Allen Bergin

Who is Allen Bergin?

Allen Eric Bergin is a clinical psychologist known for his research on psychotherapy outcome and on integrating psychotherapy and religion. His 1980 article on theistic values was ground-breaking in the field and elicited over 1,000 responses and requests for reprints, including luminaries such as Carl Rogers and Albert Bandura. Bergin is also noted for his interchanges with probabilistic atheist Albert Ellis.

Bergin was raised in a family that did not actively attend any religious services. He went to high school in Spokane, Washington and then began college at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He then transferred to Reed College. The school had four Latter-day Saints in its student body that year, one of whom was Bergin's roommate and another one, Marian Shafer, he began dating. The following year Shafer decided to transfer to Brigham Young University and Bergin decided to do the same. Through interactions with BYU professor and Reed alumnus Robert K. Thomas Bergin learned more about Mormonism and in March 1955 was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Thomas. After this Bergin married Marian Shafer.