Clinical Efficacy of Ritual Healing and Pastoral Ministry

This article seeks to explain the relationship between religion and healing with special reference to the phenomenon of ritual healing. Relying on diverse research findings that articulate the relationship between ritual and healing, this article contends that the clinical efficacy of ritual is sustainable by invoking the concepts of self-healing and placebo effect, and that its efficacy lies in its performance, not in its meaning being either decodable by the ritual performers or theologically encodable by professional thinkers. This, I contend, has practical implications for pastoral care and counseling ministry.

Toward New Directions for Ministry in Aging:

The church has a leadreship role in the field of aging in providing its own definitions, utilizing its own resources, and functioning with the spiritual orientation toward person-centered growth of the aging. While psycho-social theories of aging have shaped the church's role in the past, the church should avoid ageism, broadly define aging, and reinterpret its functions. The themes of religiosity, religion, theology, spirituality, and ministry are discussed. The developmental and wholistic goal of the church's involvement in aging is spiritual well-being. Solid theological basis and acerful spiritual focus lead to sound ministry. Development of the concept of spiritual aging is proposed.     

Pastoral Theological Reflection on Grief: Contemporary Theory and the Practice of Ministry by Melissa Kelley

This article highlights four of Melissa Kelley’s contributions in her book Grief: Contemporary Theory and Practice. The author identifies these as: 1) Kelley’s capacity to distill and synthesize the most important areas of contemporary grief theory; 2) her work on attachment theory and its relationship to people’s ways of coping with grief; 3) the focus on the research of Bonanno et al. (Journal of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 60:67–73, 2005) and showing us who is most vulnerable and in need of pastoral care during grief; 4) her emphasis on meaning making as the core of the grieving process. The article also lifts up questions concerning communal practices for grieving loss born of injustice and the need for prevention and fostering coping mechanisms so that the worst effects of grief might be mitigated.     

Pastoral care for pastors: Toward a church strategy

Areas of stress in the ministry are compared with those in the other professions. After noting the similarities and outlining some of the unique areas of need in the ministerial profession, the author discusses some basic presuppositions about appropriate career support models. The specifics of one such judicatory support system are outlined briefly and are related to the specific needs discussed earlier. A plea is made for greater investment in pastoral care for pastors as a means of supporting effective ministry as well as of meeting the legitimate needs of the pastors.Prior to that time, he worked as a hospital chaplain-supervisor and for fourteen years was Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at the St. Paul School of Theology, Kansas City, Missouri.     

Pastoral care and psychology of religion: Toward a new alliance

This paper explores the possibility of a closer working relationship between psychologists of religion and professionals in pastoral care. The first part identifies the major conceptual problems of pastoral psychology and pastoral theology. The second part indicates how psychology of religion provides pastoral psychology and pastoral theology with resources for solving these problems. The author concludes that grounds for an alliance between psychology of religion and pastoral care clearly exist; both, for example, share a fundamental interest in personal transformation and integration.This article was presented on the occasion of Professor Capps' installation as a member of the Phillips faculty.     

Pastoral Counseling of Older Adults: Toward a Short-term Integrative Approach

A rapidly aging population with its mental health care needs presents an enormous challenge in the current mental health field. In light of this, pastoral counselors will have an increasingly important role to play in the care of older adults because of their strategic position in the community and their competence in dealing with religious/spiritual issues particularly salient in old age. This article proposes a short-term integrative approach to enable pastoral counselors to effectively and efficiently meet the mental health care needs of the elderly.

The Intimate Third: Toward a Theory of Coherence

The flow and cohesion of personal existing, the sense of self, is broken up by trauma. The survivor of repeated traumata is left with a deficiency of self involving a subtle disintegration of consciousness. This paper focuses on the way in which self may be fostered, building on the work of Robert Hobson. He proposed a relational means toward coherence of self. The relationship characteristic of traumatic consciousness must be transformed into the triadic relationship of “aloneness-togetherness.” Steps toward this condition resemble the emergence of self in childhood. Extracts from a therapeutic session illustrate this generative pathway. After an initial state of traumatic “adualism,” a conversation ensues which culminates in the emergence of self, the crucial forerunner of which is the creation of an “intimate third.” The third has a unifying function.     

The New Narcissist and Pastoral Counseling

Pastoral Psychology - For some time now, psychiatrists and psychotherapists have recognized that they are working with a new individual, one who no longer seems capable of experiencing a sense of...     

Human Development and Pastoral Care in a Postmodern Age: Donald Capps,Erik H. Erikson,and Beyond

This article discusses Donald Capps’s use of Erik H. Erikson’s life-cycle theory as the basic psychological framework for his theory of pastoral care. Capps was attracted to Erikson’s existential-psychological model, his hermeneutic approach, and his religious sensitivity. Capps’s thought develops from first exploring biblical foundations for using Eriksonian theory for pastoral care to gradually embracing certain postmodern features. The article concludes with reflections on the usefulness of Erikson’s life-cycle theory and Capps’s work for contemporary pastoral care.     

从个体效能到集体效能--班杜拉自我效能理论的新发展

班杜拉于70年代后期提出了自我效能理论。但早期的研究主要集中在个体效能方面,强调个体行为的调控,却忽视了集体行为的研究。到了80年代中期,班杜拉又提出了集体效能的概念。经过十多年的研究积累。从90年代开始。班杜拉对集体效能概念进行了系统地理论整合和阐释。进一步扩展了其自我效能理论的内涵。因此,从个体效能概念发展到集体效能概念,代表着班杜拉自我效能理论的新进展。     

The Perceptions of Lutheran Pastors Toward Prenatal Genetic Counseling and Pastoral Care

The purpose of this study is to explore a theological perspective toward genetic counseling. A survey was sent to 207 ministers within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), to determine their perspectives toward four different scenarios in a prenatal genetic counseling setting. The four different scenarios included situations involving Huntington disease, Down syndrome, trisomy 18, and anencephaly. Nearly all ELCA Lutheran pastors perceived genetic counseling as beneficial and useful and wanted to be involved in the decision-making process for whether or not to terminate the pregnancy. Their views toward termination of pregnancy varied depending on the severity of the genetic abnormality. Severity in this study was based upon life compatibility. As the severity of the genetic abnormality increased, the percentage of Lutheran pastors who viewed termination as an option increased from 23% (Down syndrome) to 62% (anencephaly). A better understanding of how spiritual leaders view genetic counseling would provide an insight into how genetics and religious beliefs together play a significant role in shaping the decisions of those faced with abnormal pregnancies.     

The Debate on Structured Debate: Toward a Unified Theory

Although structured debate has been studied extensively over the past 20 years, little theoretical understanding of the phenomenon exists. By examining the literature, this paper builds a theoretical framework for understanding structured debate by raising and exploring several key, but previously implicit theoretical issues. The paper also argues that process modeling of structured debate in group settings can afford theoretical understanding, and offers several such models and coding schemes. The implications of structured debate in real-world settings are also considered.     

Bereavement after a Physician-Assisted Suicide: A Speculation Based on Theory

Despite the recent Supreme Court ruling upholding the ban on physician-assisted suicide, the practice continues in the United States. A majority of Americans support physician-assisted suicide, and several surveys document its use by physicians and nurses. This article explores the anticipated bereavement experience of significant survivors following a physician-assisted suicide. Theoretical approaches to bereavement frame the discussion of possible reactions to suicidal death: (1) psychodynamic, (2) attachment theory, (3) crisis theory, and (4) cognitive theory. Three case scenarios illustrate potential survivor reactions, with suggested intervention approaches.     

Bioethics and Pastoral Concern: Some Possible New Directions in Pastoral Theology

This special issue of the journal is comprised of papers given at a conference in May 2011 at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston on the theme of “Social Justice and the Health Professions.” This article offers the following rationale for this special issue in particular and for pastoral theologians to contribute to bioethics in general: (1) two contemporary theological thinkers in bioethics, Karen Lebacqz and Lisa Cahill, argue that theological discussions of justice broaden and deepen discussions of justice in mainstream bioethics—thus the focus on social justice provides an area for interdisciplinary and intersectional work; (2) pastoral theologians have not, to a great extent, contributed to discussions of religion and bioethics—this has been the territory of theological ethicists, especially during the 1970s; (3) one influential pastoral theologian, Bonnie Miller-McLemore, has called for (a) a broader concern for health in pastoral theology beyond psychological health and (b) more disciplinary approaches within pastoral theology beyond psychology so as to attend to “the living human web”; and (4) one way to advance the theological contributions in bioethics is by inviting pastoral theologians to focus on matters of social justice (an established area of intersection) as identified by health professionals, thus providing (a) new areas for inquiry and (b) new theological perspectives in bioethics. This article also suggests that pastoral theologians can contribute to bioethics by focusing on both “macro” issues (issues relating to structures and groups) and “micro” issues (issues relating to persons and experiences) as a way of pursuing the topic of justice in bioethics. The bulk of this article focuses on “macro” issues, but, in closing, the author articulates how he has been addressing “micro” issues in his own work. The author argues that both of these approaches—“macro” and “micro”—are legitimate ways for pastoral theologians to express pastoral concerns in bioethics.     

The Lessons of Art Theory for Pastoral Theology

This essay applies art theory to pastoral theology, using Rudolf Arnheim's views on the compositional structure of paintings to propose models for expressing the relationship of theology and psychology. From a structural feature of paintings, namely, their possession of a depth dimension and a frontal plane, two primary models are derived, convergence and juxtaposition. The viability of a third, structural uniformity, is also recognized. The larger purpose of the essay is to contend for a recovery of pastoral theology's mid-century emphasis on perception. Pastoral Theology at