Interview with Rev. Dr Victor George on Decision-Making Process

Read this interview with Rev. Dr Victor George, a pastor and counsellor, on his decision-making process based on the 5 stages of grief model by Kübler-Ross. Learn how his biblical beliefs helped him counsel even the most difficult cases.

Interview 1
Name of the student:
Name of the institution:
Roll No:
Date of submission:

Interview 2
Summary
The interview was conducted with Rev. Dr Victor George, who has been a pastor and
counsellor for the longest time. The interview showed his decision-making process, which is
similar to the process that has been described as the grief model by Kübler-Ross. The model
was about the 5 stages of grief, which the pastor has taken to be the 5 stages of decision-
making (Newell, et al, 2015). It draws on his biblical beliefs, which the pastor feels are
important as well.

Interview 3
Interview
1. Have you ever been forced to counsel someone you didn’t want to?
Yes, I had been forced to counsel someone I never wanted to. There was this man who was in
prison for raping some women, and then murdering them. He was feeling suicidal after 5
years in the prison and I had to go and counsel him, since at that time I was a part of a church
that was in the area, and I had to go and counsel them.
2. How did you feel about it?
I felt terrible about it. I was a man of God, and this man had committed the most heinous
crimes. But I was forced to do it, since I was the only one in the pastoral group who was a
trained psychologist. It felt wrong in many ways, but I had to convince myself to do it.
3. How did you get through the counselling process?
There is a phrase in the Bible, Mathew 7:1-5, that says “Do Not Judge, or you too will be
judged”. That is the phrase I kept saying to myself all the time. Psychopathy is a personality
disorder, according to DSM-5. The man was a psychopath, but I was not in the position to
judge him in any way.
4. Did your belief help in getting you through the counselling session?
Yes, it most definitely did! I would not have been able to conduct the counselling session if I
was not such a devout believer in God. I still feel that a few Bible phrases, such as the one
mentioned above, and Luke 6:37, which says “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do
not condemn and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven.”
5. Have you ever had to counsel someone that you knew?

Interview 4
I did have to, on many occasions. I once had to counsel my niece, because I was in a small
town, and the only pastor there. It is against the code, I know, but there was simply no other
choice for her.
6. Can you try describing your experience?
It was hard. In my head I kept thinking, this goes against the foundations of what I have been
taught as a counsellor. But to simply refuse to counsel her would have led to terrible
consequences. It was awkward throughout since I knew that I was not supposed to be
counselling them, but it got normal after the first 15 minutes.
7. How did you decide to counsel them?
The decision, in many ways, had been made for me. But, in seriousness, it was probably my
sense of ethics and morals, and my Biblical beliefs that led me to the decision to counsel
them. In many ways, it was like going through the 5 stages of grief, except it was regarding
deciding. It was a hard process. I had to give it a lot of thought, which is why it was a process
that I was going to remember.
8. Would you please explain the process?
The first stage is denial. I was in denial. For the longest time, I believed that it was not going
to happen to me. The second stage was anger. I was angry I was being made to do this. The
third stage was Bargaining. I was bargaining with the higher-ups to send someone else. The
fourth stage is depression. I was upset, but I mostly skipped this stage. The final stage was
acceptance. I made the decision and accepted it as it is.
9. What is this process based on?
The process is based on the 5 stages of grief model by Kübler-Ross. The 5 stages of grief, as
defined by the model, were denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance (Kubler-ross

Interview 5
& Allen, 2018). The model has been extremely influential on me as a counsellor, which is
why I think I base my decision-making process on the model as well. Psychology is about
finding a system that works for you, and this system, I found worked very well for me, which
is why I choose to keep going through with it.
10. What do you feel about decision-making and the process that is associated with it?
The decision-making process is something that is individualistic and changes from person to
person (Betsch, 2014). It does not have a universality to it. Making a decision about
something is a personal choice, which is why the process is personal too.

Interview 6
References
Betsch, R. D. M. T. (2014). Preference theory: An affect-based approach to recurrent
decision making. In The routines of decision making (pp. 69-96). Psychology Press.
Newell, B. R., Lagnado, D. A., & Shanks, D. R. (2015). Straight choices: The psychology of
decision making. Psychology Press.
Kübler-Ross, E., & Allen, W. (2018). 18. End of Life Issues.