Preferences for religious or nonreligious counseling and psychotherapy

Religious values in counseling and preferences for religious or secular counseling were investigated in two geographic areas. Over-all, 164 respondents distinguished religious from secular counseling and endorsed the importance of religious issues and the availability of counseling which can deal with religious issues. 51 preferred religious counseling. Small minorities expressed biases against religious or nonreligious counseling. Counseling preferences were based on the type of problem: religious counseling was preferred for marriage and family problems, and nonreligious counseling was preferred for mental illness and addiction, but religious and nonreligious counseling were equally chosen for depression. Frequency of church attendance was broadly related to preferences for religious and nonreligious counseling.