Support for Pastors, Clergy and Other Pastoral Counsellors

Recognizing the important role that clergy and other pastoral counsellors play in today’s hurting community, ACTS desires to help them so that they may be better equipped to meet the challenges they face every day.

This program is intended:

• To ensure that the congregation is maximizing its potential to welcome and assist the hurting community in its midst,
• To facilitate referral into ACTS professional services where needed,
• To facilitate the integration of ACTS clients into the congregation, and to
• Ensure professional training is tailored to the needs of the congregation, building on current strengths and focusing in areas identified by congregational leadership.

Professional consultation is available for specific cases within a pastoral counsellor’s ministry context. This consultation helps guide the pastoral counsellor to the limits that the helping relation can have within the context of his ministry, and to determine when a situation needs to be reported to the authorities or a reference to a professional service is necessary.

In addition, we offer professional training the can enhance the quality of the counselling program within the church. This professional training is available to pastoral counsellors who are seeking to upgrade skills, or who are seeking to develop a coordinated approach in meeting the emotional needs of their congregation and the extended community they are trying to reach.

For those who are seeking to complete accreditation requirements in order to work professionally as Christian therapists, professional supervision and training is provided which meets accreditation standards of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA), the Ontario Association of Consultants, Counsellors, Psychometrists, and Psychotherapists (OACCPP), and the Ontario Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (OAMFT). Most often, this professional supervision and training would be offered within the context of internships with ACTS.

For more information, please call Laure-Marie Carigan at 1-800-417-6966, ext 227. If you would prefer an online consultation for a specific situation, please fill out the form "Ask a therapist". There might be a delay of a few days before you receive a response.