Dr. Stephen P. Stratton
Professor of Counseling and Pastoral Care
Stephen P. Stratton, Ph.D., is Professor of Counseling and Pastoral Care and a licensed psychologist (KY) and counselor educator. Before his full-time appointment at Asbury Theological Seminary in 2006, he served as an adjunct professor at Asbury University where he was for 18 years the Director of the university’s Center for Counseling. He also served for three years as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Louisville. He is an Approved Health Service Provider in Kentucky and an Approved Supervisor for the Kentucky Board of Psychology. He is a Fellow with the Sexual and Gender Identity Institute (SGI).
Dr. Stratton holds membership and leadership positions in both counseling and psychology professional guilds, and he regularly presents at the state, national and international conferences of these organizations. He is a seminar director for the Prepare-Enrich Inventory (Life Innovations, Inc.) since 2010, and he is a trained facilitator of Immunity to Change workshops (Minds at Work, Inc.) since 2013.
Dr. Stratton has provided psychological services to adolescents and adults in hospitals, community mental health agencies, pastoral settings, and college and university centers since 1983. He has special interest and advanced training in the areas of human relational attachments, sexual/gender identity, contemplative practices, and the integration of counseling and Christianity. He currently enjoys opportunities to help churches and religious/spiritual communities consider discipleship from an attachment-informed perspective.
He is part of a research team investigating the experience of sexual minorities at faith-based colleges and universities. A book based on one of their early studies, Listening to Sexual Minorities: A Study of Faith and Sexual Identity on Christian College Campuses was published in 2018. He is currently a fellow with the Sexual and Gender Identity Institute, where he and his colleagues are analyzing data from a recent study comparing the experiences of undergraduate students who are navigating sexual and gender identity at faith-based and secular institutions.
In 2017, he received the “Distinguished Member Award” for his teaching, research, and pastoral leadership for the Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS). In 2012 and 2020, Dr. Stratton was presented the “Excellence in Teaching and Learning Award” by Asbury Theological Seminary for “consistent excellence in the classroom.” In 2010, he was named “Psychologist of the Year” by the Kentucky Psychological Association for “his innovative teaching and outstanding scientist-practitioner model[ing]” in the state.
He is married to Carol (Lehikoinen) Stratton, and they enjoy connections with the lives of their adult daughter and son. The Strattons are active in relational training, experiential worship, and contemplative prayer ministries. They are leaders in worship and laity training at Nicholasville Methodist Church.