Theology

Study: Today’s Pastoral Counseling Is More Fluent in Psychology

Journal documents how clergy adapted as more people turned to therapy over religion.

Christianity Today March 23, 2021
Illustration by Mallory Rentsch / Source Images: D-Keine / Getty Images / York Creative / Lightstock / Unsplash

One hundred years ago or more, if you had problems in your marriage or suffered from depression, you might turn to your pastor. In response, he’d address your problems in explicitly Christian terms.

“The problem was sin, and the solution was salvation,” writes John Bernau, a sociologist at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University.

Christian clergy held the clear monopoly on helping people attend to their problems for centuries. But during the early 20th century, religion and medicine were engaged in a dialogue on emerging psychological care.

Offering a slice of that discussion, a February article in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion documents trends in the way pastors wrote about their role as counselors as it became commonplace for people to turn to psychologists rather than spiritual leaders with their problems.

Using computational text analysis, Bernau read through over 70 years of articles in the Journal of Pastoral Care and Counseling, an interdisciplinary journal including both spiritual care and psychotherapy.

The sociologist found the words God, Christian, Jesus, Christ, and church were used in about 5 percent of the article content in the early 1950s, dropping to about 1 percent today. Now, the word God is used alongside other words like love, heart, life, and care.

He suggests the religious language is replaced with individualistic language, favoring the kind of personal narrative and experience that came to be the norm in therapy by mental health professionals.

He noted that since the 1960s, pastors’ language lost its denominational specificity in favor of a more ecumenical and open approach, deferring to meeting on believers’ terms.

“(A person’s) stories, experience, and narrative construction are welcomed by an occupation whose professional identity is increasingly focused on listening, reflection, and conversation,” wrote Bernau.

By focusing on the terms used in the journal, the study can track a shift in how pastors portray their counseling work, but not necessarily whether the terminology they used with congregants changed as well. Bernau clarified that the analysis can offer researchers the ability “to map the broad currents of the profession but is not meant to replace close historical analysis.”

In another trend, pastors also became more likely to use psychological terms in their writing but less likely to discuss the related professions of psychology, psychoanalysis, and psychiatry.

Bernau wrote, “this decline may signal a solidification of jurisdictional boundaries” after the lively debate arising in the 1960s, which has resulted in a menu of spiritual and mental care options, from therapists—both secular and Christian—to nouthetic or biblical counselors to pastors. As CT reported, some pastors today have continued to view psychological counseling with suspicion, while others see differences in approach as “jurisdictions,” requiring pastors to partner with other mental health professionals to provide holistic care.

As more people stopped trusting pastors as an authority on mental health, the chaplaincy—religious positions within secular institutions like hospitals or the military—rose as a reaction, a way to offer faith-based guidance from within more trusted spaces. Since the 1980s, raw word counts of chaplain, clergy, pastor, and priest illustrate how chaplaincy has come to dominate the journal.

Bernau offers two takeaways. First, don’t be afraid to offer a distinct message. In fact, Christian counselors can be clearer about what their tradition offers over secular guidance. “If you believe the message of Christ has meaning in today’s world, don’t be afraid to communicate that message in clear and explicit language,” he said.

Secondly, he suggested that Christian theology can be reinterpreted for contemporary pastoral care. “Instead of the aggressive, proscriptive counseling of the past, Christian theology might be called to provide a gentler, more subtle message” vis-à-vis St. Francis of Assisi, who believed the gospel wasn’t communicated only through words—listening belongs in pastoral care, too.

Our Latest

News

Brazilian Evangelicals Are Split on Lausanne’s Legacy

Latin American Christians developed integral mission theology. Do they still want to own it?

Becoming a Church for People of All Abilities

We need a culture shift to welcome everyone into the full life of the church.

The Bulletin

I’d Like to Phone a Friend

The Bulletin considers the second assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the role of forgiveness after tragedy, and the intimidation election officials face as the polls open.

Don’t ‘Spiritually Bypass’ Your Church-Hurt Neighbor

Like the Good Samaritan, we’re called to offer a healing balm, not pour salt on their wounds.

Wire Story

SBC to Sell Nashville Headquarters to Cover Cost of Abuse Cases

Southern Baptists have spent down reserves with over $12 million in legal fees over the past three years.

News

Seminary Professor Accused of Secret Second Marriage

Accountability group says Vince Bantu, an expert in ancient African Christianity, is justifying adultery with an argument for polygamy. Bantu denies their claims.

Mobilizers See Millions of Future Missionaries in Overseas Filipino Workers

While Filipino Christians are reaching the diaspora, cross-cultural evangelism efforts face challenges.

These Christians Have Not Given Up on North Korea

Experts and practitioners discuss their top challenges and encouragements in serving the reclusive country.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube