Pastoral and Religious Counseling

Using a method of critical correlation, the author recommends an interaction between clinical psychology and liberal theology which preserves their unique sources, methodologies, and content, while engaging in a mutually enriching dialogue. This work illustrates a constructive interaction between these disciplines by applying the concept of reconciliation derived from the Judeo-Christian tradition as a foundation for a normative and empirical theory of psychotherapy. Linguistic and phenomenological analyses of the cognitive, affective, behavioral, and conative dimensions provide an understanding of the experience of reconciliation compatible with the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.

Highlighting the cultural, spiritual and professional aspects of counselling in pastoral settings, this book explores key issues like the significance of religious tradition, appropriate professional boundaries, and the nature of transference and counter-transference. Other chapters discuss how counselors can respond therapeutically to survivors of abuse in religious settings and the challenges associated with pastoral counselling work. Combining theory with relevant case material, Clinical Counselling in Pastoral Settings is a useful resource for anyone involved in therapeutic work with a religious dimension.

This introduction to psychology has been devised for those training for and working in the clergy. Ideal both as a professional handbook and a textbook, it covers social, developmental, educational, occupational and counselling psychology, as well as the psychology of religion. It carefully considers the processes of personal change and growth central to religion.

Therapist Dr. Dorothy S. Becvar suggests that at some level we choose our experiences as a means of providing opportunities for learning lessons essential to our personal growth. Becvar claims that regardless of what her clients believe in, she has found that a spiritual orientation often encourages deeper levels of healing, helping them to define meaning in life and to achieve ultimate satisfaction.

This is a resource for helping professional caregivers respond sensitively and competently to individuals who present religious concerns in counseling and psychotherapy. The need for a guide to psychological treatment is underscored by evidence that the majority of Americans hold strong religious convictions. Genia shows how, regardless of particular religious allegiances, a person's faith normally progresses through five distinct stages over the course of a lifetime. Psychological conflicts may cause developmental aberrations that lead to unhealthy and destructive forms of faith. The book provides psychological profiles of adults who typify each stage and shows how spiritual and psychological problems are inextricably intertwined.

Using a method of critical correlation, the author recommends an interaction between clinical psychology and liberal theology which preserves their unique sources, methodologies, and content, while engaging in a mutually enriching dialogue. This work illustrates a constructive interaction between these disciplines by applying the concept of reconciliation derived from the Judeo-Christian tradition as a foundation for a normative and empirical theory of psychotherapy. Linguistic and phenomenological analyses of the cognitive, affective, behavioral, and conative dimensions provide an understanding of the experience of reconciliation compatible with the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.