Date

11-13-2024

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)

Chair

Michael Don Howard

Keywords

Pastors, combat veterans, phenomenology, post-traumatic stress disorder, moral injury

Disciplines

Counseling | Psychology

Abstract

When combat veterans make the transition to civilian life, whether permanently or between deployments, they face mental, physical, and spiritual adjustment (Grimell, 2019; Zogas, 2017). Although the Veterans Administration and local health providers offer services, some combat veterans prefer to seek their pastor’s advice instead or in addition (Bonner et al., 2013). Pastors, even those with little or no formal training in counseling or therapy, are uniquely equipped to guide combat veterans in the spiritual aspect of healing, or at least to accompany them with empathy and the consolation of faith. Yet a gap exists in the literature regarding clergy’s experiences, their perception of their successes, deficits, and needs in this role. The proposed dissertation will collect data from a purposeful sampling of twelve pastors who have worked with combat veterans. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand and describe the lived experiences of pastors who work with combat veterans (Creswell & Poth, 2017). The social ecology theory of Bronfenbrenner (1975), and the concept that healing is best understood in a holistic biopsychosocial-spiritual context (Gage, 2022) informed the study. Each pastor was interviewed in person or on the Microsoft Teams online platform, and each interview was recorded and transcribed. A follow-up focus group was conducted to enhance validity. Research questions addressed pastors’ perception of their own preparedness and needs. The purpose of the study is to gather information that can be used to improve pastoral training programs.

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