Concordia Nebraska alumnus Brian Falls ‘10 enjoys imparting wisdom to new church workers and career therapists

Concordia University, Nebraska alumnus Brian Falls ‘10 returned to the university as an adjunct professor for both the Marriage and Family Therapy program and the Family Life Educator program in fall 2025. Falls enjoys this position because it allows him to pass on wisdom he has learned throughout his career to advancing church workers and professional counselors.

“I get to - hopefully - spare significant trouble and heartache for professionals advancing their careers in church work and/or professional counseling by sharing about all of the mistakes I’ve made (so they don’t have to). If my cautionary tales keep others from making the same mistakes I’ve made, then Luther’s words “Sin boldly!” may hold true today,” said Falls.

“At the foundation, an effective therapist can listen well and respond with truths in a way that clients can access and use to make sustainable, healthy changes in their lives, relationships and habits. I hope I can instill that message in the students with whom I’ve been entrusted to teach.”

Falls is responsible for giving instruction to master's level students pursuing career advancement in professional helping fields. He says that there are a lot of common misconceptions about talk therapy from the perspectives of being both a client or a therapist. Common descriptions of therapists such as “fancy advice-giver", “shrink” and “psychological engineer” are false and create unreasonable expectations for therapy.

“At the foundation, an effective therapist can listen well and respond with truths in a way that clients can access and use to make sustainable, healthy changes in their lives, relationships and habits. I hope I can instill that message in the students with whom I’ve been entrusted to teach.”

Falls has enjoyed his time at Concordia Nebraska because of the university’s mission focus that is built on shared beliefs and values. He said that this focus has helped his own faith to grow during his time at Concordia.

“From the emailed devotions to the prayer request thread on Blackboard, faith development remains clearly in focus,” he said.

Falls and his wife, Laura, have two children, Sawyer (11) and Sadie (9). They attend and are heavily involved in the life of their home congregation, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Eureka, Missouri. He and his family also enjoy outdoor activities such as gardening, hiking and biking. Falls also enjoys attending baseball games, whether farm league, major league or anything in between.

When you get a master’s degree from Concordia Nebraska, you join a community of believers that supports and values you as a whole individual—academically, emotionally and spiritually. With a variety of program offerings, flexible online classes and rolling start dates, Concordia Nebraska’s master’s degrees equip students to make a difference in their chosen profession.