The ambitious student who embarks on the voyage of learning the craft of psychospiritual transformational change is one that values the intersection between individual psyche, family systems, and the binding forces of the universe. The process of transformative change is something that is intrinsic to spirituality and nothing short of interacting with the divine. This professional certification brings the techniques and thoughtfulness of the Virginia Satir family therapy model into the hands of the next generation of therapists, counselors, spiritual care givers, companions and many others in the helping professions. Social workers world-wide have been blessed by Satir’s unique perspective and is often referred to as the “Mother of Family Therapy”. Sharon Loeschen a lifelong student of the Satir Model honors us by leading our way through the material with the depth of her 30 years of experience in social work and family systems. We couldn’t feel more blessed to be able to offer this professional certification to those willing to embark on this adventure with us.

The professional certification in Pediatric Chaplaincy targets these individuals who work with, our future, and our most precious of people – our infants, children, and adolescents.  The sacredness of working with this vulnerable population is one of the greatest callings that a human being can offer.  Connecting with the divine on sacred ground with the parents, and families of our children is the work of those special few.  This professional certification looks deeply at the spirituality that surrounds our younger population from a bio-psycho-socio-spiritual aspect.  Those who would benefit from this course series are chaplains, social workers, light workers, pastors, nurses, and many others who have a heart for connecting to the sacred in the midst of trauma. 

This professional certification in Hospice and Palliative Care is targeted at chaplains and will benefit many other people in the helping professions.  Social Workers with a spiritually informed practice, spiritually integrated psychotherapists, clinical pastoral education supervisors, nurses, doulas, soul companions, pastoral care providers, thanatologists, and clergy in general all are people who are working with those people who are in need of more focused and up to date theories, skills, and praxis in the areas of Hospice and Palliative Care.  If you work with individuals who are dying, focused on comfort care, quality of life, mitigating suffering, and managing their pain from a spiritual perspective, then this professional certification is for you.

This certification is designed for those students who are wanting a more informed approach to Adult Education pedagogy and andragogy.  One of the key things that spiritual directors, social workers, chaplains, nurses, spiritual coaches and others in the helping professions often do is work with adults.  There are also those in the education profession who hold K-12 teaching degrees who now find themselves teaching an older population.  This certification aims at bringing the most current theories of adult education into the hands of educators who want this information in order to do their particular job better.  This certification also explores the motivation and theory around the student who is engaged in learning the art of supervision with adults in Clinical Pastoral Education.  CPE supervisors are often steeped in theology, psychology, and social systems theory and would benefit from further insight into Transformational Learning, Experiential Learning, and the Clinical Method as it relates to chaplaincy and pastoral care.

The Spiritual Coaching Professional Certification provides students with the skill set and knowledge to serve as spiritual coaches to individuals seeking to explore deeper connections and to live more empowered and fulfilling lives.  Spiritual Coaching is a craft that brings a holistic element to healing and is client centered rather than problem centered.  This program establishes what spiritual coaching is as a discipline and how it works to effect positive change and forward movement for clients from a variety of spiritual backgrounds.  It’s aim is to provide a solid degree of understanding and capability in the coaching field by covering essential coaching skills and frameworks as well as assisting clients in aligning with Self and the divine.

Spiritual Coaches are often more open to interfaith, multifaith, and alternative path individuals and are prepared to sit with people where they are spiritually.  Individuals earning this certification will learn specific techniques and skills to support transformational shifts for the client.

The Thanatologist who is professionally certified has declared that she/he wants to learn a craft of helping others through the dying process. Thanatos literally comes from the Greek work for death or personification of death.  Death workers and doulas would benefit from this series of courses, as well as hospice and palliative care specialists to look at the discipline with brand new eyes for a greater audience.  Thanatology brings ritual, human pain and suffering, together with scientific study around transitions having to do with loss.  The thanatologists clientele would be those who may or may not be anchored in traditional religion yet simply want to look at with new eyes upon an age-old human process.

Some nurses will want to take their desire to be a Spiritually Integrated Nurse Practitioner to the level of achieving a Master’s degree.  Others will want to begin their journey with a Professional Certification Spiritual Care Nursing.  The good news is that we offer both options. Birthed from SCA’s relationship with the Westberg Institute, the SCA UTS has partnered with key experts in both the field of nursing and the field of spiritual care to bring to those who are interested in parish nursing, faith community nursing, or interfaith nursing, an intensive certification in the art of spiritual care from a nursing vantage point.  The Spiritual Care Nurse is someone who says, “yes” to seeing their patients from a holistic bio-psycho-socio-spiritual vantage point focusing their healing on the complete person.

There are some students who will want to get a Master’s of Divinity from UTS.  There are others who will want to simply get a Professional Certification in Worship Leadership.  This certification is transferable to the M.Div. curriculum.  It focuses on the art of putting together worship services, baptisms, weddings, communions, life transition services, funerals, dedications, and holy seasons.  It will have a brief overview of homiletics, hermeneutics, exegesis, Christology, and some of the key elements that a person who leads people in the liturgical movement of the sacred will want to know.   These students may be non-traditionalist, non-christian, Christian, Other, or Nones, and yet will be conducting services for the public, families, and individuals.

Those individuals who are studying the skill set that is directed at teaching and educating others in Clinical Pastoral Education will want to participate in the UTS Professional Certification in CPE Supervision.  Each of the 4 courses will focus on the very theoretical life-blood of the Supervisor.  Whether the student is a supervisor in training, or a supervisor educator fellow, or a candidate there will be specific theoretical elements that the would-be future supervisor will need to know at this point in their educational journey.  This certification program intends to assist them in just that.  It does not make someone a CPE Supervisor, but it does assist them in developing their own theoretical foundation for CPE Supervision.  What is your theory of education?  What is your theory of personality psychology?  What is your theory, philosophy, or theology of teaching?  How do you integrate these three seemingly diverse areas?  These are the educational building blocks of this series of courses.

The holistic model, social systems model, and family systems models have been the hallmarks of Social Work.  Most likely the social work practitioner has heard a myriad of times of the need for the integration of a bio-psycho-socio-spiritual ontology of the human being.  Who better to add the spiritual component to this holistic model then those who specialize in spiritual care?  This series of courses focuses on (1) the social worker as spiritual being, (2) spiritual assessment, (3) spirituality vs. religiosity.  (4) holy ground, sacred, divine, liturgy, and connectedness, (5) expanding our theological awareness of the other, (6) spiritual distress, (7) toxic beliefs vs. enhancement of coping skills.

The student who begins taking courses in Clinical Pastoral Psychotherapy is a student who has a primary interest in counseling from a PsychoSpiritual perspective.  This student might be an imam, a rabbi, pastor, priest, light worker, thanatologist, and a myriad of other titles and names of people who’s mission and calling is to assist others upon their spiritual journey.  Each of the courses offered in this certification program can be transferred into our Doctor of Theology in Clinical Pastoral Psychotherapy, and yet they do not have to.  For some people a professional certification is to submerse their intellect and praxis in this holy and sacred field.  Simply put, someone who practices Clinical Pastoral Psychotherapy wants to go to greater spiritual depths with the people that they assist in a spirituo-therapeutic way.