Faith
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Arizona Christian Counseling is an ecumenical Christian pastoral counseling group practice and training center. Our counselors come from various backgrounds — we are unified on our understandings of the essential truths of the Christian faith, with love in theological areas where we may disagree. We seek to help all people regardless of their faith, background, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or sexual identity. The care we provide is client-centered, so we don't push our beliefs on anyone, but our individual faith may inform our worldview, practice, and perspective.
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"Here we enter a fellowship, Sometimes we will agree to differ, always we will resolve to love, and unite to serve." —E. Stanley Jones |
Ethics
Arizona Christian Counseling is an Institutional Member of ACPE (Association for Clinical Pastoral Education). The Institutional Member category is for organizations that support and whose purpose and scope of activity is to enhance the mission and vision of the ACPE. Arizona Christian Counseling was previously an Institutional Member of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors (AAPC) before the organization consolidated with ACPE in 2019.
All of our counselors are educated at the graduate level or higher. Our pastoral counselors are ordained, commissioned, or pastorally licensed by their respective denomination and have training in pastoral counseling, spiritual direction, and/or clinical pastoral education. Our pastoral counselors are not state-licensed behavioral health clinicians but are specialists that provide emotional, spiritual, and relational support within the scope of their expertise as clergy. Our state-licensed counselors are licensed by the Arizona State Board of Behavioral Health Examiners or the Arizona Board of Psychologist Examiners, and have additional training in spiritual integration. All counselors work as independent contractors and do not receive any clinical supervision from Arizona Christian Counseling.
All counselors with Arizona Christian Counseling have agreed to follow the ACPE Ethical Guidelines, which can be read below, in addition to any pertinent licensing board, credentialing organization, ecclesiastical authority, and/or professional associations to which they may be legally, ethically, and/or spiritually accountable.
All of our counselors are educated at the graduate level or higher. Our pastoral counselors are ordained, commissioned, or pastorally licensed by their respective denomination and have training in pastoral counseling, spiritual direction, and/or clinical pastoral education. Our pastoral counselors are not state-licensed behavioral health clinicians but are specialists that provide emotional, spiritual, and relational support within the scope of their expertise as clergy. Our state-licensed counselors are licensed by the Arizona State Board of Behavioral Health Examiners or the Arizona Board of Psychologist Examiners, and have additional training in spiritual integration. All counselors work as independent contractors and do not receive any clinical supervision from Arizona Christian Counseling.
All counselors with Arizona Christian Counseling have agreed to follow the ACPE Ethical Guidelines, which can be read below, in addition to any pertinent licensing board, credentialing organization, ecclesiastical authority, and/or professional associations to which they may be legally, ethically, and/or spiritually accountable.
ACPE Ethical Guidelines
As Psychotherapist and Practitioner members of ACPE, we are respectful of the various theologies, traditions, and values of our faith communities, and we are committed to the dignity and worth of each individual. We are dedicated to advancing the welfare of those who seek our assistance and to the maintenance of high standards of professional conduct and competence. As psychotherapists, pastoral counselors, and spiritual care providers, we are accountable for our work regardless of our professional functions, the settings in which we work, or the populations which we serve. This accountability is expressed in our conduct of relationships with clients, colleagues, students, our faith communities, and through the acceptance and practice of the principles and procedures of these Ethical Guidelines.
As members of ACPE, we recognize our responsibility to:
1. Affirm the importance of being both spiritually grounded and psychologically informed.
2. Maintain responsible association with the faith group with which we identify and in which we may have ecclesiastical standing.
3. Avoid discriminating against or refusing employment, educational opportunity, or professional assistance to anyone on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, health status, age, disabilities, or national origin; provided that nothing herein shall limit a member from utilizing religious requirements or exercising a religious preference in employment decisions.
4. Stay current with research that affects our understanding of clinical issues and the conduct of our practice. We agree to continuing education and professional growth including supervision, consultation, and active participation in the meetings and affairs of the Association.
5. Seek out and engage in collegial relationships, recognizing that isolation can lead to a loss of perspective and judgment.
6. Manage our personal lives in a healthful fashion and to seek appropriate assistance for our own personal problems or conflicts.
7. Assess/evaluate, diagnose or provide treatment only for those problems or issues that are within the reasonable boundaries of our competence.
8. Establish and maintain appropriate professional relationship boundaries. We will make every effort to be transparent with congregations and other public constituencies about the boundaries we hold.
9. Remain abreast of and comply with appropriate regulatory statutes that govern our psychotherapy and spiritual care activities and any state licenses we may hold. Should clients be in a different state than the individual member, we will comply with regulatory statutes in that state as well. Whenever the ACPE Code differs with legal mandates, psychotherapy/spiritual care licensure laws, or with ecclesiastical policies, the more stringent of the two applies.
10. Promote racial justice and develop multicultural competence as part of our practice.
As Psychotherapist and Practitioner members of ACPE, we are respectful of the various theologies, traditions, and values of our faith communities, and we are committed to the dignity and worth of each individual. We are dedicated to advancing the welfare of those who seek our assistance and to the maintenance of high standards of professional conduct and competence. As psychotherapists, pastoral counselors, and spiritual care providers, we are accountable for our work regardless of our professional functions, the settings in which we work, or the populations which we serve. This accountability is expressed in our conduct of relationships with clients, colleagues, students, our faith communities, and through the acceptance and practice of the principles and procedures of these Ethical Guidelines.
As members of ACPE, we recognize our responsibility to:
1. Affirm the importance of being both spiritually grounded and psychologically informed.
2. Maintain responsible association with the faith group with which we identify and in which we may have ecclesiastical standing.
3. Avoid discriminating against or refusing employment, educational opportunity, or professional assistance to anyone on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, health status, age, disabilities, or national origin; provided that nothing herein shall limit a member from utilizing religious requirements or exercising a religious preference in employment decisions.
4. Stay current with research that affects our understanding of clinical issues and the conduct of our practice. We agree to continuing education and professional growth including supervision, consultation, and active participation in the meetings and affairs of the Association.
5. Seek out and engage in collegial relationships, recognizing that isolation can lead to a loss of perspective and judgment.
6. Manage our personal lives in a healthful fashion and to seek appropriate assistance for our own personal problems or conflicts.
7. Assess/evaluate, diagnose or provide treatment only for those problems or issues that are within the reasonable boundaries of our competence.
8. Establish and maintain appropriate professional relationship boundaries. We will make every effort to be transparent with congregations and other public constituencies about the boundaries we hold.
9. Remain abreast of and comply with appropriate regulatory statutes that govern our psychotherapy and spiritual care activities and any state licenses we may hold. Should clients be in a different state than the individual member, we will comply with regulatory statutes in that state as well. Whenever the ACPE Code differs with legal mandates, psychotherapy/spiritual care licensure laws, or with ecclesiastical policies, the more stringent of the two applies.
10. Promote racial justice and develop multicultural competence as part of our practice.
