The Place of Psychology in the Counselling Ministry of Adventist Pastors in Southern Ghana

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the place of psychology in the counseling ministry of Adventist pastors in southern Ghana. The researchers sought to find out the role psychology plays in counseling among the pastors, unearth the top three issues that members confront pastors with, and how pastors use psychological techniques to minister to these members. It was revealed that psychology is very essential in the counseling ministry of pastors. The study concludes that marital issues, work and career related issues, as well as spiritual issues accounted for the top three most common problems among church members. It was also revealed that pastors use various techniques to minister to members who confront them with their needs but the techniques mostly used are providing encouragement, listening to members, helping members make their own decisions, and offering prayers. Since the majority of pastors have had a minimum of a Bachelors degree, most of them had taken a course in psychology as part of their training but a majority of them acknowledged that they have not taken any additional workshop or short course training in psychological counseling. The researchers therefore recommend that pastors should be helped to take courses in Psychological counseling so as to improve their skills in the counseling ministry.