Defining Pastoral Psychotherapy

Abstract

Notes the problems involved in attempting to define pastoral psychotherapy by using descriptive attributes. Defines pastoral psychotherapy as “a psychotherapeutic activity in which a pastoral psychotherapist observes, understands, and interprets the psychological, religious, and moral dimensions of the ongoing process through psychological, theological, and ethical frames of reference.” Offers a brief clinical illustration of how such a definition may find expression in the actual clinical practice.