Ben Kohls

Ben Kohls serves as Director of Graduate Studies in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Bethany Lutheran College's Graduate Programs Department. He teaches courses including COUN 607 Professional Issues and Ethics for the Mental Health Counselor and COUN 613 Integration of Faith in Counseling Process, among eight recent courses. Holding a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision from the University of South Dakota, he has extensive clinical experience across residential, community, outpatient, and inpatient settings.

Dr. Kohls' professional identity integrates his work as a clinical mental health counselor, researcher, public speaker, and clinical supervisor. His research interests focus on counselor education, faith integration in counseling, mental health resilience, and compassion fatigue prevention. He approaches helping from a Christian worldview while utilizing evidence-based and faith-informed methods, with particular expertise in teacher and student mental health, burnout prevention, and forgiveness-based interventions.

His scholarly presentations demonstrate consistent focus on mental health applications across diverse settings including education, pastoral care, and executive leadership. The most recent work (2019-2020) emphasizes resilience strategies during challenging times, while earlier research explores foundational counseling methods and ethical applications.

• Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in Minnesota
• Licensed Professional Counselor-Mental Health in South Dakota
• National Certified Counselor
• Approved Clinical Supervisor
• Board Certified-TeleMental Health Provider
• Member of the American Counseling Association
• Member of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision

As Director of Graduate Studies, Dr. Kohls oversees the clinical mental health counseling program while maintaining active clinical practice. His teaching spans counseling skills, ethics, multicultural counseling, psychopathology, and clinical intervention planning. His professional development includes presentations for the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, Minnesota Teacher Conference, and various religious and educational organizations focusing on practical mental health applications.