Abstract: Integration of theology and psychology to understand human behavior is crucial to offer holistic help and support in maintaining mental health of Church members. Both psychology and theology provide functional worldviews through which we can study and understand human behavior. This perspective study is a web-based qualitative survey, aimed at seeking opinion of seminarians and clergies on integration of pastoral counselling ministry and clinical psychology in meeting mental health needs of Church members. Data was collected from 36 respondents using google form. These respondents are seminarians (15, 41.7%), Church pastors (11, 30.6%), pastors but not pastoring yet (5, 13.9%), and seminary lecturers (5, 13.9%). Data collected was analyzed thematically. Key themes that emerged from the study showed that seminary training on preaching, biblical preaching and church administration is inadequate for holistic ministry. This is because, many of Church members were having several mental health conditions, which the Church pastors are not trained to tackle. Instead, most pastors result into praying and counseling members having mental conditions with Bible truth, while some make referral to the professionals. This study concludes that seminary where pastors are being trained might consider including courses in clinical psychology for holistic ministry.
Keywords: Perspective study, integration, pastoral counselling ministry, clinical psychology, mental health needs, Church members, seminarians and clergies.
Title: Perspective study of seminarians and clergies on integration of pastoral counselling ministry and clinical psychology in meeting mental health needs of Church members: A web-based survey
Author: Gideon Ngi Nganyu, Samuel Ojuade
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
Vol. 10, Issue 4, October 2022 - December 2022
Page No: 397-404
Research Publish Journals
Website: www.researchpublish.com
Published Date: 28-October-2022
