Date of Award

11-2000

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Institution Granting Degree

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Cedarville University School or Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Asa R. Sphar, III

Second Advisor

Philip A. Coyle

Keywords

Counseling, Christian counselors, spiritual, psychology, spiritual well-being

Abstract

Many factors influence the abilities of counselors to assist those who seek their guidance. Perhaps no factor is more important and more often overlooked than a counselor's spiritual well-being. This research explored the relationship between the spiritual well-being of Christian counselors and one measure of their abilities to intervene therapeutically for their clients-counselor adaptability. Levels of spiritual well-being were measured by the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (Paloutzian & Ellison, 1982; Ellison, 1983) and the spiritual well-being subscale of the Mental, Physical, and Spiritual Well-Being Scale (Vella-Brodrick, 1995). Levels of counselor adaptability were measured by the Therapist Style Inventory of Adaptive Counseling and Therapy (Howard, Nance, & Myers, 1986, 1987). Statistical analysis did not find a significant relationship between both measurements of spiritual well-being and counselor adaptability for this population of Christian counselors. Although high scores obtained by this research population concerning their levels of spiritual well-being affirmed the spiritual integrity among the Christian helping professionals, the scores were, unfortunately, exceedingly high to evaluate adequately for their relationship with one measurement of their counseling ability. Further research to reevaluate the hypothesized relationship between spiritual well-being and counselor adaptability requires a strengthening of both measurements of spiritual well-being. Respective findings of correlations between spiritual well-being and counselor adaptability with other variables were presented.

Comments

Neither this dissertation nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

© Copyright 2000, Luke Ming-Shui Tse, All Rights Reserved.

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