Today, Chris Green officially became a Board-Certified Master Mental Health Coach (BCMMHC) upon completion of the mental health specialization program: Crisis Response and Trauma Care, administered by the American Association of Christian Counselors through Light University.
“Many of our religious and civic leaders have been misinformed and still approach this issue from ignorance, stigma, fear, and very bad theology,” Chris explains.
Many still believe that all people need to do is just quote a scripture, say a prayer, and God will take care of the mental health issue by injecting peace into their minds. But God says through Biblical text, that His people perish because of the lack of knowledge. In this aspect of our human experience, we suffer from debilitating ignorance.
In response to this errant mindset and theology, we just wanted to get educated, trained and empowered to address this crisis by learning from other, more knowledgeable and experienced Christian organizations and institutions who bring a balanced and holistic approach to helping individuals and families who are struggling with mental health challenges. We wanted to immerse ourselves in proper education, so that we could better understand the mental health crisis in our own families and communities."
This specialization program in Crisis Response and Trauma Care involved 24 hours of training and exams that prepares leaders to come alongside of those who are hurting, and to help the interventionist properly and adequately respond when a traumatic event happens. The good news is that God is always with us in our trouble, and He has no greater plan than to work through His people as a conduit, to provide a "ministry of presence" that speaks to people in crisis, that God will make a way.
This specialization course was preceded by a 41-hour rigorous training program that included:
1.) First, the completion of a 14-session course called Foundations of Mental Health Coaching - This introductory course was designed to provide students with an orientation to the field of mental health coaching. Topics covered included the role and scope of mental health coaching within the local church, ethical guidelines and professional standards in coaching, crisis intervention techniques, and the integration of faith and biblical wisdom in coaching.
2.) Next, the completion of a 14-session course called Mental Health Coaching Skills -The purpose of this course was to provide students with the fundamental theories and skills of Christ-centered mental health coaching. Key elements of the coaching process, included methods of change, listening, effective communication, giving hope, operating small groups, and counseling theory.
3.) And finally, the completion of a 13-session course called Mental and Behavioral Health Disorders - This course introduced students to the fundamentals of mental and behavioral health disorders. Particular emphasis was placed on factors that cause mental disorders, as well as conventional treatments. Conditions discussed included addiction, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, eating disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
As a Board Certified Master Mental Health Coach, credentialed by the International Board of Christian Care (IBCC), Chris has earned a voluntary global credential that trains and charges its recipients to maintain the highest clinical, ethical and biblical standards of practice.
“I'm very pleased to have earned this credential," Chris concluded. “Now my wife (Carol) and I are better prepared to assist people through our coaching business and ministry. We're also able to become a more successful connection and liaison between those who need help, and the very capable mental health professionals in our community. We are part of an army of mental health coaches that are being trained and deployed across the United States. It's a new day for those who have been suffering in silence in our families, neighborhoods, church pews, classrooms and office cubicles."
Chris and Carol Green are the creators of the CARE-Ready Life Coaching® model of inspiration, education and certification, and the founders of the STEP Forward Life Institute™, an online community service preparatory platform. Through their business and school, they empower people to become the change they want to see, and to become the kind and caring light this world so desperately needs.
