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'Counseling Ministry' Leads To Zephyrhills Reverend's Arrest

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By LISA A. DAVIS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 13, 2008

ZEPHYRHILLS - The Rev. Gary Don Cooper said Tuesday that his counseling practice is no different than the relationship a minister has when a parishioner seeks counsel at church, only his ministry is in a different setting.

Cooper was arrested Monday by Pasco County sheriff's detectives at his Caring Heart Counseling Services' strip-mall office, where for two years he has worked with clients to help improve their marriage and family life and battle depression, among other conflicts.

He faces a felony charge of unlicensed practice of a health care profession and spent several hours in the Land O' Lakes Jail before being bailed out early Tuesday. He said he will continue to counsel.

Three witnesses told detectives and a Florida Department of Health investigator that Cooper misrepresented himself as a licensed clinical psychologist and charged them money for the services, according to an affidavit.

Details about what sparked the investigation weren't available Tuesday. A spokeswoman from the state Department of Health, the licensing agency for health care professionals, said she was not able to obtain Cooper's file and was unable to contact agency investigators. Sheriff's office spokesman Doug Tobin said he didn't have additional details.

Cooper, 66, doesn't deny he counseled those clients and many more since he started his "counseling ministry," but he said he told clients he was a Christian psychologist and gives them pamphlets explaining what that means. Essentially, it is counseling with a Christian foundation.

"I feel it's a total misunderstanding, a misinterpretation," he said of the charges.

Cooper, once an ordained minister for the Church of Nazarene, began his counseling ministry at the First Church of the Nazarene in Zephyrhills in 1997 and moved the counseling services to their current location at 6536 Stadium Drive two years ago. He said he holds five doctoral degrees, including one in Christian psychology. He's an ordained nondenominational minister, so clients of all churches can feel comfortable with his help, Cooper said.

"There are so many Christians who are depressed, and it's based on spirituality," he said.

Cooper said he is licensed as a Christian psychologist by the Florida Association of Christian Counselors and Therapists. No one from that organization could be reached Tuesday. On the articles of incorporation filed with the state for the nonprofit counseling service, Cooper lists "Licensed Christian Clinical Psychologist" and his degrees for credentials.

He said he refers some clients to medical doctors or psychiatrists for further treatment. Cooper uses the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV, a mental health professionals' bible for diagnosing mental disorders. He said it's necessary to rely on the manual to come up with a proper treatment for his clients, though he cannot prescribe medications.

For his usual hourlong sessions, he asks clients for a "gift" based on a sliding scale of zero to $80, depending on their finances.

"I have never drawn a salary from this because I've never made money," Cooper said. "I just wanted to help people."

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