Clergy and Clinician Interface Project

This project extends previous studies by examining the manner in which a minister’s psychological well-being affects his/her theological perspective and vice-versa.  It represents the third phase of previous studies.

In the first study data was collected from Roman Catholic priests in the Archdiocese of Boston who were affected by parish closings and reconfiguration, the financial collapse of the diocese and the impact of the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

In the second study the empirically validated self-assessment instruments used with Roman Catholic clergy in Boston were added to and data from another denomination, Church of the Nazarene, was collected.

These data sets were collected using valid and reliable psychological and spiritual assessment tools in an Internet survey format. Areas assessed included mental health functioning related to depression, anxiety, stress, burnout, trauma, religious coping, compulsive behavior, deception and resilience. The aim of this project is to provide theologians and students of theology with a psychologically relevant context for understanding ministry while providing clinical psychologists and students of psychology, social work, counseling and psychiatry with a theologically relevant context for understanding the impact of religious world view upon mental health.

Principal Investigator:
James P. Burns, Ph.D.