COURSE INFORMATION
This course is designed to teach the student Meditation practices with a Christian focus, based on Eastern applications. The Christian Counselor is a source of spirituality for his or her clients. He does not only advise, heal, and guide, but enriches the soul he counsels. SC 605 covers the supplying source for this spiritual spring which is prayer. In particular, the course delves into Christian Meditative prayer. It primarily utilizes Fr. Keating’s book on centering prayer, “Open Mind, Open Heart”. Keating mixes many of the Eastern traditions of meditation with Christian notions in developing a deep prayer life for Christians that goes beyond the mere vocal prayers of the Church. In addition to this, the course also studies various Christian mystics, their works, and their meditations. Through this brief run through history, you will enrich your knowledge of the mystics and the saints but also become more familiar with their story, their writings, and their meditations.
Course Code: CODE SC 605.
Contact hours of continuing education = 50.
Note: Students in the Christian Spiritual Counseling program, may elect to take this course in place of SC 600: Contemplative Prayer & Meditation. This course is based on eastern religious traditions and applications. This course may also be taken by those who are currently certified by the AIHCP, Inc. in Meditation Instructor certification and the Spiritual Counseling certification (without Christian focus).
Instructor/Course Author: Mark Moran, M.A.
Link to Resume: Resume
TEXTBOOKS: There are two (2) required textbook for this course.
Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel by Thomas Keating. Continuum International Publishing Group Inc., 1986. ISBN: 0-8264-0696-3
Link to Purchase on Amazon.com: click here
Christian Mystics: Their Lives and Legacies throughout the Ages. By Ursula King. Hidden Springs, 2001. ISBN # 1-58768-012-2
Link to Purchase on Amazon.com: click here
TIME FRAME: You are allotted two years from the date of enrollment, to complete this course. There are no set time-frames, other than the two year allotted time. If you do not complete the course within the two-year time-frame, you will be removed from the course and an “incomplete” will be recorded for you in our records. Also, if you would like to complete the course after this two-year expiration time, you would need to register and pay the course tuition fee again.
GRADING: You must achieve a passing score of at least 70% to complete this course and receive the 50 hours of awarded continuing education credit. There are no letter grades assigned. You will receive notice of your total % score. Those who score below the minimum of 70% will be contacted by AIHCP and will be permitted one more attempt to retake the online examination.
BOARD APPROVALS: The American Institute of Health Care Professionals (The Provider) is approved by the California Board of Registered Nurses, Provider number # CEP 15595 for 50 Contact Hours. Access information
The following CE Courses have provider approvals: The American Institute of Health Care Professionals, Inc. is an Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Florida State Board of Nursing Provider # 50-11975.
OTHER STATE BOARDS OF NURSING
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Arkansas Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Georgia Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the South Carolina Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Professional Registered Nurses. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Kentucky Board of Nursing CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the New Mexico Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
Course Refund & AIHCP Policies: access here
ONLINE CLASSROOM RESOURCES AND TOOLS
- Examination Access: there is link to take you right to the online examination program where you can print out your examination and work with it. All examinations are formatted as “open book” tests. When you are ready, you can access the exam program at anytime and click in your responses to the questions. Full information is provided in the online classrooms.
- Student Resource Center: there is a link for access to a web page “Student Resource Center.” The Resource Center provides for easy access to all of our policies/procedures and additional information regarding applying for certification. We also have many links to many outside reference sites, such as online libraries that you may freely access.
- Online Evaluation: there is a link in the classroom where you may access the course evaluation. All students completing a course, must, without exception, complete the course evaluation.
- Faculty Access Information: you will have access to your instructor’s online resume/biography, as well as your instructor’s specific contact information.
- Additional Learning Materials: some faculty have prepared additional “readings” and /or brief lecture notes to enhance your experience. All of these are available in the online classrooms.
COURSE OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
- To understand the nature of Contemplative Prayer
- To identify the key steps in Centering prayer and apply them
- To utilize the practices of prayer into daily life
- To share these practices with future students or clients
- To possess a summary knowledge of Christian Mysticism
- To compare and contrast different mystics and their teachings
- To demonstrate knowledge of a particular mystic that relates to their spirituality
- To choose a spiritual paradigm of prayer that best fits your spiritual needs
- To enhance the overall spirituality of the counselor for counseling purposes
COURSE CONTENT:
A brief abstract of content:
- Dimensions of Contemplative Prayer
- First Steps in Centering Prayer
- The Sacred Word as Symbol
- The Wanderings of Imagination
- The Birth of Spiritual Attentiveness
- More Subtle Kinds of Thoughts
- Unloading the Subconscious
- An Intensive Centering Prayer Retreat
- Summary of the Centering Prayer Method
- What Centering Prayer is Not
- An Overview of Contemplative Prayer in the Christian Tradition
- Guidelines for Christian Life, Growth, and Transformation
- Practices that Help to Translate the Effects of Centering Prayer in Daily Life
- The Active Prayer Sentence
- The Weekly Support Group
- The Method of Centering Prayer
- Contemplative Outreach
- Background and Themes of Christian Mysticism
- Early Christian Mystics