PASTORAL COUNSELING REFERRAL

There are several reasons why a pastor should refer one of his counselees to a clinical counselor.
1) Dual relationships. A dual relationship is when the counselor has more than on relationship with the counselee. Being a friend, a pastor and a counselor to the counselee qualifies as a dual relationship. In pastoral ministry it is impossible to avoid dual relationships, but one needs to take care to minimize them. Dual relationships are dangerous because they enable the counselor or the counselee to disregard natural boundaries. It is my belief that pastoral counseling be limited to 3 to 4 hours at the most. When a counselee risists this by saying "No one listens like you, pastor" then one knows that the time has really come for referral.

2) Time. With all the hats the pastor wears is there sufficient time. It was for this reason that one prominent pastor I know, with an advanced degree in counseling, said to me that he makes a referral after the first hour of counseling.

3) Counseling ability. Not all pastors have counseling ability nor the desire to counsel. This might seem incongruent with our calling to share the counsel of the Wonderful Counselor, but it is a wise understanding of one's limits.

4) Mental illness. Clinical depression would be the leading cause in a pastor's caseload. Real mental illness needs to be medicated. Real mental illness represents a small part of the counseling load. There is a tendency in the counseling field to extend the mental-illness treatment model to all emotional problems. Thus sin becomes sickness and no one bears personal responsibility for his or her behavior.

What is important for pastors to understand is that their counseling is NOT inferior to a professional counselor. He has knowledge, skills and resources available to him that are foreign to a secular counselor. We understand that the Holy Spirit is already at work in the situation. Prayer, the truth of Scripture and the fellowship of the church are powerful resources.

For a pastor to refer a counselee to another counselor is NOT an implication of incompetence, it is a simple recognition of the limits of time, boundaries and the limits of medical expertise.

Grace & Peace;
Tom