Pastoral Counseling: Ethical Dilemmas in Pastoral Counseling



Joshua L. Kerr

English 202a

Dr. Jolowitz

4/4/08

Pastoral Counseling: Ethical Dilemmas Service to God and service to Others.

Being a pastor you are called on to perform many tasks and duties. Some of these tasks are preaching, teaching, administration and counseling. But at the core of these pastoral duties are service to God and service to people. Pastors are Biblically called in John 10 to be a provider, protector and guide for their flock. However, these two seemingly coexistent callings come into conflict often. For example, a couple comes to a pastor for counseling on a divorce. Pastors have to remain accountable to God and counseling against divorce, while trying to counsel the couple with their best interest in mind. Pastors must be conscious of their duty to God and his duty to people through out his day. They have a commitment to teach and edify his congregation with Biblical truth, which guides and directs their life. They also, are to uphold the truth found in the Bible above everything else.

Pastors have many different roles that are very time consuming and it is very important that they set boundaries on their activities in hopes to best satisfy their calling to serve God and to serve people. Throughout the week pastors must set apart time for their own spiritual edification, growth or maybe their own counseling. This is very important that a pastor spends time on his own faith so that he may lead and counsel more effectively those who he is put in place over. However, this time of personal spiritual growth can come into conflict with the growth of the church. Members of the church may need counseling and guidance, which can interfere with their own faith time. Pastors must be prepared to serve others at anytime, but what happens when this comes into conflict with service to God. One pastor, Dr. Bill Blackburn said that he sets apart a certain amount of time each week for counseling and then other church activities, such as preaching, teaching and administration. Furthermore he stated that “ I cannot be the, husband, father and pastor I need to be and also be constantly available for counseling.” However this may be true, ethical conflicts still arise. Just because boundaries have been set does not mean they will always be met. There are always times of crisis when a pastor must lend his support. There will always circumstances out of ones control, which cannot be planned for. Pastors must make an ethical decision on when to help and how much to help. Furthermore, they must set not only time boundaries, but boundaries for who they will counsel as well. There will always be someone in need of counseling, but that is not the soul duty of a pastor he must fulfill his commitment of service to God through performing his other pastoral duties as well. Pastors must personally draw these ethical boundaries personally or situation by situation.

When is someone’s need for counsel greater than the need for preparation of teaching? When upholding one’s calling to serve God as well as others in counseling conflicts may arise. When counseling a pastor may not always be counseling someone of the same faith and background as he is. A pastor is still called to uphold Biblical truth and authority in every situation, but how does he do this while still effectively counseling a person of a different faith. Dave Barr (personal communication, April 3, 2008) , a youth pastor at Peters Creek Baptist Church addressed this issue by saying, “You should use your faith to guide your answers, but in order not to offend or turn anyone away use your ethic code because you can agree on right and wrong. For example, if I counseled a young Jewish man and in order to be effective I worked to find a common ethical ground and went from there.” Finding a common ground is important it can make therapy seem less threatening and allow for a more relaxed environment. This further allows pastors to fulfill their commitment to serving others. It is important that pastors remain true to their Biblical commitment to service of God through this process, while balancing the needs of their client. It is very difficult to walk that line, because the end goal of any counseling is to bring salvation to that person. Furthermore, it is important to recognize in pastoral counseling that God is always present; He is not someone to be called on when needed and then discarded when He is not. Thus, in all times pastors must be aware of their commitment to serve Him even in times of counseling someone of another faith.

In counseling it is important that pastors adhere to their qualification level, despite their desire to help someone. Even though they are committed to serving others’ they have a commitment to serve God and lying or over stepping ones boundaries is not in line with their commitments. The American Association of Pastoral Counselors states in their code of ethics that pastoral counselors are not to practice outside of their qualifications. Though the code of ethics states that pastors should not practice outside of their qualifications, pastors still want to help and don’t want to feel they’re alienating anyone in their church. Counseling is a very intimate process where a lot of private matters are revealed. It is important that a client does not feel exposed or cheated especially by someone who is practicing outside of their qualifications. Even though pastors have a strong commitment to serve the people of their congregation, maybe the best service is a referral to someone who can adequately meet their needs. However, referrals may cause an ethical dilemma in their commitment to serve God and your commitment to serve others. Pastors need to realize when they cannot sufficiently counsel someone and they need to refer them to another professional, despite their desires to help. They have made a commitment to serving others and they need to keep their best interest in mind. That includes selecting the best help available. In order to give a referral ethically pastors should know other professional “reputation, training, experience, professional supervision, network of professionals and faith commitment or appreciation of such a commitment in the client.” Pastors should also give the client the referral personally and tell them how to get in touch with them. Furthermore, they should keep updated on the clients’ progress with the other professional.

There will always be ethical dilemmas between service to God and service to others that will cause frustration to many in the field of pastoral counseling. There is a large amount of pressure on pastors to have all the answers and provide the best care for people in their church while teaching and growing them spiritually. However, in some of these instances pastors run into ethical dilemmas. The best way for pastors to adhere to his commitment to serve God and to serve others is to conduct themselves and his practices as biblically as possible. Furthermore, it is important he abide by the code of ethics in his field. While the code of ethics may not directly answer his dilemma it can give him proper direction in his decision making process. The Bible should hold the sole authority in their life and practice and the Bible should be what they bases his decisions off of. By using the Bible as his sole authority they will ensure that he is keeping his commitment to serve God, while serving others Biblically and as best they can.

Sources

1. Blackburn, Bill. (2001). Ethical Issues in Pastoral Counseling. Christian Ethics Today. [online]. Retrieved March 27, 2008, from

2. American Association of Pastoral Counselors. (1994). [online]. Retrieved April 1, 2008, from

3. American Psychological Association. (2002). [online]. Retrieved April 1, 2008, from

4. American Counseling Association. (2005) [online]. Retrieved April 2, 2008, from

5. Barr, David. Personal Interview. 3 April. 2008.

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Ethical Issues in Pastoral Counseling By Bill Blackburn

Issue/020

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Theme: Service to God Service to people

Others faith

Personal faith time

Qualifications

Crisis

referral

Use your faith to guide answers so you don’t offend or turn them off so use more of your ethical code because they would believe in right and wrong based on common ground and background.

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