The pastoral counselor as specialist within ministry

The article attempts to demonstrate the continuity of the specialized ministry of pastoral counseling with all Christian ministry. By the use of a case fragment from a pastoral counseling case, it attempts to raise three central issues which, in terms of how they are dealt with, can determine whether or not a particular experience of counseling is Christian ministry. These issues are: the role of the minister and the context for ministry; the way in which the method of counseling can be shown to be related to a norm for Christian ministry; and the way in which the counseling process is interpreted and understood.His article is an extensive revision of an address given to the annual convention of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors in April, 1980.     

Legal concerns of the pastoral counselor

The United States is increasingly becoming a legalized society wherein laws are determining what a pastor providing counseling can and cannot do. The pastoral counselor needs to be cognizant of which laws are helpful and which are restrictive in the counseling which he/she provides. This article was written to provide a beginning understanding of the following issues: confidentiality, privileged communications, clergy privilege, state licsensing and tax-exempt status. The issues of malpractice insurance and third party payments are also touched upon briefly.He is a minister of the United Church of Christ and a Diplomat of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. His article is based on a lecture at the Denver meeting of the AAPC and is reprinted with his permission.     

Lawyer and pastoral counselor: A team for divorce counseling

Conclusion The dull thud of the gavel ends a way of life. At the same time, a new status that is both easier and more difficult is created. Gone is the strain of an unhappy home full of bitterness, recriminations, and unhappy memories that can be recalled and repeated like peeling off the layers of an onion. On the horizon is a new way life, full of optimism and aspirations. Yet this new life is not without its own hazards. Life is like a river that may run smooth for a while but that ultimately will face rapids. We can almost hear the rapids in the distance and know they are there. We don't know now exactly what form they will take and exactly how they can be overcome.When spouses face a divorce, they are intimately involved in unfamiliar territory. With the help of a qualified pastoral counselor and an attorney functioning as an interdisciplinary team, they can face divorce and post-divorce problems bravely, in an informed manner, with proper perspective and realistically. Each should be prepared to discuss and evaluate the future relationship of the parties and their children in the areas of future finances, credit, the second marriage, visitation, relationship to the children, and their insurance estates. Then there are few surprises. The new life can begin with an increased awareness that prepares each party for future contingencies. Also, the lawyer and pastoral counselor become a supportive team who are available both now and in the future.     

Prognostic signs for the pastoral counselor from the life of Christ

Summary In this paper I have suggested examples of character traits in persons Jesus tells us about, or whom he dealt with, which can serve as suggestive material in determining the prognosis of persons either in or contemplating pastoral counseling. Among these I have given: first, the ability of a person to reach out, still trying to become life-related or to maintain the relations which he has already established; second, the capacity of the person for relationship, his being able to have feeling, interest, or concern for others, or reality beyond himself; and, third, I have indicated the idea of a person's being able to look at himself in an objective sense, not merely needing to live a defensive life, guardedly protecting his ego as though it could not tolerate any kind of a critical approach. In these concepts of self I believe we have the basic questions regarding the person's success or failure in the process of pastoral counseling.     

The alienated counselor

This paper deals with the question of the difficulty of communication between the counselor and those individuals who live in the ghetto and who are usually described as alienated. It describes the alienated client and the alienated counselor. On the assumption that the alienation is the responsibility of the counselor rather than the client, the article then goes on to describe the kind of counselor who might be referred to as “non-alienated.”