Assessment of Pastoral Counseling Service Delivery among Christian Faithfull in God’s Care Missions, Okpo Kogi State, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper presents an Assessment of Pastoral Counseling Service Delivery Among Christian Faithful through a focused case study of God’s Care Missions, Okpo (Kogi State, Nigeria. It considered the impact and effectiveness of pastoral counseling.  A mixed-methods approach was used to collect data from 35 participants who received pastoral counseling services. The findings suggest that pastoral counseling has a significant impact on the spiritual and emotional well-being of individuals, with 80% reporting improved spiritual well-being and 82.9% reporting improved emotional well-being. Spiritual struggles were the primary reason for seeking pastoral counseling (51.4%), followed by trauma and crisis (28.6%). The study highlights the importance of addressing spiritual needs in counseling and provides recommendations for improving the delivery of pastoral counseling services, including enhancing training and monitoring for pastoral counselors and increasing access to services. The paper concludes with recommendations for strengthening pastoral counseling through formal training. The findings have implications for the development of spiritually integrated counseling programs in faith-based organizations.