Pastoral Counseling Possible Answers 1.

Pastoral Care- is the more or less unstructured general work with youth, couples, couples and other such groups in various types of formal or informal conversations, dialogues and other communicative interactions. -it must hold together religious, ethical and psychological perspectives -brings full witness of the Christian community-even the moral perspective. Pastoral counseling-more specialized aspect of pastoral care hen individuals seem to need and even re!uest the presence and attention of the pastor in a more structural relationship in a specific time commitment in a designated place. - "ocus is the individual and his#her problems - $any instances the problem seem to entail some conflict, ambivalences and depression in the persons capacity to act freely and confidently - %he pastor&religious counselor should bracket temporarily, set aside any developmental impediments which seem to stifle personal growth. - %he problem does not seem to center primarily around the inability to take free and confident action but deals more with the area of value confusion and !uestions or religious commitment some it deals with both. Pastoral psychotherapy- most specialized aspect of pastoral care. - more specialized than pastoral counseling - 'ntails some kind of time limited contacts covering length and fre!uency of pastoral conversation. - (ave specialized setting and more specialized goals - Addresses more completely at the psychological and developmental obstacles with the persons life which may be impediments to free and confident thinking, decision making and action.

- )n general it resembles psychotherapy but it is still pastoral because it takes place within the moral and religious assumptive world associated with the *udeo-Christian tradition. +. )n highlighting the need for pastoral counseling, there are theological, sociological, and psychological reasons. hat do these reasons imply on our understanding of pastoral counseling, a. theological reasons -ecause human beings are a mi.ture or synthesis of body and spirit and human nature. %heir behavior is a product of both free decision and various forms of conditionedness. -ecause pastoral counseling has a part of its assumptive world a belief in /od who is both the author of a good creation and the ultimate agent behind all redemptive change. )t can take a positive attitude of the possibilities and resources for both the general human growth and redemptive change. b. sociological reasons0 bec. 1f the increasing secularization, we tend more and more to see human problems as either a mother of causality determined developmental and sociological problems or a matter of misused human freedom and less a matter of both. -ec. 1f the mi.ed nature of human problems, their strong sociological reasons. %o develop a new pastoral counseling emphasis in ministry and possibly. 'ven a new professional sub-specialty called 2pastoral psychotherapy3. c. psychological reasons-ecause humans are creatures who are partially sub4ect to the necessities and biophysical dev. As well as the conditioning of the environment, pastoral counseling needs the assistance of psychological disciplines to aid in the retrospective analysis of these determinants of human behavior.

-ecause humans are shaped by the developmental and environmental factors, the use of psychological analysis can greatly increase the accuracy of the effects of pastoral counseling to mediate the transformative resources of the Christian "aith. 5. '.plain and relate the meaning and implications of the three dialogues pastoral counseling and pastor need to be accountable to, a. dialogue with the faith tradition -pastoral counselors theological accountability -she continues to study the best in traditional and recent theological formulations as well as psychotherapeutic theory and to practice the reinterpretation of the faith in the light of what pastoral counseling e.perience reveals about human life. -the so-called religious counselor, 2Christian Psychologist3 may do something like this as a part of personal faith but the pastoral counselor is committed to do so at a level of professional competence and as an e.pression of accountability to the community of faith that authorizes his ministry. b. 6ialogue with ministerial role, function, and identity e.presses both theological and administrative accountability. %heological- re!uires an on going consideration of what representative ministry means in terms of historical and contemporary understanding. - $ore personal sense bec it raises the e.istential !uestion 2am ) still called to this ministry, and do ) have the gifts and graces for it,3 Administrative- in the institutional sense of response to a particular religious structure and theological in its !uestion to

the pastoral counselor of how it feels to be identified as a minister. - (ow does the pastoral counselor handle hasher embarrassment& feeling of power in being a minister, -is there an on going pastoral identity which can be e.pressed naturally, w#o conscious effort, C. dialogue with the specific religious community - involves participating in that community as it celebrates and interprets the faith, thus maintaining a common e.perience with all members of that communion. -here pastoral and religious counselors are alike. -they differ however in that the pastoral counselor is administratively responsible for reporting and interpreting his ministry in terms that can be understood by the authorizing body. 7eligious counselors have no comparable responsibility for interpreting their function. -the pastoral counseling as a representative member of he religious community 8ordained#commissioned9 is committed to cope with and even take responsibility for modifying the doctrinal and administrative peculiarities of his#her particular denomination or religious structure in the light if his#her ministry of pastoral counseling. -moreover, this function as a part of the ministry of the authorizing religious group, contributes 8at least indirectly9 to the pastoral counselor:s particular ministry of counseling.