BCC TRAINING INSTITUTE · CERTIFICATION PATHWAYS
Get the training. Then choose the pathway that fits your church.
Some people want the training and nothing more — a certificate they can finish at their own pace, start to finish with BCC. Others want to be certified by a counseling organization, which asks a good deal more. We will help you tell the difference and take the right next step.
FIRST, KNOW WHAT YOU ARE AFTER
A certificate and a certification are not the same thing.
Both are good. They ask different things of you, and they end in different places.
OPTION ONE
I want the training.
A BCC certificate — self-paced, start to finish with us. Fifty lessons taught by our counselors, with live Q&A along the way. You study on your schedule and you finish when you finish.
BEST FOR
Care team members, small-group leaders, pastors, and lay counselors who want to be genuinely equipped for the people already in front of them.
OPTION TWO
I want to be certified.
Certification is granted by a counseling organization, not by BCC. It adds extensive exams and a supervised internship where you are examined as a counselor, case by case, with real counselees.
BEST FOR
Those who will counsel formally — in a church counseling ministry or a counseling center — and want recognized credentials behind them.
THE PATHWAY
Four steps — and BCC carries you through the first three.
Training, observation, exams, supervision. Every organization asks for all four. Here is what each one is, and what it costs you at BCC.
01 · TRAINING
Fifty lessons that exceed the requirement.
All four organizations accept our Lay Counseling Certificate as exceeding their training requirement — one course, four doors open.
Included at Care Pro · $37.50/month
02 · OBSERVATION
Over 25 sessions, approved by ACBC and ABC.
Watch counseling happen, session by session, with a study guide for each one. Approved for observation credit by both ACBC and ABC, with more sessions added as we film them.
Included at Care Member · $15/month
03 · EXAMS
Prepare with a guide, not guesswork.
Our ACBC exam guide and prep resources walk you through what is actually asked and how to answer it well.
Included at Care Member · $15/month
04 · SUPERVISION
An internship where you are examined as a counselor.
You counsel real people; an experienced supervisor reviews your work case by case until you are ready to be certified.
Billed separately, paid to your supervisor
NEW FOR 2026
Over 25 sessions of observation, and growing.
Observation is where certification students most often stall — the sessions are hard to find and harder to document. So we built our own library: over 25 sessions, each with a study guide, approved by ACBC and ABC for observation credit. Choose the cases that fit your calling and create your own pathway through them.
They sit in the $15 Care Member level, alongside the ACBC exam guide — because we would rather you do your observation with us and stay for supervision.
SUPERVISION
Supervised by counselors who have done this for decades.
BCC supervises for ACBC and ABC directly. For IABC and IRBC we hand you to partners we trust once your certificate is finished.
ACBC SUPERVISION
Dr. Ron Allchin and Sherry Allchin
Two of the most experienced biblical counselors in the country walk with you through your ACBC supervision, case by case.
Typically 8–12 months
ABC SUPERVISION
Dr. Joel Badal
BCC’s Director of Training supervises the ABC pathway, which we developed together with ABC.
Typically 12–16 months
IABC AND IRBC
Partner supervisors
Finish the Lay Counseling Certificate and we will connect you with a supervisor in the organization you are pursuing.
Introduced after your certificate
Supervision carries its own cost, paid directly to your supervisor. It is not part of your BCC Cares membership — though your membership stays open the whole time you are in it.
BEFORE ANY ORGANIZATION CERTIFIES YOU
Every organization asks the same three things first.
None of these are BCC requirements. They belong to the certifying organizations, and they exist to protect the people you will counsel.
Your church’s approval
You are commissioned by your church, not merely credentialed by an agency. Every organization asks your leadership to stand behind you.
References
People who know your character, your walk, and your work vouch for you in writing.
A background check
Required by every organization before you counsel anyone under their name.
They also differ from one another. Each organization holds its own doctrinal positions and standards, and we ask students to pursue the one that most closely fits their church. If you are not sure which that is, reach out — we will walk you through it.
FOUR ORGANIZATIONS, ONE PLACE TO START
Our course exceeds the training requirement for all four.
BCC is an official ACBC training center. We have also built pathways with ABC, IABC, and IRBC, so Lay Counseling Certificate students can continue on with whichever organization best fits their church and calling.
ACBC
An official ACBC training center for more than thirty years. We supervise here.
ABC
We built this pathway together with ABC, and we supervise here.
IABC
Training accepted; we connect you with a partner supervisor.
IRBC
Training accepted; we connect you with a partner supervisor.
NOT SURE WHICH PATH IS YOURS?
Tell us about your church and what you are hoping to do.
We will walk you through the options and point you to the process that fits — your training, your church, your calling.