Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy (Graduate Diploma)
The diploma in Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy will build on your previous education and experience to teach you a unique form of therapy that utilizes spiritual and psychological understandings of healing and growth. Whether you want to become a therapist or expand your knowledge of research and best practices in spiritual care and psychotherapy, this diploma will help you meet your professional and career goals.
- Earn a postgraduate diploma from Martin Luther University College conferred by Wilfrid Laurier University.
- All courses within the diploma are elective courses to meet your professional needs and research interests.
This diploma is intended for practicing professionals who are looking for further educational opportunities. The diploma without additional graduate level education will not qualify a student to apply for professional certification or become a member of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario. Students who are interested in entering the field of Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy should make an application directly to the Master of Arts (MA) in Theology: Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy.
- Can be completed as a full- or part-time student in a minimum of one year and a maximum of two years.
- Consists of six half-credit counselling courses that can be taken from the current Martin Luther University College course offerings or from other faculties at Laurier (with permission from the instructor).
- All courses within the diploma are elective courses, allowing the greatest degree of flexibility for course selection to meet your needs.
You'll take six counselling courses from the current Martin Luther University College course offerings, including courses in spiritual care, family and couples therapy, addictions, and child and adolescent psychotherapy.
Please note that TH664M "Practicum" and TH664L "Pre-Practicum" courses can not be taken by GDip students.
This diploma is intended for practicing professionals who are looking for further educational opportunities. If you are new to the field of psychotherapy, please consider the MA in Theology: Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy program instead.
- An undergraduate degree in the social sciences (e.g. psychology, sociology, anthropology).
- A minimum B average over the last two years of full-time undergraduate study.
- Applications are reviewed by the graduate program committee, which considers all prior university grades, a statement of research interests and letters of reference.
- Relevant volunteer or professional experience in the area of human services is recommended.
Application Deadline
Domestic applicants: July 15 for a fall term start, November 15 for a winter term start, and March 15 for a spring term start.
International applicants: March 30 for a fall term start, August 30 for a winter term start, and December 5 for spring term start.
Visit our Graduate Admissions Toolkit for more information about applying.
Application Checklist
After you have submitted your OUAC application, paid the non-refundable application fee, and Laurier has received your application, you'll receive an email from gradadmissions@wlu.ca advising you to upload the additional required documentation to Laurier’s Online Registration & Information System (LORIS).
An application for admission to our graduate diploma in Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy program must include:
- The Application Summary, which is generated after you complete your OUAC application (log back in to OUAC to retrieve it).
- Transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work. Applicants must upload a digital unofficial copy of each transcript (including graduation certificates where applicable) for every postsecondary educational institution (college or university) they have attended, including those at which a degree or diploma was not completed.
- A completed statement of intent.
- A resume of your academic and work experience. Include a history of your publication and scholarly paper activity and any other information you feel will interest the admissions committee.
- Completed two reference forms. Two academic reference letters are required. If you are no longer a student or have been out of school for a few years, one of the reference letters or both of them could be professional reference letters instead. Please note that the academic referee must be your instructor or supervisor at university and the professional referee must be someone who has supervised you at work or a volunteer position. It cannot be a friend or a relative. Note: Reference forms are electronically submitted to Laurier by the referee and do not need to be uploaded.
Proficiency in written and spoken English is essential to graduate studies at Laurier. Applicants whose language of instruction during their previous postsecondary education was not in English must submit evidence of proficiency in English. If applicable, results from accepted testing services must be uploaded to LORIS.