Cognitive Biblical Therapy Coursework

Cognitive Biblical Therapy Coursework is a systematic training program of a Scripture-based counseling methodology developed by Dr. Daniel D. Wilkinson through his doctoral research at Trinity College and Seminary. It is founded on the premise that the Bible is the inerrant, God-breathed Word of God and that within its sixty-six books exists God's own design for addressing the problems of the human mind, heart and soul.

The training is designed to equip both professionals and lay counselors to move clients from symptomatic dysfunction with emotional distress towards an awareness of God's grace in their present condition into a five-phase process towards a practical applied faith.

CBT teaches that the lack or distortion of an understanding of God's love (Agape love) creates fear, which in turn produces frustration, anger, depression, and many other destructive emotions and behaviors. The entire methodology is built around bringing a client's understanding of love, and their relationships to God, self, and others, into alignment with the Biblical standard found primarily in 1 Corinthians 13:4–8a.

In the initial "Analysis Phase," Isaiah 1:18 is God's call for the client: "Come now, and let us reason together," says the Lord.

CBT coursework is designed for a wide range of individuals practicing counseling, such as university/graduate students, pastors, professional counselors and lay counselors. While prior coursework in psychology is helpful for understanding human behavior and relating to other professionals, it is not an absolute prerequisite for learning CBT.

The methodology teaches a step-by-step process that can be learned by anyone called to a counseling ministry, whether in a church setting, private practice, or professional clinic.

1. 1 Analysis — Gathering data about the client through intake forms, dialogue, and questionnaires to understand the presenting problem and the client's relationship to God.
2. 2 Biblical Norms — Identifying the scriptural standard (particularly Agape love from 1 Corinthians 13) and contrasting it with the client's current attitudes and behaviors.
3. 3 Ownership — Confronting the client with their part in the problem and calling them to a voluntary decision to submit to God (James 4:7–10).
4. 4 Application — Moving the client into the actual, practical application of Biblical truth to their presenting issues — reconciliation, confrontation, rehabilitation, and real-world change.
5. 5 Maturity — Maintaining counseling as the client develops a daily, ongoing relationship with God and the practical skills to maintain spiritual and behavioral growth (1 Thessalonians 5:23–24).

Training for secular counseling draws on humanistic theories, such as Beck, Rogers, Siegel, Shapiro and others, where prayer and Scripture are seldom, if ever, used. Christian integrationists do their best to blend secular theory with Biblical concepts, but the integrity of the result depends heavily on the individual counselor's spiritual maturity and convictions.

CBT is distinct in that it does not integrate secular theory with Scripture, drawing the entire methodology from Scripture itself. Coursework students will find CBT using the language common to psychology for consistency in labeling behavioral patterns, but the source of truth and the direction of therapy come solely from God's Word and the active guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The CBT program consists of six courses, designed to be completed sequentially. Each course includes a written description of its purpose, goal, and objectives. The material is hosted on the thebccm.com website platform, digitally accessed through written texts, study tools and interactive questions and quizzes.

The content is presented so the student can take notes on either the digital notepad or their own hard copy notes. Courses progress from foundational (initial session and overview) to applied (case studies and practicum) for a certificate or selected individually as desired.

Each course chapter includes a quiz covering the major content of that chapter. A passing score of 75% or higher is required to unlock the next chapter. Throughout the written materials, interactive questions and answers help the student understand the material and prepare for each chapter quiz.

This ensures that students have a working command of each phase of the methodology before building on it.

Yes. The CBT coursework is designed as an independent study process, allowing students to move through the material at their own pace, one course at a time. This structure was intentionally developed to fit into the busy schedules of working counselors, students, pastors and ministry leaders.

Each course builds on the previous one, so sequential completion is required, but there is no fixed timeline or semester schedule imposed on the student.

Course 1: Introduction to the Methodology of Cognitive Biblical Therapy guides the student through conducting an initial counseling session. Topics include: how to introduce CBT to a client, how to assess the presenting problem, how to evaluate the client's relationship to God, how to present a counseling plan and fee structure, how to share your personal testimony as a counselor, and how to close the session in prayer.

Upon completion, students will be able to lead a client effectively through an initial session, provide the necessary intake forms, and begin establishing the counseling relationship with credibility, compassion, and Biblical grounding.

Course 2: Fundamentals of Data Collection for Cognitive Biblical Therapy takes the student more deeply into the structure and principles behind CBT. Students learn how the Agape Love Analysis Questionnaire was developed, how to administer and score it, and how the Individual Data Inventory (IDI) and Initial Session Information (ISI) data collection tools work together.

Data collection is central to CBT because it provides the counselor with an accurate "profile" of the client's current understanding of love and their relationship to God — the foundation from which all subsequent counseling phases are built.

Course 3: Analysis and Application of Cognitive Biblical Therapy identifies four human personality types that emerge from the patterns of scores on the Agape Love Analysis Questionnaire. Three distinct types reflect varying degrees of spiritual and relational brokenness. A fourth type represents the committed Christian who genuinely wants to grow in Agape love but lacks practical skills for doing so.

Understanding these personality types helps the counselor tailor the application of CBT to the individual, recognizing how different personalities respond to confrontation, grace, and spiritual direction. Course 3 also addresses when to refer a client for medical, psychological, or psychiatric evaluation, and how early life experiences and childhood concepts of God can affect the counseling process.

Course 4: Application of Cognitive Biblical Therapy to Specific Problems presents twenty-two case studies (the online course tool covers thirty) representing a wide range of presenting problems, including marital conflict, sexual or physical abuse, eating disorders, and more. Each case includes a client score sheet, a composite graph, and a text section covering symptoms and treatment.

Think of it as a library or reference catalog — it teaches students what types of questionnaire scores to look for, how different personality types typically respond to a given situation, and how to apply CBT (along with any accompanying procedures such as Biblical separation) to specific problems. By the end of Course 4, students will be able to conduct an initial session, analyze questionnaire results, identify personality types, and devise a treatment plan.

The Agape Love Analysis Questionnaire is the primary assessment tool of CBT. It was developed from fifteen Word Studies drawn from 1 Corinthians 13:4–8a — the passage that defines Agape love. Each of the fifteen attributes of Agape love (patience, kindness, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, etc.) was studied using Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and Vine's Expository Dictionaries of both Old and New Testament Words, yielding rich, expanded definitions rooted in the original Greek and Hebrew.

Each Word Study was then broken into five distinct concepts, producing five questions per attribute — seventy-five questions in total — each scored on a five-level Likert scale (Almost Always through Almost Never).

Each of the seventy-five questions is scored from 1 to 5, with the score of 5 assigned to the answer that most closely parallels the Biblical standard. For example, a question about rudeness might ask whether a client would rather remain wrong than admit a mistake to their spouse. The most Biblical answer — "Almost Never" — receives a score of 5.

Scores across each of the fifteen categories are totaled and displayed visually on a graph, creating a "profile" of the client's current understanding of Agape love contrasted against the Biblical norm. High points on the graph indicate areas of strength; low points identify where the client's understanding and behavior diverge most from God's standard, pointing toward the counseling focus.

Students will discover a Biblical norm is the scriptural standard for a specific attribute of Agape love — for example, the norm that "love is not rude" (1 Corinthians 13:5). Biblical norms serve as the target behaviors against which the client's current attitudes and actions are compared.

Once the Analysis phase has identified where a client falls short of these norms, the Biblical Norms phase presents those specific standards to the client, not as condemnation, but as clear, grace-based goals. This gives the counseling process both objectivity (rooted in Scripture rather than the counselor's opinion) and practicality (specific, measurable behavioral contrasts the client can understand and work toward).

Yes. While the initial research and questionnaire development centered on Agape love and relational dynamics (particularly marriage), the methodology is explicitly designed to be expandable. The Word Study and questionnaire development process can be applied to any scriptural concept relevant to a presenting problem, such as anxiety, anger, depression, forgiveness, grief, extended family, parenting, work relationships, abuse, eating disorders, alcohol and substance abuse and others.

In fact, once students complete Course 4, Dr. Wilkinson encourages them to develop their own Word Studies and questionnaires as the Holy Spirit directs, contributing new tools to the growing body of knowledge within CBT.

CBT is not a technique to be mechanically applied; it is a Spirit-dependent process, using God's infallible Word. The counselor relies on the Holy Spirit for discernment in every session, because human personalities are complex, life situations are difficult, and the spiritual wounds people carry can run very deep.

John 14:15–18 is the scriptural basis for this: Jesus promised to send the Spirit of Truth to live in and with believers, providing wisdom, comfort, and guidance. For the client, the counseling process teaches them to build a conversational, practical relationship with God — to identify emotions, face God's truth in their realities, and communicate honestly with God and others — so that the Holy Spirit becomes their ongoing counselor long after formal sessions end.

CBT is specifically designed not to create long-term dependency on the counselor. Most cases resolve in 8 to 12 sessions. The goal is to equip clients with a set of practical, transferable spiritual skills — a daily working relationship with God, an understanding of Agape love, and the ability to identify emotions, face facts, and communicate honestly — that allows them to continue growing independently after counseling ends.

Maintenance sessions may occasionally be needed in extreme situations, but ongoing counselor dependency is contrary to both the design and the spirit of CBT.

CBT coursework provides thorough training in a scripturally-grounded counseling methodology, but it is not itself a state licensure program. State licensure requirements vary by state and typically require specific academic degrees, supervised clinical hours, and passing a licensing examination.

The CBT curriculum addresses the licensure question and discusses the various practice settings available to counselors — private practice in a church or parachurch organization, on a church staff or at a clinic — and what each role requires legally and professionally. Some students pursuing state licensure may be able to integrate CBT supervision hours into their overall requirements. The sixth course (practicum) specifically addresses supervised client experience, which is relevant to this process.

Course 6 is a supervised practicum designed to give students hands-on, real-client counseling experience under qualified supervision. Online therapy experiences and supervision can be used for students seeking to observe CBT in practice. Another option, for those in a practicum setting, is to submit online counseling sessions for review and feedback.

The form the practicum takes is flexible and adapted to each student's individual circumstances, including those pursuing state licensure who may integrate it into a two-year supervision requirement.