Equip partners with the Christian Counselling & Educational Foundation (CCEF) to provide biblical counselling courses in Malaysia at a discounted rate. These classes offer a biblical foundation for understanding God, understanding ourselves, and understanding others – a valuable tool for anyone involved in ministry or counselling.
About
is a Christian counselling and educational ministry located in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA partnering with Equip Gospel Ministries, to prepare Christians for works of ministry. CCEF offers online certificate courses in Biblical Counselling for anyone who wants to grow in biblical wisdom and be better equipped in ministry.
Who is it for?
Anyone who wants to be better equipped to minister to those around them. Current students include pastors, elders, youth workers, small group leaders, doctors, lay people who want to be better equipped to help others, those who will go on to be professional counsellors and many others.
A range of counselling subjects are offered including Dynamics of Biblical Change, Helping Relationships, Counselling in the Local Church, Marriage Counselling, Theology and Secular Psychology, Human Personality and Biblical Interpretation.
How does it work?
Discounted rate
Students living in Malaysia and Brunei are given a special discount of more than 80% off the USD price! The normal price would be USD650 for each subject. Equip and CCEF are offering the courses to students living in Malaysia and Brunei for RM500 per subject. Please note that registration fees may be revised on a termly basis due to fluctuations in the exchange rate. See “Course Fees” below for more details.
Course Learning
Each term after students registered with Equip, we will then submit all the registrations to CCEF for a final enrolment. Once CCEF has confirmed the registrations, students will then be given access to an online portal (usually given 2-3 weeks before the term begins).
The online portal is where students can watch recorded lectures, submit weekly assignments, get other reading materials, and participate in class community boards.
Each student will be assigned a Recitation Instructor by CCEF, who will be available through email to answer course related questions, provide feedbacks and grades on assignments.
There will be some required books, as according to each module, that need to be purchased separately. Credit students are required to submit weekly assignments, and complete a final exam/project at the end of the term.
Course Completion
Upon completion of 5-6 modules, students may request from CCEF to receive a certificate of completion.
If students are also doing Certificate in Theology courses, they may be eligible to receive the Equip Biblical Counselling Certificate/Diploma award. (Click here to find out more about this award program.)
Where do I start?
All students must start with Dynamics of Biblical Change (pre-requisite for all modules). It is a course about people. It is about how people change into the “image of Jesus Christ.” It helps to understand how lasting change begins in the heart, and is the result of understanding how the Gospel – Christ’s past, present, and future grace – applies to how we live our daily lives. The truths of Scripture provide life-giving answers to questions such as: What are you facing? What should you be like? Why do you do what you do? How do you change? How should you live now?
Helping Relationships is the other really foundational class, recommended to take second. Other subjects offered include Counseling in the Local Church, Biblical Interpretation, Counseling and Physiology, Marriage Counseling, and more. See the registration page for descriptions of the modules.
These and other classes are offered three times per year (January, May, and September). Equip registration closes approximately one month prior to the new term.
Course fees
All students who register through Equip will be eligible for the discounted rate of RM 500 per module (the discounted rate is eligible for those living in Malaysia and Brunei only). The registration fees may be revised on a termly basis due to fluctuations in the exchange rate. Students are not required to make any payment to CCEF directly at any point of time. Please contact ccef@equip.org.my if you are looking for scholarships/financial aid.
Equip-CCEF Fees
| Type | Credit | Audit |
| Tuition Fee (per module) | RM 500 | RM 500 |
| *Withdrawal Fee | RM 100 | RM 100 |
| **Switching Fee (credit to audit) | RM 100 | |
*If students wish to withdraw from the registered module, there will be a withdrawal fee charged to Equip, therefore, students are required to pay the withdrawal fee to Equip.
**If students wish to switch from credit to audit for the registered module, there will be a switching fee charged to Equip, therefore, students are required to pay the switching fee to Equip.
Required books
Each CCEF module has some required book readings where students need to source separately. All other required article readings will be provided by CCEF.
Purchase: Some titles are available to purchase on Equip online bookstore. You may also search in any other local Christian bookstores or online bookstores. Some books are also available in e-book format such as kindle.
Loan: As an alternative, you may loan the books from Equip library. Not all titles are available, books that are available in Equip library are linked below. If you are interested to loan, please see this page to learn more about Equip Library Membership, or contact ccef@equip.org.my if you need assistance.
The following required books list is provided by CCEF and is subject to change on their end. If this list differs from the final syllabus sent to you, please follow the CCEF syllabus as final. The syllabus typically is sent to students about 1 month before the term begins.
Dynamics of Biblical Change
Helping Relationships
Counseling in the Local Church
Human Personality
Biblical Interpretation
Counseling Problems and Procedures
- When God Weeps by Steve Estes and Joni Eareackson Tada, or a good book on suffering (see the “Suffering biblicaography” posted to Week 1 for some options)
- What Grieving People Wish You Knew About What Really Helps and What Really Hurts by Nancy Guthrie
- Crossroads: A Step-By-Step Guide Away From Addictions by Ed Welch (either facilitator or student version)
- Depression: Looking Up From the Stubborn Darkness by Ed Welch
- Running Scared: Fear, Worry and the God of Rest by Ed Welch
- Shame Interrupted by Ed Welch
- An Unquiet Mind by Kay Jamison
- Choose one: Washed and Waiting by Wesley Hill or Love Into Light by Peter Hubbard
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition [DSM-5], American Psychiatric Association (see relevant sections under Required Readings) **We do not require you to purchase this text, due to the high cost. Instead, please make every effort to secure this reading from the public library, or borrow a copy from a friend. If you have made every effort to locate the DSM-5 from a public source or a friend’s library and still cannot locate it, you may do an extensive search on the internet for the topics that require this text.
Theology & Secular Psychology
- The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies by Berenstain, Jan and Stan Berenstain. Toronto: Random House, 1988. (Children’s book. May be found at your local library or read aloud on YouTube)
- Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by Burns, David. New York: HarperCollins, 1980.
- Inside Out by Crabb, Larry. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2013.
- The Question of Lay Analysis by Freud, Sigmund. New York: W.W. Norton, 1990.
- Forgiveness: I Just Can’t Forgive Myself by Jones, Robert. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2000. [Minibook]
- Psychology & Christianity: Five Views by Myers, David G., Stanton L. Jones, Robert C. Roberts, P.J. Watson, John H. Coe, Todd W. Hall, and David Powlison. Edited by Eric Johnson. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2010.
- The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context by Powlison, David. Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2009.
Optional Purchase:
(Required portions are published in Canvas, thus purchase is optional)
Marriage Counseling
Counseling & Physiology
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, Text-Revision. American Psychiatric Association. [DSM-5]. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 2013, pp. 47-59, 123-188, 235-264. **(We do not require you to purchase this text, due to high cost. Instead, please make every effort to secure this reading from the public library or borrow a copy from a friend).
- Descriptions and Prescriptions: A Biblical Perspective on Psychiatric Diagnoses and Medications by Emlet, Michael R. Winston-Salem, NC: New Growth Press, 2017
- Darkness Is My Only Companion: A Christian Response to Mental Health Illness by Green-McCreight, Kathryn, revised ed. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2015.
- Same Lake, Different Boat: Coming Alongside People Touched by Disability by Hubach, Stephanie O. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishers, 2006.
- Collected Writings of John Murray. Vol. 2, Systematic Theology by Murray, John. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1977, pp 14-33.
*Indicates that you have a choice between these four books (Crimmins, Haddon, Billings or Mast); you are required to read only one of these.
- *Crimmins, Cathy. Where is the Mango Princess? New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000. ISBN 0-375-40491-0 (hardback) or 0-375-70442-6 (paperback). **Note: This book contains graphic language and sporadic sensuality. While these portions of the book are in keeping with a non-Christian memoir and are not gratuitous, this may factor into some students’ choice between this book and Haddon’s book.
- *Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. New York: Vintage Books, 2003.
- *Billings, J. Todd. Rejoicing in Lament: Wrestling with Incurable Cancer & Life in Christ. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2015.
- *Mast, Benjamin. Second Forgetting: Remembering the Power of the Gospel During Alzheimer’s Disease. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014.
Counseling Children and Adolescents
Counseling Observation (Emlet)
No books required. All other article readings will be provided to students in Canvas.
Counseling Abusive Marriages
- Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men by Bancroft, Lundy. Berkley Books, 2003.
- Is It My Fault?: Hope and Healing for Those Suffering Domestic Violence by Holcomb, Justin and Lindsey Holcomb. Moody Publishers, 2014.
- The Heart of Domestic Abuse: Gospel Solutions for Men Who Use Control and Violence in the Home by Moles, Chris. Focus Publishing, 2015.
- Domestic Abuse: Help for the Sufferer by Strickland, Darby A., (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2018).
Got questions?
If you have any other questions regarding Equip-CCEF, please email to ccef@equip.org.my.