Pastoral Counseling

In his article “Introduction to Pastoral Counseling,” Donald Browning distinguished the three sets of terms pastoral care, pastoral counseling, and pastoral psychotherapy. Pastoral care is the most inclusive among these since it comprises the miscellaneous work with the varied sectors of society in many forms of communication and interaction. Pastoral counseling, on the other hand, is more attentive to the individual and his/her problems. But the one which is more specialized than pastoral counseling is pastoral psychotherapy because it is so considerably influenced by secular psychotherapeutic theories, however, it is yet pastoral for the reason that it is in the realm of moral and religious tradition.

Browning has finely described pastoral counseling as that which refers “to those caring acts of the church under the guidance of the minister that addresses issues of care from the perspective of both Christian theology and the modern social sciences.” In line with this perspective, I have noted for myself as a student of theology to somehow become more skillfully aware of these sciences in order to become an effective pastoral counselor. Seeing to this need find myself in congruence with what Browning has presented, the six reasons why the church and society should encourage the development of a pastoral counseling perspective on the care of individuals.

The reasons laid by Browning on the aspects of theology, sociology, and psychology has left upon myself facets of understanding. I realize the inseparability of our competence in theology and the proficiency in human sciences when dealing with matters related to pastoral counseling. We as future pastoral ministers, although we are trained in the area of theology, should be familiar with the sciences of human behavior or at least be acquainted with making referrals. Since we seek upon the total or integral human development, we take into consideration the various aspects of the human person. But it should be noted that when we refer to theories of human development, we must take into account the moral and religious commitment of our faith.

In the course of the development of pastoral counseling, Orlo Strunk, Jr. noted the gradual emergence of this ministry as the convergence of theology and psychology became hazy when one discipline is in conflict with the other. But later on, psychology found its way to be of use in Clinical Pastoral Education. The CPE movement then became an important factor in the development of modern pastoral counseling. The field of pastoral counseling is increasing as perceived in the growth of American Association of Pastoral Counselors and the recognition of a wider range of issues that may me considered. As a student, I have the enthusiasm to look into this further development of pastoral counseling that is very much helpful in the actual life of service to the community of believers.

The points raised by Clyde J. Steckel are also interesting, although I found it difficult to picture out because it is a kind of projection to the future. But we hope for positive development as we see the signs of growth. One of these signs is the acceptance of pastoral counseling in diverse religious communities in we can project the future influence on theology and ethics. Another is its expansion to different cultures and places in the world. The application of a wide array of therapeutic methods and theories is also another growth that would require a further development of theological understanding of pastoral counseling. The increasing number of problem areas that are to be considered needs the attention of the pastoral counselor to focus on theological and ethical reflection.
The many variations and considerations have given the risk of how pastoral counseling will retain its sense of being a singular discipline. Thus there is a need for an increased understanding of pastoral counseling with respect to this variability.