Clergy Counseling Practices,Christian Orthodoxy and Problem Solving Styles

This survey study of 127 male clergy from 10 Protestant denominations in Ontario investigated counseling practices, religious orthodoxy, problem solving styles and related variables, in order to increase the understanding of clergy as counselors. Results confirmed that clergy spend a significant amount of time counseling a wide variety of problems, and that their views of mental illness and their approaches to counseling are related to their religious orthodoxy and their approaches to problem solving. For example, clergy who tended to view both the individual and God as active in problem solving also tended to report using both psychological and spiritual techniques in their counseling. However, clergy who tended to view the individual as passive, and God as active in problem solving, were more likely to use spiritual techniques in their counseling. Similarly, more orthodox clergy employed spiritual counseling techniques more than did less orthodox clergy. Other findings and their implications are reported and discussed.