Background
Howard Clinebell was born in Springfield, Illinois on June 3, 1922 to Howard J. and Clem (Whittenberg) Clinebell.
theologian university professor
Howard Clinebell was born in Springfield, Illinois on June 3, 1922 to Howard J. and Clem (Whittenberg) Clinebell.
He "graduated from DePauw University in Indiana and Garrett Theological Seminary in Illinois. He earned a doctorate at Columbia University in New York City." In addition he studied psychotherapy at the William White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Psychoanalysis in New York City.
He pioneered a counseling approach that combined psychotherapy and religion. He went on to become counselor at Methodist Hospital in Arcadia. In 1959 he joined the Claremont faculty as a professor of pastoral psychology.
Clinebell retired in 1988.
Clinebell is author or co-author of more than 20 books of which the most influential are "Understanding and Counseling the Alcoholic Through Religion and Psychology" (1956) and "Basic Types of Pastoral Counseling" (1966, revised edition "Basic Types of Pastoral Care and Counseling" 1984). With his book on counseling of alcoholics Clinebell introduced the concept to view alcoholism as a disease rather than a character deficiency in religious circles.
As one of the fathers of the pastoral counseling movement Clinebell was an early advocate of training in psychotherapy for seminarians aiming to work as counselors. Besides pastoral counseling Clinebell addressed topics like personal problems in the context of relationships, the effects of social systems on individual lives, and the relationship of human beings to the environment.
Clinebell died April 13, 2005 of complications from Parkinson"s disease at Vista del Monte Retirement Community in Santa Barbara.
He was a founding member of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors.