Definition of Terms in Pastoral Care and Counseling

Definitions

Every profession has a distinct language that is central to formation and practice in that profession. Pastoral care and counseling is informed and shaped by the discipline of pastoral theology, which seeks to provide the theological underpinnings and rationale for pastoral praxis. One of the historic methodological hallmarks of pastoral theology is to integrate the understandings of behavioral science, spirituality, and theology in providing operational definitions of praxis. These definitions reflect this integration in a way that helps define the uniqueness of pastoral care and counseling.

ACCEPTANCE. The therapeutic posture of receiving or taking in another person; an attitude of caring for and of holding in valued esteem another person as a person of distinct particularity. 

Genuine acceptance is a primary characteristic of the therapeutic relationship in most forms of insight therapy. Carl R. Rogers considered it one of the six necessary and sufficient conditions for therapeutic change. Historically, Rogers developed acceptance in relation to, and as a correction of, the tendency of the counselor "to pass some type of evaluative judgment upon the client" (1951). Acceptance is not agreement or approval; rather, it is a warm and positive evaluation of the individual whether or not the person lives up to or conforms with the therapist's values or expectations. Acceptance is also not synonymous with appraisal. It does not evaluate the individual's experience in terms of what is important or worthy; instead it respects and cherishes the individual's experience for its own sake. In this sense, acceptance is permissiveness. It is a suspension of all judgment, but unlike permissiveness it does not come out of a laissez-faire attitude. Instead it is a deep and genuine affirmation of the individual in the totality of her or his experience.

Rogers emphasizes the unconditional nature of acceptance. He maintains that the therapist should prize every facet of the client's experience, whether negative or positive. In his later writings, Rogers prefers the phrase "unconditional positive regard" to the less radical term "acceptance" (1951).

Genuine acceptance serves several purposes in the therapeutic process. It is the conditio sine qua non of a positive and enduring relationship between client and counselor. Furthermore, it provides a safe atmosphere in which clients can explore and experience their inner world of feelings and meanings. Rogers believes that it also enables clients to achieve self-acceptance. As clients experience the acceptance of the therapist, they gradually begin to take the same attitude toward themselves, feeling a "dawning respect for, acceptance of, and, finally, even a fondness for" themselves (Rogers, 1951). The achievement of increased self-acceptance is crucial to Rogerian healing, for it represents a reunion with the depths of one's experiencing and an ability to live spontaneously out of the fullness of one's being.

Pastoral counselors recognize the importance of genuine acceptance for the same reasons that psychotherapists do. In addition, they emphasize the symbolic role of the pastor's acceptance as not only personal acceptance but as signifying an infinitely transcendent acceptance. Ultimately, the pastor witnesses to and makes concrete God's unconditional acceptance of the human being who is basically unacceptable. This paradoxical truth is crucial to Christian healing, for it frees individuals from the compulsive need to make themselves acceptable and assures them of God's unqualified love.

Bibliography. C. R. Rogers, Client-Centered Therapy (1951). For a theological discussion: T. Oden, Kerygma and Counseling (1966).

 

ARCHETYPE. In analytical (Jungian) psychology, a primordial image representing psychic contents of the collective unconscious (as opposed to the personal unconscious) frequently manifest in dreams, myths, fairy tales, and symbols. As patterns of energy not directly experienced, archetypes yield an endless variety of distinct images shared by all people universally, for example, the mother or father imago, the hero, the tribe, or the deity. 

BIBLICAL PASTORAL CARE AND COUNSELING. Biblical pastoral care and counseling is based on the primary belief in the Bible as an authoritative pastoral resource for interpreting, diagnosing, and responding to human problems and crises. Typically, the biblical counselor or caregiver represents the Bible with considerable pastoral authority, and often adopts a confrontational stance in relation to the parishioner or counselee, a stance believed to be an expression of care in the best interest of the person or persons involved. 

1. Defining Characteristics of Fundamentalism. Biblical pastoral care and counseling is informed by Christian fundamentalism's central doctrine that affirms the absolute and inerrant authority of Scripture for life, faith, and theology. Other characteristics of fundamentalism derive from this tenet. Another distinguishing characteristic of fundamentalism is the doctrine of holiness or separation that influences fundamentalists to avoid dialogue and cooperation with those perceived to be willful disobeyers or deniers of Scripture. Mainly because of this, biblical counselors shun any use of modern behavioral science or "secular psychology" in addressing human problems.

2. Jay Adams as Representative. Jay Adams is the most widely known and influential theorist for biblical counseling. Adams emerged after a long period during which the social sciences had decisively influenced mainline pastoral care. He expressed several criticisms of this development: that pastoral care was losing its identity in relationship to the church, ministry, the Bible, and theology; that private practice counseling had little accountability to the church; and that the social sciences had more authority than the Bible as a guide for pastoral care. In response to these criticisms, Adams offered his own alternative, "nouthetic counseling," or more inclusively, a nouthetic pastoral method that makes explicit in an innovative way the traditional fundamentalist pastoral method.

a. Nouthetic counseling. "Nouthetic" is a transliteration of a Greek verb found eight times in the NT and for which Adams could find no adequate English translation, but which points to the basically spiritual character of Bible-centered counseling. Adams (1972b) insists that nouthetic counseling is the counseling theory and practice taught in the Bible. In brief, nouthetic counseling aims at personal change from sin to faith and righteousness, "brought about by confrontation out of concern" for the counselee's benefit. At its core, nouthetic counseling perceives itself as biblical counseling, counseling that is to be taught by the inerrant, infallible, and authoritative Word of God and empowered by God's Spirit. It evolves from a literalistic and legalistic biblical hermeneutic and is a rational, problem-centered, behavior-oriented approach.

b. Pastoral counseling in general. Adams understands pastoral counseling to be one aspect of the pastoral ministry. Indeed, he understands it to be akin to shepherding in its efforts to put "new life into one by convicting and changing, encouraging and strengthening after trial, defeat, failure, and/or discouragement" (1975, 14). Pastoral counseling is a ministry of the church, done by representative persons of the church, preeminently by the ordained pastor, but also by trained laity. As a ministry of the church, it takes place within the context of a body of believers who practice mutual edification and correction. In fact, the counseling session itself often includes other persons significantly related to the counselee in respect to the presenting problem.

c. Separatism. Adams strictly adheres to the doctrine of separation. First, Adams asserts that the best training for pastoral counseling is not to be found in a school of psychology or of medicine but in a seminary that provides a proper biblical and theological foundation. Second, Adams insists that one avoid all sources that do not hold biblical presuppositions. The Bible is the textbook for counseling. Admittedly, Adams does say that science may illustrate, fill in generalizations, and challenge human interpretations of the Bible. However, except for occasional references to sleep studies, one finds little evidence that Adams acknowledges that he has been informed by other disciplines that he calls non-Christian. Further, Adams designates the evangelical view that all truth is from God as a ruse of Satan. Third, he perceives psychology and psychiatry as having incorrectly informed pastoral care and as having crossed into the turf of pastors who are the only true doctors of the soul (or psyche). Fourth, Adams is very concerned that the pastors protect their flock from those holding false doctrine.

Bibliography. J. E. Adams, The Big Umbrella (1972a); The Christian Counselor's Manual (1973); Competent to Counsel (1972b); Pastoral Counseling (1975). J. Barr, Fundamentalism (1977). D. E. Capps, Biblical Approaches to Pastoral Counseling (1981). J. A. Carpenter, "Fundamentalism," in S. S. Hill, ed., Encyclopedia of Religion in the South (1984). S. G. Coles, The History of Fundamentalism (1931). N. F. Furniss, The Fundamentalist Controversy, 1918 –1931 (1954). G. M. Marsden, Fundamentalism and American Culture (1980). See also the website for the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors: http://www.nanc.org. S. D. KING 

BURNOUT. A syndrome, often occurring among individuals in helping professions, involving emotional and physical exhaustion, depersonalization, and a feeling of reduced personal accomplishment. Other symptoms include headaches; gastrointestinal disorders; lingering colds; weight loss; sleeplessness; shortness of breath; feelings of tension and anxiety; overuse of food, coffee, or chocolate; memory loss; irritability; daydreaming; tendency to blame; withdrawal; cynicism; marital dissatisfaction; impatience; feelings of inferiority; emotional flatness; loss of interest in hobbies; preoccupation with one area of one's life; and spiritual dryness. 1. Causes. There are several theories about the causes of burnout. C. Maslach (1982) and other social psychologists believe that burnout can be understood best by focusing on situational, environmental, and demographic factors, such as long working hours, little feedback regarding one's work, lack of family time, low salary, understaffing, life changes, unrealistic expectations, lack of time off, and inability to control one's schedule. This view supports the pastoral observation that people—whether church-school teachers or pastors—do not burn out from overwork so much as from lack of support.

Internal factors may also be involved, however. H. J. Freudenberger (1980) represents a psychoanalytic position that believes that intrapsychic or personality tendencies are a more reliable explanation of burnout. These include need for approval, workaholic qualities, authoritarianism, unassertive acts, overly sensitive reactions, "type A" personality, poor self-worth, and the "messiah" complex—the belief that only "I" can do everything best. Clinical pastoral experience along this line points also to identity issues, especially in pastors who attempt to fill diverse or conflicting roles and become confused about their pastoral identity in the attempt.

Instead of the linear causality of external or internal factors, a third model, proposed by L. Heifetz and H. Bersani (1983), understands burnout as a cybernetic interplay of situational, intrapsychic, interpersonal, physical, and spiritual factors. The combination of these five factors leads to burnout when the homeostatic balance among them is heavily weighted on one and not compensated by another. To illustrate, individuals feeling the pressure of unrealistic expectations imposed by others (an external factor) find it necessary to maintain homeostasis by drawing on internal self-confidence (internal factor) or spiritual resources. They may further enhance homeostasis by directly confronting the persons having the expectations (interpersonal variable). If these complementary efforts do not compensate for the external stress, the individuals are likely to experience burnout. This view assumes a holistic understanding of persons; each area affects the other, and it is the combination that leads to burnout.

2. Prevention. The following suggestions can enable pastors and other helping professionals to prevent burnout. (l) Gain a clear understanding of personal strengths and weaknesses; this helps one distinguish between external and internal sources of stress, and seek help when appropriate. (2) In order to gain a sense of purpose and priorities, carefully plan one's directions, focus on essentials, and learn to say no without feeling guilt or giving offense. (3) Structure changes in the environment that will relieve the stress, and adjust to factors that cannot be changed; such steps might include spreading unpleasant tasks between enjoyable ones, guarding productive time for creative pursuits, eliminating repetitive annoyances, learning to separate leisure activities from work, and attending workshops to gain new practical ideas. (4) Develop interpersonal relationships in which one can experience support and affirmation. (5) Take action to resolve interpersonal conflicts and differences. (6) Learn constructive ways of dealing with anger. (7) Achieve a balance between empathy for people and overinvolved sympathy, which diverts one from central issues. (8) Develop relaxation and recreational outlets by learning at least one relaxation technique, exercising, getting proper rest, having a balanced diet (with restricted sugars), making occasional retreats to nature, avoiding states of helplessness by taking control, and implementing a coping strategy in tough situations. (9) Seek professional help when that seems warranted.

The symptoms of burnout can be thought of as a built-in alarm system in the body signifying that life is out of balance. With proper attention to these symptoms, balance can be restored and burnout can be prevented.

Bibliography. K. Albrecht and H. Selye, Stress and the Manager (1979). E. Brachter, The Walk-on-Water Syndrome (1984). S. Daniel and M. L. Rogers, "Burnout and the Pastorate: A Critical Review with Implications for Pastors," J. of Psychology and Theology 9 (1981), 232–49. H. J. Freudenberger, Burnout (1980). L. Heifetz and H. Bersani, "Disrupting the Cybernetics of Personal Growth: Toward a Unified Theory of Burnout in the Human Services," in B. Farber, ed., Stress and Burnout in the Human Service Professions (1983). C. Maslach, Burnout: The Cost of Caring(1982). J. Warner and J. D. Carter, "Loneliness, Marital Adjustment, and Burnout in Pastoral and Lay Persons," J. of Psychology and Theology 12 (1984), 125–31. D. G. CONGO 

CARE OF SOULS (Cura Animarum). The traditional term for pastoral care. The primary meaning of the Latin word cura is "care," although it also includes the notion of "healing." The word anima was the most common Latin translation of the Hebrew nephesh ("breath") and the Greek psyche("soul"). "Soul" has many shades of meaning in Scripture. In Gen. 2:7, when God breathed into his nostrils, the man became "a living being," yet the same word, nephesh, is used in Gen. 2:19 to describe animals (though translated "living creature"). In the NT "soul" stands for the essential human being, with emphasis on its transcendent destiny. The care, or cure, of souls, then, is distinguished from other helping enterprises by its consistent reference to ultimate meaning.