Drs. Richard and Phyllis Arno are the founders of the National Christian Counselors Association. In 1983, they conducting research and developing a scripturally based therapeutic procedure that would produce effective, positive, and more immediate results with those needing guidance/counsel.
During this time of research, the Arnos worked with more than 5,000 individuals. These were persons who sought counseling for depression, inter/intra-personal conflict, marriage and family dysfunction, and anxiety.
The purpose of this research was to develop an accurate, clinical, testing procedure for initial identification of the counselee's inborn, God-given tendencies/temperament.
In-depth studies were conducted, during this same time, on all of the current psychological tests and/or behavioral inventories. For many reasons, Drs. Arno selected the FIRO-B, which was developed by Dr. Will Schutz, as their initial measuring device or questionnaire. The Arnos named their analysis procedure the Temperament Analysis Profile (T.A.P.) and subsequently re-titled it in November 2000 to the Arno Profile System. It reveals the "hidden problems" that normally take the counselor seven or eight sessions to identify. Presently, over 3,000 Christian leaders, ministers and professional Christian counselors rely on the Arno Profile System to aid them in their counseling efforts.
The Arno Profile System does not measure a person's behavior; it identifies a person's inborn, God-given temperament. Who God created us to be (temperament) and who we become (through learned behavior) can be entirely different. We need to find out who we really are, and find ways to become the person God wants us to be (the true self) instead of the person we have learned to be (the masked self).
Drs. Arno also identified a fifth temperament. Traditionally, there have been four temperaments, Melancholy, Sanguine, Choleric, and Phlegmatic. The fifth temperament, that was identified by the Arnos' research over 14 years ago, is called the Supine. This identification area describes a person who is a servant and feels that he or she has little or no value.
The information that the A.P.S. places in the hands of a Christian counselor is biblical, extremely important and state-of-the-art. It only takes 8 to 10 minutes for the counselee to respond to the 54 questions.
The Arno Profile System, that was developed and continues to be taught by Drs. Richard and Phyllis Arno, is highly recognized, accepted, very professional, and a tremendous asset to all Christian counselors.