but treats a person’s faith as part of the problem-solving toolkit, not something to set aside during a session. That single detail separates it from most secular therapy models.

How Is Pastoral Counseling Different From Secular or Clinical Counseling?

Secular counseling keeps faith separate from mental health treatment. Pastoral counseling brings the two together on purpose. A pastoral counselor looks at where faith and God show up in a client’s life. They bring in scripture and prayer but also use established counseling methods, matched to the client’s spiritual beliefs.

Licensure is where the two paths split most clearly. Every state requires marriage and family therapists to be licensed, and most clinical mental health counseling roles work the same way, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Many pastoral counselors hold that same clinical training and license, then add formal religious education on top. Others work strictly inside a congregation. They offer spiritual support without diagnosing or treating mental illness, which usually doesn’t require a state license.

What’s the Difference Between Pastoral Counseling and Pastoral Care?

Pastoral care is the broad, everyday ministry a pastor provides. Pastoral counseling is the more structured, one-on-one practice built around a specific problem. Pastoral care shows up in hospital visits, premarital preparation, funerals and general encouragement. It’s ongoing and relational and doesn’t need a formal counseling framework to happen.

Pastoral counseling narrows that relationship into intentional, session-based work. A pastor moving from pastoral care into pastoral counseling shifts from general encouragement to something more specific. They set goals with a counselee, track progress and apply counseling technique alongside biblical guidance. Many pastors do both. Only one of them looks and functions like therapy.

What Degree Do You Need to Become a Pastoral Counselor?

Most pastoral counseling roles call for a master’s degree that combines theology and counseling coursework. That often means a Master of Divinity with a pastoral care focus, a Master of Arts (MA) in Christian or pastoral counseling, or a Master of Theology. State-licensed clinical practice takes more. It calls for a program accredited for counseling or marriage and family therapy, plus supervised hands-on hours.

Formal training matters more than it might seem. Despite strong demand for faith-integrated support, fewer than 1 in 10 pastors have a graduate degree in counseling. That share has held steady for the past decade, according to Lifeway Research. That gap is exactly what a dedicated pastoral counseling track is built to close. Campbellsville University’s online MDiv degree builds that combined theological-and-counseling foundation directly into the degree, through its Pastoral Care & Chaplaincy track. Students don’t have to piece it together on the job.

What Is Pastoral Counseling Certification, and How Do You Get It?

Pastoral counseling certification isn’t one single credential. It depends on the setting, and two paths cover most of the field: clinical pastoral education and board chaplain certification. Neither one replaces a state counseling or therapy license for those providing clinical mental health treatment outside a congregation.

Most students choose a pastoral counseling training path based on where they plan to work. Hospital and hospice settings tend to expect clinical pastoral education. Chaplaincy roles in the military, corrections or corporate settings tend to expect board certification instead. Many pastoral counselors eventually complete both.

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)

Clinical Pastoral Education, or CPE, is supervised training that places chaplains-in-training inside hospitals, hospices, or correctional settings. There, they practice pastoral care under a certified educator’s evaluation. The Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) runs “a rigorous accreditation and certification process for centers and educators that provide CPE.” That’s why CPE units show up across almost every chaplaincy and pastoral counseling training path.

Board Certification Through BCCI

Board Certified Chaplain, or BCC, is a professional credential. A candidate earns it in steps. First, they meet set rules for education, endorsement and work experience. Then they show their skill to a peer review panel. The Board of Chaplaincy Certification, Inc. (BCCI), an affiliate of the Association of Professional Chaplains, sets the bar high: “72 graduate semester hours,” four units of CPE, and “a minimum of 2,000 hours of work or volunteer experience as a chaplain.” A current letter from the candidate’s own faith group rounds out the list.

Pastoral counselors who want ongoing training and a professional community, without pursuing full BCC certification, often turn to the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC). The group serves “licensed psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, psychotherapists, marriage and family therapists, addictions counselors, and counselors” on one side and “Christian life and mental health coaches, pastors [and] lay counselors” on the other. That range says a lot about how varied pastoral counseling training looks in practice.

Where Do Pastoral Counselors Work?

Pastoral counselors work across congregational, healthcare and military settings. Common settings include church counseling, hospital and hospice chaplaincy, campus or military chaplaincy and marriage and family counseling inside a faith-based practice. Some focus on addiction recovery or grief support. Others split time between preaching and one-on-one counseling.

The day-to-day work looks different in each setting. A church-based counselor might meet with a couple after Sunday service, then sit with a grieving family later that week. A hospital chaplain moves room to room, offering a short prayer here and a longer conversation there. A military chaplain carries both roles at once: pastor to a unit and counselor to anyone who needs one, on short notice and often under stress.

Pay depends far more on the specific role and license than on the “pastoral counselor” title itself. Marriage and family therapists, a credential many faith-integrated counselors pursue for licensed clinical work, earned a median annual wage of $63,780 in May 2024, BLS reports. Counselors in the substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health category, an overlapping field for many chaplains and congregational counselors, earned a median of $59,190 in May 2024. The lowest 10% in that category earned less than $39,090. The highest 10% earned more than $98,210.

How Campbellsville University’s MDiv Prepares You for Pastoral Counseling

Campbellsville University’s 100% online Master of Divinity offers a Pastoral Care & Chaplaincy track built specifically for this kind of work. The 75-credit-hour program includes dedicated coursework such as Pastoral Ministries, Pastoral Care & Counseling, Pastoral Care in Human Crisis and Introduction to Chaplaincy. Counseling-skills electives round out the track, including Introduction to Family Studies, Trauma Counseling and Addictions Counseling.

Students can finish the program in three years or less. Courses run fully online, so working ministry leaders can study without stepping away from their current role. Campbellsville University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). The university is also a Yellow Ribbon Program participant for eligible military students and veterans, a detail worth noting given how many pastoral counselors go on to serve as military or hospital chaplains.

Explore CU’s online Master of Divinity to see how the program can prepare you for pastoral counseling ministry.

Frequently Asked Questions

These questions come up often for people weighing pastoral counseling as a career or ministry path. Here’s a quick reference for the details covered above.

What is pastoral counseling?

Pastoral counseling combines mental health support with spiritual and theological guidance. Clergy, chaplains or ministry-trained counselors provide it, drawing on scripture and faith tradition alongside counseling techniques.

How does pastoral counseling differ from secular or clinical counseling?

Secular counseling keeps spiritual belief separate from psychological treatment. Pastoral counseling intentionally weaves faith and theological reflection into the counseling process, though many pastoral counselors also hold the same clinical license as secular counselors.

What can you do with training in pastoral counseling?

Training in pastoral counseling opens roles such as church or congregational counselor, hospital or hospice chaplain, campus or military chaplain and marriage and family counselor in a faith-based setting.

How much do pastoral counselors make?

Pay varies by role and credential rather than one “pastoral counselor” figure. BLS reports a median annual wage of $63,780 for marriage and family therapists and $59,190 for counselors in the substance abuse, behavioral disorder and mental health category, both as of May 2024.

Do you need a license or certification to practice pastoral counseling?

It depends on the setting. Counseling delivered strictly within a church, without diagnosing or treating mental illness, generally doesn’t require state licensure. Pastoral counselors providing clinical mental health services typically need a state counseling or therapy license. Many also pursue Clinical Pastoral Education units through ACPE or Board-Certified Chaplain status through BCCI.

What degree do you need to become a pastoral counselor?

Most roles call for a master’s degree that combines theology and counseling coursework. Common choices include a Master of Divinity with a pastoral care emphasis, an MA in Christian or pastoral counseling, or a Master of Theology.

How does Campbellsville University prepare students for pastoral counseling?

Campbellsville University’s online Master of Divinity degree pairs theology courses with counseling-skills electives like trauma and addictions counseling, especially through its Pastoral Care & Chaplaincy track. Together, they build the spiritual and practical foundation for congregational and chaplaincy counseling roles.

About Campbellsville University

Campbellsville University is a Christian university based in Campbellsville, Kentucky. It offers online and on-campus programs across ministry, counseling, business and health fields. CU is known for pairing rigorous coursework with a faith-centered mission, and its online Master of Divinity extends that mission to students who can’t relocate for seminary study. Between its Yellow Ribbon Program participation and its fully online delivery, the university fits working ministry leaders, military-connected students and career changers who want real training in pastoral counseling without pausing their current calling.

Small class sizes are part of that fit. Campbellsville runs its online courses small on purpose, so students get one-on-one time with expert faculty instead of getting lost in a crowd. For a field built on personal care, that kind of direct access matters just as much as the coursework itself.