Academic Programs
We offer several academic and intersession programs for those who are called to the helping ministry of pastoral counseling and spiritual care for individuals, couples, and families.
Professional Diploma in Family Ministries
The Ruben M. Tanseco, S.J. Center for Family Ministries (RMT-CEFAM) at the Loyola School of Theology, Ateneo de Manila University, offers a Professional Diploma in Family Ministries, a 24-unit, non-degree program. If taken full-time, the program may be completed in one academic year.
A holistic, psycho-spiritual approach characterizes the program, utilizing a content-and-process methodology.
The overall program aims to train persons in building up the Filipino family as a “domestic church,” a community of love, justice, freedom, and peace, both in the home and in its social role and responsibility to the nation and to the world. The thrust of “service of the faith and the promotion of justice” permeates the overall program.
Designed For
Those engaged in the pastoral care of couples and families:
lay workers
priests
ministers
religious brothers and sisters
And, the religious and laypersons from various faith traditions who want to understand family life for personal growth and development.
Program Components
There are two major components to the program:
Pastoral Counseling (Healing Dimension)
The pastoral counseling component of the program includes a study of individual and family psychodynamics and the sociocultural factors which influence these. Students undergo practicum training to hone basic skills necessary for pastoral counseling ministry with couples and families.
Spirituality (Growth Dimension)
The spirituality component of the program includes both a study of the scriptural-moral-doctrinal underpinnings of Christian family life and participation in a graduated, integrated series of growth programs in family spirituality.
Learn More About the Program
Apprenticeship in Family Ministries and Pastoral Counseling
For Graduates of RMT-CEFAM’s Professional Diploma in Family Ministries
The Apprenticeship Program in Family Ministries and Pastoral Counseling is a two-semester, non-credit certificate program offered by RMT-CEFAM to graduates of its Professional Diploma Program. It is designed to provide intermediate instructions and supervised practicum experiences for individuals who want to develop professional competence in the pastoral care of families.
The program covers training in curative pastoral counseling and preventive pastoral services, including the conduct of growth training modules, and the development and leadership of mutual-help groups. Additionally, the program provides formation and care for the apprentice's personal growth through growth groups, individual counseling sessions, service opportunities, and team collaborative work.
Classes will be conducted online, but other activities may be face-to-face.
Admission to the program is by application.
Civil Degrees under the Loyola School of Theology (LST)
Intersession Programs
Basic Couple Counseling Webinar-Workshop
This webinar-workshop is a two-week hands-on educational certificate program. It will start with teaching the basic attitudes and competencies of pastoral counseling using both theory and practice (process-and-content methodology) and will provide a psycho-spiritual approach to couple counseling.
PRC-approved CPD units are pending approval.
Family Dynamics and Counseling Webinar-Workshop
This webinar-workshop is an intensive two-week certificate program particularly for persons and agencies whose work is focused on helping families. It is designed to develop and to enhance knowledge, skills, and attitudes.
PRC-approved CPD units are pending approval.
Learn More About the
Intersession Programs
CANA: Marriage Preparation Program
The CANA program of the Ruben M. Tanseco, S.J. Center for Family Ministries (RMT-CEFAM) helps couples go beyond the wedding day. It provides the framework of marriage as a path to wholeness and fullness through its pre-Cana marriage preparation program.
Our program focuses on the growth of the individual and the couple, to form a family that embodies the fundamental values of love, justice, and peace. This shapes Filipino families for others, serving their community and the world.
CANA Program
The CANA program is open to couples contemplating marriage, engaged couples,
and newly married couples. A couple may choose to attend either of the following:
CANA Weekend
This is scheduled monthly as a group workshop, with different speakers per topic.
CANA One-on-One
This is for couples who cannot attend the CANA Weekend schedule. A dedicated RMT-CEFAM pastoral counselor conducts the program. Topics are the same as the CANA Weekend.
What Makes Us Different?
An RMT-CEFAM Professional Diploma graduate facilitates dialogue on marital expectations and the genogram. This is a safe place for the couple to discover the similarities and differences of their values. They also explore how the family of origin influences the way they relate to each other.
Our psycho-spiritual approach helps couples understand each other better. This also allows them to discern their readiness for marriage.
Program design includes activities that draw attention to the couple's dynamics. It imparts skills to help bring joy to married life.
Learn More About CANA
Daluyan
Daluyan is the outreach program of the Ruben M. Tanseco, S.J. Center for Family Ministries (RMT-CEFAM). It provides workshops to:
grassroots communities
parish workers
non-government organizations
other marginalized groups
Daluyan offers trainor’s training on basic helping skills for individuals, couples, and families. In addition, it also conducts a series of workshops in family life. This series includes the following:
talks on mental health
marital preparation program
marriage enhancement workshops
workshops/talks for migrants and families
workshops for the youth and emerging adults
parenting workshops
workshops for older persons
family encounters
Finally, Daluyan develops workshops that address the client’s specific needs.
Empower Communities With Daluyan
Parenting Hub
The Ruben M. Tanseco, S.J. Center for Family Ministries (RMT-CEFAM) Parenting Hub, composed of graduates of the Center’s Professional Diploma program, is a pioneer in providing guidance for parents. Its goal is to provide a space for a learning community of mothers, fathers, and others who take care of the young--where they can acquire knowledge and skills that will help them build stronger, God-centered families.
Initially, the Parenting Hub offered programs to accompany parents of kids and teens. After almost three decades, it has expanded its reach to multi-sector organizations like schools, corporations, and government agencies. It has also grown a wide range of topics for seminars and workshops to address specific issues that affect parenting today, such as single parenting, dealing with bullying, nurturing values as a family, and many more.
The Parenting Hub offers workshops covering the following themes:
Effective / mindful communication
Positive discipline and developing a positive relationship with your child
Developing grit and resilience
Digital parenting
Bullying
Single parenting
Spirituality of parenting; values-based parenting
The heart of a father/mother
Building connections with your teens
Caring for the mental health of the family during the pandemic
Learn More About the Parenting Hub
In response to the changing needs of families, especially during the pandemic, the Parenting Hub introduced new platforms to reach out to Filipino parents, not only in the country but all over the world. For announcements on its activities, follow the Parenting Hub on the RMT-CEFAM Facebook page.
Pastoral Counseling
The Ruben M. Tanseco, S.J. Center for Family Ministries (RMT-CEFAM) is the pioneer in a psycho-spiritual approach for pastoral counseling of individuals, couples, and families in the Philippines.
We provide a safe, healing place for families, couples, and individuals seeking relief from distress in their relationships.
We guide and support clients dealing with crises, challenging life transitions, and discernment.
We work with our clients in assessing their capabilities and needs, to ease the restoration of their well-being.
What Makes Us Different?
Our psycho-spiritual approach in pastoral counseling integrates knowledge and expertise from the behavioral sciences, and insights and practices of diverse faith traditions (or wisdom of spiritual teachings), and aligns these with the Filipino ethos. Purposeful reflection on the transformative power of authentic love, justice, and peace is what inspires our approach to helping our clients heal and grow.
Our pastoral counselors have undergone academic and skills training, as well as personal formation and development. RMT-CEFAM pastoral counselors select from a variety of counseling approaches to address the specific needs of our clients, taking into consideration their culture and background. In our work, we value our clients’ empowered participation in their own process of regaining hope and perspective in their lives.
RMT-CEFAM’s pastoral counseling staff also includes consulting psychologists and psychiatrists who work closely with our pastoral counselors.
Pastoral Counseling Services Include
Pastoral counseling for premarital, marital, separating, and co-parenting couples
Group counseling focusing on specific family issues
Individual and conjoint pastoral counseling for adult, adolescent, and child family members
Supervision for pastoral counselors
1. “Premarital counseling" is different from marriage preparation. RMT-CEFAM provides marriage preparation through its RMT-CEFAM CANA Program.
2. Our policy does not permit RMT-CEFAM Pastoral Counselors to act as expert witnesses in judicial proceedings.
Why is Your Donation Valuable?
RMT-CEFAM is the official family ministry of the Philippine Jesuits. We operate on a donation basis, with no set or recommended fees. Our late founder, Fr. Ruben M. Tanseco, S.J., envisioned that no one should be deprived of our pastoral counseling services because of financial limitations.
As such, we encourage our clients to donate what is fair and in accordance to their financial capability. Donations enable us to sustain our ministries, and allow us to reach out and extend our services to those in need but lack the resources.
Appointment Reminders
Pastoral counseling sessions are by appointment only. Appointments are for one hour, but the duration of the pastoral counseling session is normally 50 minutes. For the first session, we request that clients come 15 minutes earlier than the appointed time. This is to familiarize themselves with our pastoral counseling guidelines and to fill up information forms.
For appointments or inquiries on pastoral counseling:
Landline: (632) 8426-4289 to 92
Mobile and Viber: +63 927 863 9346
Resilience Program
The Resilience Program (REPRO) is a psycho-spiritual, strengths-based program that has been in existence since 2006. It is offered by the Ruben M. Tanseco, S.J. Center for Family Ministries (RMT-CEFAM) to child welfare centers working with distressed adolescents coming from marginalized communities:
street children
abused and unwed mothers (Center-based)
persons deprived of liberty (PDL; formerly children in conflict with the law or CICL)
out of school youth
children of OFW (Vancouver Canada)
What is REPRO?
REPRO is a journey in uncovering one’s True Self. The program is designed to help teens build resilience traits that can empower them to prevail over adversities. In discovering their True Self, an inner transformation takes place, as teens:
begin to recognize their worth and goodness as God created them
understand what happened to them as they experience the process of healing
develop the skills and strength to look forward to a promising future
Together with Dr. Cornelio G. Banaag, Jr. as Overall Consultant and Teresita Tanseco-Cruz as Program and Training Consultant, Dolly T. del Rosario heads the REPRO Team composed of graduates of the RMT-CEFAM Professional Diploma course.
REPRO runs for 18 weekly or bi-weekly sessions for a duration of three hours per session. As of 2020, there are more than 1,000 REPRO graduates from different centers nationwide: Metro Manila, Antipolo, Bulacan, Cebu, Leyte, and Davao. A modified version of REPRO, which is designed for troubled teens of OFW families, is offered in Vancouver, Canada.
Recognitions
REPRO, as an intervention program, has been presented to the following organizations:
(Singapore, 2008)
(Cebu City, 2010)
(UA&P, Pasig City, 2018)
REPRO Facilitators Training Workshop
A REPRO training workshop is offered as a certification program to psychologists, social workers, and people working with teens. The goal is for them to replicate the program in their own centers. This workshop is available online.
Training and Workshops
The Ruben M. Tanseco, S.J. Center for Family Ministries (RMT-CEFAM) offers training seminars and workshops to individuals, groups, and corporations. Our training programs carry psycho-spiritual and psycho-educational approaches. In addition to our diverse offerings, we conduct growth and healing workshops.
We conduct and customize training to align with our clients' unique needs, ensuring a meaningful and impactful experience. Topics include:
mental health
marital relationships
resilience
family relationships
grief
mindfulness and self-care
art and healing
graceful aging
positive parenting
Learn more about what we offer
View Our Other Ministries
How May We Assist You?
We can help schedule your pastoral counseling appointment, reserve your slot for CANA, or in parenting workshops, guide you through our academic programs, customize your training needs, or link you to our outreach programs.