Chris and Carol Green Earn Board-Certified Mental Health Coaching Credentials

Chris and Carol Green (BCMHC)

Today, Chris and Carol Green officially became Board-Certified Mental Health Coaches (BCMHC) upon completion of the 'Dare 2 Care' Mental Health Coach - First Responder Training program administered by the American Association of Christian Counselors through Light University. 

“We've seen a lot of indifferent, cold and callous responses from many Christian leaders and their congregations regarding the mental health crisis in our country,” stated the Greens. “Many of them have been misinformed and still approach this issue from ignorance, stigma, fear, and very bad theology. 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 niaive 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 rigorous training program included:

 1.) First, the completion of a 14-hour 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-hour 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 14-hour 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 Board Certified Mental Health Coaches, backed by the International Board of Christian Care (IBCC), the Greens have earned a voluntary global credential that trains and charges its recipients to maintain the highest clinical, ethical and biblical standards of practice.

“We are very pleased to have earned this credential," concluded the Greens. “Now we 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 very capable mental health professionals. 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.