Graduate Diploma: Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy
The Graduate 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.
Program Details
Take a deeper look at what to expect from this program, how it helps prepare you for your future career, and steps to take before applying.
What to Expect
This diploma is intended for practicing professionals who are looking for further educational opportunities to expand their knowledge of research and best practices in spiritual care and psychotherapy.
Without additional graduate level education, this diploma will not qualify a student to apply for professional certification or become a member of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario. The Graduate Diploma cannot be used as a pathway into any of our Masters programs. Students who are interested in entering the field of Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy should make an application directly to the Master of Arts in Theology: Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy.
Before You Apply
Before submitting an application, you must connect with us at Luther. Please email martin@luther.wlu.ca with the following information:
- Why you are interested in taking courses at Luther
- Which term you are planning to apply for (Fall, Winter or Spring)
- Which 6 courses you are planning to take
- Please refer to our Graduate Course Offerings
An Academic Advisor will confirm whether or not the courses are available, and advise you on moving forward with the application.
Courses
You will take six counselling courses from our current Spiritual Care and Psychotherapy course offerings.
Note that Graduate Diploma students are not eligible to take TH664L Pre-Practicum, TH664M Practicum I or TH664Q Practicum II.
Examples of courses offered include:
- TH663C Cognitive and Dialectic Behaviour Therapy
- TH663M Family Therapy Overview
- TH663W Couple Therapy: Intervention
- TH663X Addiction, Mental Health and Spirituality: Clinical Approaches
- TH664D Postmodern Family Therapy
- TH663A Grief
- TH663F Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy
- TH664P Mindfulness and Psychotherapy
Admissions
- Start: Fall (September), Winter (January) or Spring (May)
- Format: Part-time, In-person
- Duration: 1 year
Applicants are required to hold an Honours (4 year) Bachelor's degree from social sciences or a related field, with a minimum GPA of a B.
The application process and the uploading of supplemental documentation, which includes references, typically takes two weeks. To avoid disappointment, please apply early.
Applications that are missing documents are the Supplemental Documentation due date will be considered incomplete and will not be reviewed.
Fall
- Domestic applications due as per Step 2: July 15
- International applications due as per Step 2: March 30
- Target for decisions on applications as per Step 3: End of July
Winter
- Domestic applications due as per Step 2: Nov. 15
- International applications due as per Step 2: Aug. 30
- Target for decisions on applications as per Step 3: End of Nov.
Spring
About three to five days 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 login and upload the additional required documents to Laurier's Online Registration and Information System (LORIS).
If you have questions or concerns about any of the required supplemental documents, please review our FAQ.
Upload the following documents to your application on LORIS:
- Application Summary Form
- This PDF is generated after you complete your OUAC application (log back in to OUAC to retrieve it).
- Digital Unofficial Transcripts
- Transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work from universities as well as any degrees or diplomas from colleges, including those at which you were enrolled but did not complete a program. This includes institutions that may appear as transfer credits or exchange programs on your degree transcripts. You must submit a full and complete postsecondary academic history.
- Unofficial transcripts are accepted for the application.
- All transcripts must be dated as having been issued/printed within the last 6 months. You may need to contact your previous school(s) to request updated copies.
- Ensure that each transcript indicates all courses, grades, credit hours, awarding of degree/diploma/degree certificate (if applicable), your full name, student ID number, and full name of the institution.
- Include the grading scale/legend as part of your transcript upload.
- Transcripts must be uploaded as one .pdf file per institution attended.
- Transcripts must be in the original language and include a certified translation if the transcript is not in English.
- A completed statement of intent.
- A resume of your academic and relevant work experience. Include a history of your publication and scholarly paper activity if applicable, and any other information you feel will interest the admissions committee.
- Completed reference forms. Two academic or professional references are required.
- Reference forms are electronically submitted to Laurier by the referee and do not need to be uploaded.
- Academic references must be from an instructor or supervisor you had at a university.
- Professional references must be from someone who has supervised you at a work or volunteer position.
- We do not accept references from friends or relatives.
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.
Please review the Graduate Admissions Toolkit in detail before applying. This resource outlines everything you need to know about: application fees; how to log into LORIS; how to upload the documents for your application; and how to accept an offer if you are admitted to the program.
Step 1: Apply Through OUAC
- Review Step 1 of the Graduate Admissions Toolkit
- Fill out the OUAC application
*Note: When applying on OUAC, ensure that you are selecting the Graduate Diploma option, and not the Masters option. You are not permitted to change the program you've applied to after submitting your application.
Step 2: Submitting Documentation
All supplemental documents as noted in the Application Checklist must be uploaded and submitted by the Supplemental Documentation due date.
- Once you have uploaded your documents, please use the "Review" to download a copy of your application and check your documents.
- Ensure your transcripts are legible, documents are facing the right direction, scrutinize for typos, etc.
- Fix and re-upload and document corrections.
- When you are sure everything is correct and you are satisfied with your submission, click on "Submit my application." After this point, changes cannot be made to your application.
- We encourage you to ask your referees to submit by the Step 2 Supplemental Documentation due date. However, we will honour the full 14 days from the date they received the email request to submit the online reference without penalty to the applicant.
- Once your application is submitted, the application is received in real-time and no further confirmation of receipt of application is provided.
- No further updates will be provided on the application until decisions are issued.
A list of required documents is listed in the Application Checklist below. Please visit our Graduate Admissions Toolkit for more information about applying, specific information on supplemental documents, troubleshooting, etc.
Next Steps
Have Questions About the Program?
Explore our Frequently Asked Questions to find quick, clear answers about life at Luther, from academics to admissions. You can also connect with an Academic Advisor by emailing martin@luther.wlu.ca for questions regarding this program.
Tuition and Fees
For information about tuition and fees, please see the Tuition Fees Breakdown.
Scholarships and Bursaries
Full-time students, in addition to being eligible for financial assistance from Laurier, may be eligible for the following bursaries from Luther.
For information about scholarships and bursaries, please see our Financial Resources.
You Belong Here
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