The Pastoral Counselor in the Nineties: The Quest for Spirituality Among Religious Integration and Pastoral Care Functions

Abstract

Abstract This study investigated three aspects of the pastoral counselor's spirituality: spiritual well-being, spiritual maturity and the perception of pastoral counseling as a spiritual call to ministry. Participants included 108 pastoral counselors and 36 ordained clergy. No differences were found between clergy, ordained, and lay pastoral counselors on spiritual well-being. In assessing spiritual maturity, lay pastoral counselors scored significantly higher on Spiritual Openness. Seventy-five percent of pastoral counselors indicated that a spiritual call drew them to pastoral counseling. Implications for future therapeutic outcome studies, as well as the need to address the spiritual nurturing of pastoral counselors, are discussed.