Why Weimar University Offers a Licensed Counseling Program
And why it matters more than ever
The need for mental health counselors has never been greater. Increased awareness, reduced stigma, and increasing incidence of mental illness have created demand that the current workforce cannot meet. More than 122 million Americans live in Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas, and by 2037, the Health Resources and Services Administration projects shortages of nearly 88,000 mental health counselors and 114,000 addiction counselors.³ At the same time, a quieter but equally important question has emerged: who is shaping the worldview of those providing care?
Therapy is not neutral. Every counselor brings a framework about identity, purpose, suffering, morality, and healing. Whether acknowledged or not, these beliefs shape how clients are understood and guided. That reality is exactly why Weimar University made a deliberate decision — to develop a licensed, graduate-level counseling program that is both clinically rigorous and deeply rooted in a biblical and distinctly Adventist understanding of healing.
The Myth of “Value-Neutral” Counseling
Modern mental health training often presents itself as objective and evidence-based. In many ways, it is. But beneath the clinical language are deeper assumptions: What defines a healthy identity? What is the source of human brokenness? What does healing ultimately look like? These are philosophical questions with spiritual implications.
When these questions are approached without reference to faith, a worldview is still being applied — it is simply one that often goes unspoken. Many faith-oriented clients feel that tension. They may enter therapy seeking help but encounter frameworks that sideline or reinterpret their beliefs. This tension is well-documented in the scholarly literature on faith and psychology. In Psychology and Christianity: Five Views — a standard textbook in Christian psychology programs — contributors including Stanton L. Jones (Wheaton College) and Eric L. Johnson argue that secular psychology operates from philosophical assumptions about human nature that are not value-neutral, and that Christians engaged in counseling must critically examine those assumptions rather than absorb them uncritically.¹
A Restoration Model of Care
Weimar is currently one of the only Christian universities in North America, across denominations, whose counseling program explicitly prepares students to navigate LGBTQ-related questions within a biblical framework.
Weimar’s approach is shaped by a conviction at the heart of the Seventh-day Adventist tradition: healing is restorative and whole-person in nature. This perspective has long guided Adventist healthcare and education — care for the body, renewal of the mind, restoration of the spiritual life. Or, as Weimar often expresses it in its institutional mission language: “Healing a hurting world.”
This framework recognizes that mental health is deeply connected to physical health, relationships, and spiritual life. Within the Adventist tradition, medical missionary work has always focused on meeting people at their point of need and walking with them toward wholeness. Today, one of the greatest areas of need is mental and emotional health. According to the CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, depression prevalence among U.S. adolescents and adults rose from 8.2% to 13.1% between 2013 and 2023 — a 60% increase over a single decade.² Anxiety, trauma, identity confusion, and isolation are equally widespread challenges. In this context, counseling becomes a direct extension of that missionary calling, applying the same commitment to healing to the inner life.
Fully Licensed. Fully Grounded.
The Master’s program in Counseling Psychology and Wellness is designed to meet state licensure requirements while remaining anchored in a biblical worldview. Students receive rigorous academic and clinical training, supervised counseling experience with real clients, preparation for professional licensure, and formation in a Christ-centered model of care. This integration reflects a belief that professional standards and spiritual conviction can operate together in a coherent and effective way.
One of the most distinctive aspects of the program is its willingness to engage complex and sensitive issues directly. Weimar is currently one of the only Christian universities in North America, across denominations, whose counseling program explicitly prepares students to navigate LGBTQ-related questions within a biblical framework. Students are trained to engage every individual with dignity and respect, understand the psychological and emotional realities people face, and provide care that is both clinically competent and spiritually grounded.
Why This Matters Now
Mental health needs are increasing. Cultural definitions of identity are shifting. Many people are searching for meaning alongside relief from distress. In this environment, the role of the counselor carries significant influence — counselors help shape how individuals understand themselves, their experiences, and their future. The underlying worldview guiding that process matters.
Weimar University’s licensed counseling program exists to develop counselors who are clinically trained, professionally licensed, rooted in Scripture, and prepared to engage complex human questions with both conviction and care. At its core, this work aligns with a larger calling: the restoration of lives, the healing of hearts, and participation in the mission of healing a hurting world.
Learn more about Weimar University’s Master of Arts in Psychology & Wellness program.
References
¹ Johnson, E. L. (Ed.). (2010). Psychology and Christianity: Five Views (2nd ed.). InterVarsity Press. Contributors include Stanton L. Jones, David G. Myers, Robert C. Roberts, P. J. Watson, John H. Coe, Todd W. Hall, and David A. Powlison.
² Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. (2024). Depression prevalence in adolescents and adults: United States, August 2021–August 2023 (NCHS Data Brief No. 527). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db527.htm
³ National Council for Mental Wellbeing. (2023). Behavioral health workforce under pressure: Preparing today for tomorrow. Data sourced from Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/behavioral-health-workforce-under-pressure-preparing-today-tomorrow/