| Ministers |
Therapists |
| Ministers expected to listen and help in time of crisis. |
Therapists expected to listen and help in time of crisis. |
| Ministers expected to be good and kind every time you see them, whether at worship or the grocery store. |
Therapists expected to be good and kind for fifty minute increments, by appointment only. May not acknowledge you at grocery store unless you acknowledge them first, out of respect for your privacy. |
| Ministers expected to give wise advice on all matters. |
Therapists expected to guide you to your own wisdom. Will probably refuse to give you advice. |
| Minister expected to deliver 25 minutes public speech appropriate to the needs of a wide audience every week. |
Therapists expected to ask 50 minutes of good questions on an individual case basis for twenty people every week. |
| Minister expected to know where the masking tape is for the third grade RE classroom, why there isn’t a compact fluorescent light bulb in the basement rest room, and what time the board sub-subcommittee meets next month. |
Therapists expected to have comfy sofa in a private room and be able to file insurance forms for their clients. |
| Ministers expected to take insults kindly and graciously, in public and in private. Congregant may never be confronted. |
An insulted therapist will ask you tough questions about yourself and what brought you to insult them. Client will be expected to answer honestly. |
| A minister’s congregants know each other, and the minister and his/her performance is a matter of public conversation. |
A therapist’s clients do not know each other. |
| A minister may be the last person in the congregation to know that a congregant is upset with them. |
A client must deal with the therapist one on one. |
| Ministers live in a fishbowl. |
A client may never know details about a therapist’s personal life. |
| Ministers hired and fired publicly. |
Therapists hired and fired privately. |
| Ministers must ask congregants to make individual decisions about the financial worth of their services. |
Therapists charge a fee for service. |
| Ministers commonly expected to perform role of a perfect parent—always available, always kind, always wise. Boundaries of minister-congregant relationship are unclear. |
Therapists practice kindness and wisdom within widely acknowledged boundaries. If placed in a parental role, will want to talk about transference instead. |
| Ministers expected to take one or two graduate level classes in pastoral care and counseling in an 80+ credit hour degree program that deals with theology, sacred literature, history, public speaking, nonprofit administration, and worship. |
Therapists expected to finish 48+ credit hour graduate degree program in psychology and counseling. |
| Ministers confronted daily by mental illness and toxic behavior. Ministers expected to respond as expert counselors, administrators, public speakers, and teachers. |
Therapists confronted daily by mental illness and toxic behavior. Therapists expected to respond as expert counselors. |
