Resource Tag: PASTORAL COUNSELLING

This chapter reviews issues that arise when clergy try to help suicidal persons engage in treatment, examines problems that may be encountered when making referrals into the mental health system, looks at practical skills inherent to the clergy & unique qualities of pastoral care, & provides techniques for facing predictable problems. It describes good pastoral […]

This chapter notes that in a time of darkest despair, the religious comfortor is faced with the responsibility of entering into the deep shadows of life’s most tragic moment. The challenges & the opportunities are to confront death itself, to listen to the survivors of the suicide, & to bring “a sense of the holy” […]

This chapter discusses the meaningfulness of funerals, rituals & anniversaries for suicide survivors. The author shares his belief that a death by suicide should be interpreted in terms of its medical rather than moral implications for the benefit of surviving members. He notes that the clergy play a variety of roles in the grieving process […]

This chapter presents & discusses 3 cases which suggest that pastoral care professionals & mental health professionals alike need to be sensitive to the suicidal client’s search for relatedness, belonging, & community. The care offered may be quite different in different cases. 2 factors that are most significant in shaping these differences are the severity […]

In developing rituals for healing & remembering, pastoral care draws upon tradition & the needs of the present to create healing experiences that are transformative. The goal of pastoral care is to help the bereaved move through the experience & into renewed health & wholeness. In this session, the author outlines 11 steps that can […]

Stauffacher says that the use of the home visit is one of the strengths that clergy have in giving care to people & remaining involved. Pastoral counselling does not involve replacing caregiving facilities in the community but finding out what resources are available, where they are, & making relationships with agencies so that referrals can […]

This Study Team Report to the Commissioner of Corrections concerns 7 jail suicides in Atlantic Canada over a 6-month period. The team met with correctional services staff, inmates & inmate committees. The report examines the 7 cases, the role of chaplaincy services, a statistical analysis of federal jail suicides, management review reports & inmate services, […]

This review outlines book content & notes it grew out of a series of conferences. Contributors include psychiatrists, theologians, psychologists, pastoral counsellors, rabbis, pastors, ethicists, & chaplains. The book, recommended as a “definate read,” takes a pragmatic approach in assisting clergy to deal with suicide. The liberal use of case materials vividly portrays the issues. […]

This book is an outgrowth of a conference developed by the Center for Suicide Research & Prevention at Rush-Presbyterian-St Luke’s Medical Center. It addresses suicide in theological traditions, delineates fundamental knowledge & skills for clergy, considers physical illness & suicide, discusses grief after suicide, & explores spitiruality & mental health. Three appendices provide basic information […]

Catholic pastoral care in the pre-Vatican church was both sacramental & moralistic. Vatican II unleashed forces within Roman Catholicism that would cultivate a reconsideration of ministry & pastoral care. This chapter tracks some of the more significant aspects of this evolution & discusses their implications for Catholic pastoral care, noting that care extended to a […]

This presentation outlines the work of a committee of mental health workers who meet with staff counselors & trainers following a suicidal death or attempt by a client at the Pastoral Counselling & Education Center in Dallas, Texas. The Center logs in excess of 3,000 client hours. The program provides support & protection for the […]

This edited book begins with 2 chapters on psychological & sociological perspectives of suicide. The 3rd chapter discusses what the Bible does & does not say about suicide. Chapters 4 & 5 are concerned with ethical questions related to suicide. They identify a framework & a set of guidelines for addressing these questions. The last […]

Reports the case of a 64 year old woman with terminal colon cancer for whom attention to spiritual needs made a significant difference in physical symptoms, as confirmed by visual analog scores. She initially rejected any emotional connection with staff members but gradually developed a relationship with the pastoral care worker, with whom she could […]

This article is based on the experiences of a minister in dealing with families who have lost loved ones. His insights are related in the following categories: listen quietly, always say “die”, keep the focus on the family, watch the signals you send, connect the family with other sources of support, give the family time, […]

The author of this article, a police chaplain, offers some suggestions for helping people bereaved by suicide. These include: 1) being honest about how the person died; 2) accepting feelings such as anger; 3) leaving judgement of the victim to God; 4) replacing rejection with acceptance; 5) remembering that just being there is of value […]

The author begins by reviewing warning signs that indicate an individual may be considering suicide. He then discusses intervention techniques, such as the establishment of rapport between the clergyman & the troubled person. Grollman states that ministers can play a significant role in treating potential suicides through: 1) early detection; 2) proper referrals to helping […]

The author is the director of pastoral services at the Porter Memorial Hospital. He has organized this bibliography into the following categories: 1) pastor – personal needs & support; 2) pastor – pastoral care & counseling; 3) pastoral care/chaplaincy; & 4) pastoral care – special interventions. References to bereavement materials are included in the fourth […]

In this chapter, the author presents the desirable qualities of a pastoral counsellor, the role & position he should take with his client, types of phone calls that face a pastoral counsellor & how to deal with them. The author concludes by stating that the hallmark of pastoral counselling is that God’s reconciling love is […]

The case of “Nally v. Grace Community Church of the Valley” is viewed as the case that will decide if clergy who practice counselling have protection from malpractice actions. A review of the case is given. The authors argue that pastoral counselling is neither totally religious nor totally secular, & point out that psychiatry should […]

The authors assert that attitudes toward death have moved in recent years from uncertainty to doubt. They explore problems emanating from society’s unsettled, contradictory, & anxious attitudes about the meaning of death, with special attention to the funeral director’s role in this dilemma. (LH)

The author describes some general aspects of suicidal attempts (ie. they are often related to an intense suffering, are a call for help, are related to a relationship break up), in conjunction with some characteristics of clergy which are significant in the handling of suicidal situations (ie. they are friends/counsellors, respected, have experience/knowledge of community […]

Using a case history to discuss and illustrate his hypothesis, the author elaborates the aspect of responsibility as a significant dimension of relating theological concepts to the complexities of life. Varioius levels of responsibilty are described as are some of the processes by which they are achieved. Self-acceptance can occur only to the extent that […]

This article shares the author’s research & reflections on the subject of suicide among the elderly. 3 questions are addressed: What are some of the recent findings regarding incidence & reasons for such suicides; What has been the Judeo-Christian attitude toward suicide throughout the centuries & up to the present day; and what future steps […]