Pastoral counseling down under: A survey of the Australian clergy

This survey research describes the attitudes and practices of Australian Christian clergy regarding counseling in their pastoral care roles. Data has been collected by use of a mail survey of 1954 Australian clergy residing in the state of Queensland from Dec 2007 until March 2008. 758 useable surveys were returned resulting in a return rate of 40.1%. The clergy’s (a) confidence in handling seven different counseling situations, (b) counseling preparation, (c) professional knowledge about counseling, (d) counseling modality, and (e) demographics were assessed. Australian Christian clergy are thus described with a discussion of a number of implications for training organisations such as Bible Colleges and Seminaries