Clergy & Congregation Services

As part of its mission, the Danielsen Institute is committed to supporting and serving communities of faith as well as members of the clergy, persons involved in religious leadership, and students preparing for the clergy.

More than 25 percent of our clients are clergy, theological students, non-ordained religious leaders, or family members of one of these groups. The Danielsen Institute provides individual, couples, family, and group psychotherapy to these clients, as well as psychopharmacology services for those who are already receiving treatment of some kind at the Institute.

Psychological Testing and Assessment

The Danielsen Institute provides a range of assessment options for seminarians and theology students as part of their formation and preparation for their professional life, as well as for candidates for ordination and those seeking to join religious orders and/or participate in religious life. The Institute has served a range of religious denominations and bodies across faith traditions. Some of the groups currently being served include, but are not limited to, the Episcopal Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, the United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church. We have also worked with numerous individual congregations, theological schools, and religious orders. Assessments can be designed in collaboration with the individual’s religious denomination or community and are specifically tailored to the needs and concerns of both the person being tested and the referring organization.

Assessments for Clergy in Crisis

The Danielsen Institute has a team of clinicians who provide extensive psychospiritual assessments for clergy facing more acute circumstances including burnout, boundary issues, interpersonal and organizational conflicts, and mental health crises. The Danielsen team works with both the referring denominational body and the referred clergy/person through a series of interviews and the administration of validated psychological measures. Assessments produce a detailed report and provide specific recommendations regarding the ongoing care and well-being of the referred client, as well as to the organization requesting the assessment.

For more information about these services, please contact the clinic —by calling 617-353-3047 or by emailing to daninst@bu.edu.

The Danielsen Institute’s Clergy and Congregation Services is a part of the Samaritan Institute’s Clergy and Congregation Care (CCC) Group program.