Abstract
M.A.
The Institute of Child and Parental Guidance at the Rand Afrikaans University
presents a training course in Christian Lay Counselling. The aim of the course is to
train people with a christian background as lay counsellors so that they can do
counselling in a congregation and/or a church environment.
This research entails a critical, scientific evaluation of this training programme to
determine whether the experimental group's (n = 30) theoretical knowledge,
counselling skills and attitudes was significantly enhanced by the training
programme in comparison to the control group (n = 30).
Chapter one addresses the problem and objective of the project. An overview of
lay christian counselling is given in chapter two and in chapter three the training
programme for christen lay counsellors of the Rand Afrikaans University is presented.
The research procedures of the project are discussed in chapter four and
the results of the research are given in chapter five. The results of the research are
interpreted, conclusions are drawn, critique and recommendations are made based
on the research findings in chapter six.
The pass rate for the course in christian lay counselling was 100%. There is a
negative correlation (r = -0,254) between the theoretical and practical mark for
counselling skills.
The growth in counselling skills is measured by using the "Group Assessment of
Interpersonal Traits" (GAIT) by menas of pre- and post test procedures. The
experimental group showed a marked, positive growth (p = 0,0160) in their
application of counselling skills within a counselling framework. The control group
showed a marked decline (p = 0,0156) in terms of the application of counselling
skills within a counselling framework. The improvement in attitudes (personal growth) is measured by using the "Personal
Orientation Inventory" (P01) by means of pre- and post test procedures. The
experimental group showed a marked, positive growth in the following four scales
of the PO1: Time Competent (Tc)(POI 1)(p = 0,0296), Inner Directed (1)(POI
2)(p = 0,0242), Feeling Reactivity (Fr)(POI 5)(p = 0,0255) and Intimate Contact
(C)(POI 12)(p = 0,0013). The control group showed a marked decline (p = 0,0229)
in terms of post test scores in relation to the Inner Directed scale (1)(POI 2).
It would appear that the training programme for christian lay counsellors did in
effect have a distinct positive influence on the experimental group's theoretical
knowledge of counselling, the application of counselling skills in practise as well
as the personal growth of course attendants.