Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling

Types of Degrees Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many clinical pastoral counseling/patient counseling graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	160
Graduate Certificate	13
Bachelor’s Degree	3
Doctor’s Degree	1

What Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to clinical pastoral counseling/patient counseling and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling Majors

Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

Skills for Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling Majors

clinical pastoral counseling/patient counseling majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling Majors

As a clinical pastoral counseling/patient counseling major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling Major?

People with a clinical pastoral counseling/patient counseling degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Clergy	8.2%	$48,990
Counselors	14.2%	$42,130
Marriage and Family Therapists	23.4%	$50,090
Mental Health Counselors	23.1%	NA
Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors	23.2%	NA

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling?

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of clinical pastoral counseling/patient counseling majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	1
White	0
International Students	1
Other Races/Ethnicities	0

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling. About 33.3% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling

Some careers associated with clinical pastoral counseling/patient counseling require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for clinical pastoral counseling/patient counseling careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.2%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	0.5%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	0.6%
Some College Courses	2.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	5.1%
Bachelor’s Degree	21.6%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	4.0%
Master’s Degree	52.7%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	7.0%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	5.7%
Doctoral Degree	1.1%

Online Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	0	0
Bachelor’s Degree	8	3
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	19	2
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to clinical pastoral counseling/patient counseling.

Major	Number of Grads
Mental Health Counseling/Counselor	9,563
Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling	5,724
Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling	3,908
Other Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions	3,475
Clinical/Medical Social Work	3,189
Psychiatric/Mental Health Services Technician	2,648
Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling	2,378
Genetic Counseling/Counselor	361
Trauma Counseling	108
Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy	12
Medical Family Therapy/Therapist	5
Hospice and Palliative Care	2

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.