Purposeful Supervision for Counselees, Lay Counselors

Purposeful supervision is an integral part of the church’s efforts to use “reasonable care” in the oversight of the spiritual care and risk management activities of the ministry. It also helps make it more difficult for abuse to occur and easier to counter false allegations of abuse.

Require anyone seeking lay counseling to complete the following forms:

1. A Lay Counseling Agreement/Informed Consent Form
2. An intake Form

The supervisor should review the completed forms before the first counseling session. This allows a supervisor to determine an appropriate lay counselor for the individual, identify “red flags,” and provide appropriate guidance in advance of the first session.

Supervisors can help ensure the effectiveness of the lay counseling program and promote the success of lay counselors by:

• Encouraging counselors to prayerfully prepare for counseling sessions.
   
• Instructing counselors to always follow the church’s lay counseling policy, including guarding against inappropriate relationships.
   
• Advising counselors to properly document all sessions.
   
• Conducting regular meetings with counselors to discuss concerns, successes, potential issues, legal risk management, and ethical issues.

Regular meetings enable the supervisor to remain vigilant to situations that may require referral to a physician, mental health practitioner, or other professional caregiver. A supervisor also should have the ability to remove or terminate a lay counselor from their position in the event of conduct that is contrary to the stated beliefs of the church or that otherwise compromises the integrity of the ministry.

Posted October 2022

The sample recommended policy and procedure information and related documents in the Lay Counseling Overview site are intended to be a template for you and your legal counsel to use in developing your own customized program. We recognize that every faith-based employer is different, and policies and procedures must address the particular needs of each organization. We believe that you’ll find the materials on this site valuable, either as a starting point in developing a new program or in reviewing and updating an existing program.

As with all documents of this nature, it’s important that you ask an attorney in your area to review the policies in the handbook before you implement them. This step will help ensure that the documents have been properly drafted and that all relevant legal considerations have been addressed. Your legal counsel should also review the handbook on a regular basis after implementation to make certain that it remains current with changes in the legal environment.