Abstract
The growing interest in spirituality has enabled numerous avenues of pastoral counselling support, which can be a useful resource for improving quality of life in the context of significant social deprivation. The aim of this research was to investigate the role of the spiritual dimension of pastoral support interventions created to help the inhabitants of a strongly deprived territory in Southern Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight people between the ages of 28 and 67 took part in the study. A qualitative research design was applied via online interviews with the participants, who were operators of a pastoral counselling service located on the outskirts of a suburban town. The main emergent themes were the importance of religiosity and spirituality in the lives of the participants, the role that these two aspects play in the lives of those who carry out activities devoted to helping others, and the ways in which these dimensions are used within support programmes responding to the needs of an area characterized by socioeconomic and psychosocial problems. The interviews revealed how pastoral counselling can be useful in situations of stress in highly deprived areas.
Highlights
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in spirituality and religion and recognition of their role in people’s lives, but the two terms are often used interchangeably (Testoni et al, 2019b)
We used the tool of pastoral counselling during the COVID-19 pandemic in a deprived suburban area in Southern Italy
According to Sergio (44 years old, a priest, who for the last two years has been in charge of the diocese in which the project was organised), Spirituality is that irrepressible direction in every human being
Summary
There has been a growing interest in spirituality and religion and recognition of their role in people’s lives, but the two terms are often used interchangeably (Testoni et al, 2019b). This practice harmonizes the psychological dimensions of counselling with confessional, theological, and ethical issues (Snodgrass, 2015) To help both individuals and more complex contexts, such as families and different territorial realities, practitioners start from the life experiences of the individuals while referring to religious teachings (du Plessis, 2021). The strengths of this method are its capacity to enhance the spiritual dimension, understood as a dialectical and trusting relationship with transcendence, with others, and with oneself (Desrosiers et al, 2011; Koenig, 2015), and to guide everyday intimate and relational life (Norenzayan, 2013). This growing need was the reason for activating the pastoral counselling service
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