LIBERTY UNIVERSITY JOHN W. RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Helping Career Coaching and Counseling Clients Make Positive Change through Faith
Integration
A Paper Submitted to
the Faculty of the School of Divinity
in Candidacy for the Degree of
Doctor of Education in Christian Leadership (Ed. D) Department of Christian Leadership and
Church Ministries
By
Mary Gracias
Lynchburg, Virginia
10/2022
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” – Martin Luther
King, Jr.
Faith integration is an important part of coaching and counseling clients. Research indicates
that when a treatment plan takes into consideration the client’s worldview, including spiritual
belief systems, the therapeutic alliance is strengthened and other positive outcomes occur
(Koenig, 2004; McMinn, 2011). Professionals who can competently assess and address a client’s
faith in the career counseling or coaching process will have the advantage of increased speed
and accuracy in assessment, intervention planning, and establishing goals. This article will serve
to orient readers to the need, process, and facilitation of integrating a client’s faith into career
services.
Recent research and statistics demonstrate that for many Americans, decision making is
informed by faith or faith related values. A 2013 Gallup poll reports that 90% of Americans hold
a belief in God (Newport), yet licensed counseling professionals ascribe to religious belief at a
lower rate than the general population (Aten & Leach, 2009; Pargament, 2007). Career
counselors and coaches, including but not limited to those who practice under the banner of
faith related services, must demonstrate competency in how to assess the meaning and value
clients place on faith in their own lives and be equipped with strategies to respond
appropriately.
When discussing the role of faith in clients’ career decisions, some may contextualize this
as applying to a subset of clients. However, every soul who sits in front of you has faith in
something, and for some clients, this is evidenced by their participation in your practice.
Coaches specializing in career services often have a high rate of self-referrals. Clients are
spending their money- or at least their time- with the hope that the coaching or counseling
process is able to help them reach the next level, get unstuck, learn new skills, discover their
destiny, or reach new insights.
Besides beliefs related to the efficacy of counseling or coaching, each client usually holds
several other healthy and unhealthy beliefs that strongly impact their career decisions.
Consider the following scenarios in which clients’ belief systems are central to their presenting
problem:
A client weighing a salary offer– part of his personal belief or value system is that he is
always ethically required to give 10% of his earnings to a church.
A student has decided to change their major from accounting to children’s ministry
because they received what they describe as a “higher calling.”
A student has been turned down for several positions she was highly qualified for, after
making it to the top two or three candidates each time. Yet she carries herself with a grace and
confidence that you wish you could bottle up and sell to all your other clients- and maybe take
some yourself. She attributes her attitude to faith in God’s plan for her life.
Other clients will present with a deep desire to connect their gifts and strengths to an
altruistic cause, as they desire to see a very direct link between their profession and
benevolence extending from their spiritual beliefs. Gerald Corey discusses Rabbi Harold
Kushner’s belief that “encountering God consists in doing the right thing […]we make room in
our lives for God when we do things that make us truly human, such as helping the poor,
working for social justice, and keeping in check our exaggerated sense of self-importance […]
leading a religious life is characterized by action. Acting on our beliefs is what matters” (Corey,
pg. 118).
Clients may seek career services due to a discomfort rooted in an inconsistency between
their belief about work and their current vocational reality. In a 2013 study by Barna, only
about one-third of presently employed Christians surveyed (34%) felt called to the work they
currently do. Particularly among Christians, one’s occupation is often talked about in relation to
God’s “calling.” And yet, only about one-third of Christians (34%) feel that their current
employment is a calling (among those who are presently working).
The Barna study asked employed Christian adults if they believe God is calling them to do
something else in terms of work, but they have not been willing to make a change yet because
of their current life situation. Overall, about one out of ten working Christians (9%) agreed
strongly with that feeling and another quarter(26%) agreed somewhat, totaling one-third of
today’s employed Christians (35%) who are experiencing this kind of tension about their calling.
Among younger Christians though, nearly half (44%) are feeling this disconnect between their
perceived calling from God and the realities of their current employment. As clients come to
you for career help, counselors and coaches must be able to recognize and help bridge the
frequent disconnect between the client’s perceived calling and vocational goals.
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