Thinking a bit more about confidentiality and the issues that arise in a Masters of Counseling program. Dingle’s Sister raised a couple of interesting points in “her” earlier comments to a post I made about confidentiality. She suggested that we have a conflict:
Are we here to (a) grant degrees or (b) graduate healthy, transparent, wise counselors?
To be fair, there is a bit of a conflict. We are all about graduating authentic, transparent, humble ministers/counselors of the Gospel. But we also want to stay in business and that requires enough bodies to keep the place going. Some institutions have decided they are merely academic centers of learning—paying no attention to character. This is a weak and indefensible argument, even in secular settings. I can’t put my hands on the article, but I read where a university was successfully sued for graduating someone in grad psych program that was clearly unhealthy. The courts found that the school could have or should have known that the person would likely harm another.
At Biblical, we clearly state that we are about spiritual growth and character building along with skill and knowledge acquisition. Our tight community encourages transparency and application of biblical counseling principles to self prior to using them on others. We want students AND professors to be vulnerable with each other. (Obviously, there are limits to this at Biblical and also out in the real world, but I’ll save that for another post.) We do evaluate character and maturity upon admission and throughout the program.
This is why we are developing our in-house counseling center. We acknowledge and explore the limits of dual relationships (being counselor and professor/staff member) but do not shun them. Part of the Christian life is carrying each other’s burdens. We will walk with those who reveal their struggles with us. Yes, there may be times when we must sit down with students and help them explore whether this is the right time for them to be here. We do not want school to interfere with the work God may be calling them to (ministry to family members, attacking an addiction, etc.). And yes, we may have to ask some to leave. But we don’t do so just because we learn about an ongoing struggle with sin. That would mean Biblical must shut down. Contumacy, an old word used by Presbyterians when talking about excommunication, is probably the only reason we would ask someone to leave (not counting financial or academic reasons students must leave). If a student is unwilling to repent, is boldly hardhearted about their sin over a period of time, they might be asked to leave. Here’s an example: a few years ago, I had a student who engaged in flagrant, repeated plagiarism. At first, I assumed ignorance was the problem and educated the student regarding the problem of taking another’s words and passing them off as his own. When the problem continued and the student denied or made excuses but did not take responsibility, I was left with no choice but to end his education at Biblical.
Believe it or not, its not unusual for students to talk with us about their deepest struggles. I am always amazed at how many do in papers and in face to face conversations. While hypocrisacy is alive and well in all of us, I see many many transparent, struggling Christians who desire to have their lives transformed and are willing to be known in their struggles.
Its an honor to watch what the Lord is doing in each of their lives.
Musings on Faith and Psychology 