It is the prevailing ethic of pastoral counseling that every effort is made to treat everyone, regardless of ability to pay. Nevertheless, as demand grows for mental health services by Pastoral Counselors, and with insufficient insurance coverage and managed care availability, the pressure mounts to find ways to deliver services to all in need. The American people have embraced the principle of freedom of choice for many decades. This is carried forward to their right to select providers of their choice in any health care delivery system. The ability of consumers to choose Pastoral Counselors for mental health services would impact cost-containment in a positive manner because of the relatively low cost and high accountability of pastoral counseling.
Pastoral counseling represents a paradigm for preventive mental health care.
The church or synagogue is a natural community gateway through which millions of persons pass each week, and through which a wide spectrum of mental health and societal problems are presented, many of which are amenable to early intervention and treatment. In addition to the church or synagogue setting, Pastoral Counselors provide outreach preventive services in the hospital setting, in prison, in the university, in the military, and in the primary and secondary school. Pastoral counseling is a discipline which has been consistent with the goals of managed care by providing quality service with preventive care, working with the total person, and producing cost-effectiveness. In an era when managed care is assuming an ever-growing role in the present pluralistic health care delivery system, and at a time when a majority prefer to be treated by a professional counselor who represents spiritual values and beliefs, the services of Pastoral Counselors must be made available in managed care settings. Pastoral Counselors possess a depth of training that is significantly beyond that of many other mental health professionals of the core disciplines.