Die evaluering van 'n opleidingsprogram vir Christelike lekeberaders.

M.A.The Institute of Child and Parental Guidance at the Rand Afrikaans University presents a training course in Christian Lay Counselling. The aim of the course is to train people with a christian background as lay counsellors so that they can do counselling in a congregation and/or a church environment. This research entails a critical, scientific evaluation of this training programme to determine whether the experimental group's (n = 30) theoretical knowledge, counselling skills and attitudes was significantly enhanced by the training programme in comparison to the control group (n = 30). Chapter one addresses the problem and objective of the project. An overview of lay christian counselling is given in chapter two and in chapter three the training programme for christen lay counsellors of the Rand Afrikaans University is presented. The research procedures of the project are discussed in chapter four and the results of the research are given in chapter five. The results of the research are interpreted, conclusions are drawn, critique and recommendations are made based on the research findings in chapter six. The pass rate for the course in christian lay counselling was 100%. There is a negative correlation (r = -0,254) between the theoretical and practical mark for counselling skills. The growth in counselling skills is measured by using the "Group Assessment of Interpersonal Traits" (GAIT) by menas of pre- and post test procedures. The experimental group showed a marked, positive growth (p = 0,0160) in their application of counselling skills within a counselling framework. The control group showed a marked decline (p = 0,0156) in terms of the application of counselling skills within a counselling framework. The improvement in attitudes (personal growth) is measured by using the "Personal Orientation Inventory" (P01) by means of pre- and post test procedures. The experimental group showed a marked, positive growth in the following four scales of the PO1: Time Competent (Tc)(POI 1)(p = 0,0296), Inner Directed (1)(POI 2)(p = 0,0242), Feeling Reactivity (Fr)(POI 5)(p = 0,0255) and Intimate Contact (C)(POI 12)(p = 0,0013). The control group showed a marked decline (p = 0,0229) in terms of post test scores in relation to the Inner Directed scale (1)(POI 2). It would appear that the training programme for christian lay counsellors did in effect have a distinct positive influence on the experimental group's theoretical knowledge of counselling, the application of counselling skills in practise as well as the personal growth of course attendants