Date

12-19-2023

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)

Chair

Todd Schultz

Keywords

Infertility, identity, counseling pastor, infertility counseling, clergy counseling spirituality, motherhood

Disciplines

Counseling

Abstract

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to discover the perceptions of infertile women’s perceived experiences with receiving counseling from their local church pastor. The theories guiding this study were identity theory and narrative identity theory, as an infertile woman often feels a loss in their identity due to not being able to become a mother. This study explored how an infertile woman had hope to identify as a mother perceived counseling from her local church. The central research question for this transcendental phenomenological study was: How does a Christian woman who is coping with infertility describe the impact of clergy counseling from her church pastors on mental health and well-being? Data were collected through questionnaires to find participants that fit the criteria for the study. Semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed to look for themes. Data analysis was accomplished in a seven-step process that involved organizing, coding, and interpreting the data. This was accomplished by reviewing the transcripts of the interviews several times while taking notes, looking for themes, coding and organizing them, interpreting the themes, and getting feedback from a peer unrelated to the study. The results of this study found themes from the interviews that infertile women found ways to positively cope and to get help through clergy counsel for issues such as identity loss, marital struggles, and social issues.

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