The purpose of this study is to study anew the identify of pastoral counselling and the approach therein that includes care for the soul. There are several types of soul care in the tradition of the Church. Pastoral counselling is one kind of new car...
The purpose of this study is to study anew the identify of pastoral counselling and the approach therein that includes care for the soul. There are several types of soul care in the tradition of the Church. Pastoral counselling is one kind of new care for the soul that is related to the recent development of psychology. In the term pastoral counselling itself, pastoral is understood as belonging to the subject of theology, and counselling as belonging to psychology.
In counselling, theology is not something that is far removed from daily life. The thought of God that clients express in counselling is that their own anthropology is always revealed and closely connected to their daily life.
What counselling is, is that, clients come to the counsellor to ask for help, and as the counsellor helps the client to explore and understand himself or herself and his or her problems and predicaments, the counsellor in this process, helps the client to achieve the client's own aim, determined by his or her own psychological change. In counselling, there is a clear goal and a method to achieve that goal. The method contains the theory, the process of counselling and the procedure. First of all, the counsellor fully understands the counselling approach that he or she chooses so that the counsellor helps the client to solve their problems in exploring and understanding their problems by the basics of their approach.
Pastoral counselling began in America in the middle of the twentieth century when counselling came to be practised widely. Pastoral counselling, in relation to 'pastoral care', is an activity that is based on the values of theology and christianity. Especially, pastoral counselling is an activity that is understood in the big frame of 'pastoral'. Pastoral counselling is 'pastoral', and it is important to understand that what makes the pastoral elements determines what is the identity of pastoral counselling.
There is need to distinguish between the activities of pastoral care, pastoral counselling, pastoral psychotherapy, and spiritual direction. These four activities are the type that are being done in the church to help people but there are differences in their respective helping contents, extent, aim, and approach. Unlike pastoral care and spiritual direction that have a tradition in the church of care for the soul, pastoral counselling is a special type of care for the soul.
The theory and method the pastoral counsellors use to make decisions in pastoral counselling lead us to understand what pastoral counselling is. Because the 'pastor' is the pastoral counsellor ,the counselling cannot become pastoral counselling. Also, because the client who comes to counselling is a catholic, it does not mean that it is pastoral counselling. Being irrelevant to their religion, as well as the content of the counselling, what makes the decision regarding pastoral counselling is revealed in the whole counselling process. In general, the counsellor has the counselling theory and approach that are suitable to the counsellor so that he or she can help the client's problems. In conclusion, if the pastoral counsellor also has a strategic counselling approach, he or she can help the client more effectively in the frame of pastoral counselling.