Date of Award

4-1986

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Robert L. Betz

Second Advisor

Dr. Edward Trembley

Third Advisor

Dr. John Nangle

Abstract

Bible colleges are the primary post-secondary training institutions of the Evangelical segment of Christianity, and they exist to train men and women for Christian service positions. This study was designed to determine: (a) if Bible college graduates are expected to counsel as a part of their ministry responsibilities; (b) if there has existed, on the part of the evangelical Christian community, a negative bias against the fields of psychology and counseling; (c) the amount of counseling education currently provided by Bible colleges; (d) whether it is now appropriate to begin to incorporate basic counseling courses into the Bible college curricular structure, and (e) what kinds of counseling courses, if any, would be beneficial for undergraduate Bible college students.

Through an analysis of pertinent literature, it was determined that a negative bias toward the fields of psychology and counseling has existed on the part of many Evangelical Christians, but that that bias has been diminishing gradually over the years.

A survey of the academic deans of the Bible colleges in America and Canada, from which a 90 percent response was received, revealed significant findings. More than three-quarters of the respondents agreed that most Bible college graduates will be expected to do some counseling as a part of other vocational ministry responsibilities. It was the opinion of 76.7 percent of the academic deans that the undergraduate degree programs of these institutions will serve as terminal preparation for more than 50 percent of their graduates. The survey also revealed that most Bible colleges provide few, and in some cases, no counseling courses for their students.

It was concluded that the time is right for Bible colleges to provide counseling training for students. A model of a program for paraprofessional counselors is provided.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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Counseling Commons

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