Counseling Risks 101 Offering counsel is a valuable ministry, but it doesn’t come without its dangers. Richard Hammar
Rating: $2.99 $$0.00
Your church takes on risk in the following categories when it offers counseling services:
Negligent Counseling (Malpractice)
"Malpractice" is generally defined as a failure to exercise an accepted degree of skill in the performance of professional duties that results in injury to another person. Although many courts have rejected these claims against pastors, some have found them guilty of malpractice ...
An Illinois court ruled that a woman who was sexually seduced by the pastor during marriage counseling could sue the pastor, a deacon, and the church.
Anatomy of a Lawsuit
The woman and her husband claimed that during the course of marital counseling the pastor initiated and continued a sexual relationship with the woman, thereby aggravating the problems in her marriage, alienating them from their church ...
Assess Your Risk Determine how serious the risks of your counseling ministry are to your church. Richard Hammar
Rating:Not yet rated $2.99
These questions apply to all paid and volunteer counselors in your church. Respond to each with either a yes or a no.
Points to Remember
Church policies can reduce risk of charges of sexual misconduct by establishing limits on when, where, for how long, under what conditions, and with whom counseling can occur.
Church counselors are criminally and civilly liable to report child abuse in many states.
As much as we would like to deny it, private counseling sessions involving dependent or emotionally vulnerable persons can present unique and formidable temptations. If inappropriate actions or relationships are initiated, there can be substantial damage to the victim and the victim's family. Such behavior often devastates the counselor as well—leading to criminal charges, loss of professional ...
For the counseling your church offers, clear policies offer much protection.
Create a brochure. Especially if your church uses unlicensed lay counselors, this should be a statement that communicates clearly to each counselee that the church considers counseling to be an essential aspect of its ministry, and that it takes the following legal considerations:
The counselors are engaged solely in spiritual counseling based on their understanding of the Bible, and they are not engaged in the practice of psychology, professional counseling, or psychotherapy.
Printer view of these results
