Pastoral Professionals Research Articles

Lutheranism from Above and from Below: “Pastoral Professionals” and Trust within the Nordic State/Society Nexus

AbstractThe article points to the dispersion, democratization, and feminization of “pastoral” forms of power and authority since the mid‐19th century as a key to understanding the exceptionally high degree of social trust in the Nordic countries. Taking Norway as its central case, it argues that the Nordic welfare state has been shaped by an older, distinctively Lutheran–Pietist combination of educational forms of government from above and edifying popular self‐organization from below. This trust‐producing synthesis has been sustained by such “pastoral” professions as teaching, nursing, and social work, functioning as mediators between public welfare policies and the life world of citizens.

Improving Long-Term Care through Abuse Prevention and Ethics Training.

This article presents a solution for a critical issue, that is, elder abuse, and is focused on prevention through education and training for staff. Pastoral care and mental health professionals can benefit by using this film and curriculum for professional development when providing counseling, or when caring for elder clients on a long-term basis.

Assumptions about Frailty and the Tenacity of Ageism among Care Professionals.

Health, mental health, and pastoral care professionals encourage individuals to care for themselves in order to age successfully. Younger persons who live with long-term physical or mental health challenges are perceived as disabled or health-challenged. When older persons possess long-term physical or psychiatric challenges the older individual is perceived as frail or with deficits. Implications for clinical and pastoral care are considered as a result of perceptions of frailty in an ageist culture.

Spiritual Dryness in Non-Ordained Catholic Pastoral Workers

Background: We wondered whether “spiritual dryness” as a specific phase of “spiritual crisis” or insecurity is mostly a matter only of Catholic priests or can also be found in other pastoral professionals. Methods: In a cross-sectional survey, we measured the prevalence of spiritual dryness in non-ordained Catholic pastoral workers, and identified relevant predictors. Results: In a sample of 3.277 pastoral workers, 50% would occasionally experience phases of spiritual dryness, while 13% experience it often or even regularly. There were no significant differences between women and men, professions, or age groups. The best predictors of spiritual dryness were low transcendence perception and a low sense of coherence (both are resources), as well as depressive symptoms and stress perception (both are demands or stressors), which would explain 41% of the variance. Self-efficacy expectation and social support were not among the significant predictors. Conclusion: Both the proportions and the main predictors are similar compared to Catholic priests. It is thus not the underlying profession or vocation and the related life situation or differences in social support, but predominantly specific perceptions, feelings, and attitudes that are related to the phenomenon of spiritual dryness—and these can be found in all pastoral professionals who seriously live their spirituality.

Attachment and psychosomatic health among Catholic pastoral professionals

The study examines attachment representations and psychosomatic symptoms of Catholic priests and other pastoral professionals in Germany. We conducted structured biographical interviews with 83 Catholic pastoral professionals (47 priests, 36 lay pastoral workers). Attachment representations were diagnosed by use of the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP). Psychosomatic health data (Brief Symptom Inventory - BSI-18) were taken from the associated German Pastoral Ministry Study. In the sample, the proportion of secure attachment representations was 23%, of insecure- dismissing 39%, of insecure-preoccupied 18% and of unresolved attachment status 21%. Individuals with secure attachment representation were associated with lower values of psychosomatic stress, while individuals with insecure-dismissing and unresolved attachment status had higher values. The amount of insecure attachment representations and psychosomatic symptoms is higher than in data from the healthy samples, especially in the cohorts between 1933 and 1945. Data from biographical interviews indicate the significant role of institutional attachment to the Church, in many cases possibly compensating for dysfunctional parental relationships in personal history.

Do Self-efficacy Expectation and Spirituality Provide a Buffer Against Stress-Associated Impairment of Health? A Comprehensive Analysis of the German Pastoral Ministry Study.

We aimed to analyse stress perception, psychosomatic health and life satisfaction in pastoral professionals, paying particular attention to their individual and shared resources. Enrolling 8574 German pastoral professionals (48% priests, 22% parish expert workers, 18% pastoral assistants, 12% deacons), we found that pastoral professionals' stress perception is associated with psychosomatic health impairment. General self-efficacy was a beneficial resource to protect against stress perceptions, while perception of the transcendent had a further yet weakly positive influence for stress-related impairment of health. External stressors (i.e. team size, duration of work per week and size of pastoral unit) were only of marginal independent relevance.

Asian Female and Caucasian Male Couples: Exploring the Attraction

This essay examines the dynamics that trigger attraction between Asian females and Caucasian males. The author conducted ten interviews with Caucasian males who are interested in having a relationship with an Asian female; these men discussed their assumptions about Asian females. This essay then explores these dynamics in light of two books on East-West relations: Orientalism by Edward W. Said (1979) and The Asian Mystique by Sheridan Prasso (2005). Next this essay explores the psychological aspects of finding partners by drawing on the thought of John A. Sanford and C. G. Jung. And, finally, this essay concludes by addressing the need for pastoral care professionals to attend to interracial—in this case, Asian female and Caucasian male—couples.

2009 Spiritual Care Collaborative Survey Results on Continuing Education

Continuing education for chaplains, pastoral counselors and clinical pastoral educators is important for maintaining and advancing professional competency. Pastoral professionals who visited the Spiritual Care Collaborative (SCC) website to register for a conference were asked to complete a questionnaire on continuing education. Results of the survey show that continuing education, both in-person and through electronic means, were clearly ranked as the most important activities the SCC partner organizations could provide in the future. Additionally, continuing education preferences vary depending upon constituent groups. These findings have implications for the design of future educational programs.

A Comparison of Grief Reactions in Cancer, HIV/AIDS, and Suicide Bereavement

This study compared the grief reactions of people who mourned three different types of death: Cancer, HIV/AIDS, and suicide, and addressed the question whether these bereavement groups can be differentiated on the basis of their grief, as measured by the Grief Experience Questionnaire (GEQ; Barrett & Scott, 1989). The results indicate that these groups (cancer: N = 50, AIDS-related: N = 50, and suicide: N = 50) had different grief reactions, specifically, in the areas of stigmatization and unique reactions to suicide. The implications of these results afford grief counselors, health-care providers, and pastoral professionals, intervention strategies that enfranchise people, who may experience one of these types of deaths, to work through their grief. Furthermore, this understanding of specific grief characteristics can also be assimilated into a therapist's preferred bereavement paradigm, for example, stages of grief(Kiibler-Ross, 1969), phases of bereavement(Parkes, 1972), or tasks of mourning(Worden, 2004).

Mental Illness Publications in Major Pastoral Care Journals from 1950 to 2003

The issue of mental illness has been of considerable interest to both of us over the past several years. The first author has taught a course on the subject for a decade, and his recent publications on the subject include several articles on John Nash (Capps, 2003b, 2004a,b, 2005b), a book on mental illness for pastoral care professionals (2005a), and an article on whether William James was a patient at McLean Hospital (2007). The second author has had experience with the mentally ill through his pastoral work at Trenton Psychiatrist Hospital in Trenton, New Jersey, a mental hospital with a rather checkered history (see Scull, 2005), and in Scotland and has also written an article on John Nash (Carlin, 2006). This shared interest, together with evidence that serious mental illness in America has been steadily increasing (Torrey & Miller, 2001, pp. 295–299), caused us to wonder what sort of attention mental illness has received in our major journals of pastoral care from 1950 to the present. Specifically, has this attention kept pace with the increase in mental illness?

The Pastor and Bioethics

This essay presents bioethics or ethics in health care as a challenge to pastors. Common professional struggles are experienced by pastoral and health professionals. Thus, first, we need to consider the meaning of being a professional especially as pastors. Second, pastors might explore at least four specific medical issues: namely physician-assisted death or euthanasia, complementary or alternative treatments, the exercise of consent to medical procedures by patients or parishioners and families, and the crucial need for the donation of vital organs to save lives. Embedded within all four issues, there is a significant religious concern which requires the pastor's expertise.

Witnessing Spirituality in Practice

In the midst of continuing debates about the role of spirituality in occupational therapy, this research asked how descriptions of the daily work of occupational therapists and pastoral care professionals indicate attention to spiritual concerns in similar and distinctive ways. Qualitative interview data revealed therapist commitment to holistic practice, accompanied by a deep respect for client values, desires and dreams, the individual meanings of occupations and the importance of relationships to effective therapy. All of these aspects of practice have been identified in the literature as relating to spirituality. The pastoral care professionals indicated similar understandings of the importance of holism, the centrality of meaning and the significance of relationships, but also suggested noteworthy differences. While the therapists appeared to focus on identifying meaning, the pastoral care professionals concentrated on the search for or creation of meaning; and while the therapists drew on relationship as a tool for effective therapy, the pastoral care professionals viewed relationship as a site for healing work. Pastoral care also extended the understanding of interrelatedness to include a community dimension. The findings suggest important distinctions between two professions that both situate spirituality at the centre of their practice. These distinctions may prove useful for clarifying the scope of occupational therapy practice in this domain.

Promoting Patient Safety: Implications for Pastoral Care

This article provides an overview of current issues in patient safety, the subject of recently-implemented JCAHO standards, with attention to issues of special interest to pastoral care professionals and Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) students. Case studies of patient safety initiatives in two health care systems are used to illustrate the relationship between institutional core values and the just treatment of injured patients and their families, and to suggest opportunities for chaplains to contribute to patient safety efforts in their institutions. A list of suggested readings and online resources is included.

Care Teams and Pastoral Professionals: Response to the Health Care Changes of this Decade

Demographic changes already in motion will result in unprecedented population changes in the next four decades and beyond for which we have little time to prepare. In particular, as the population aged 65 and over grows, a significant cohort will manifest health-related needs of older age. Even in families with adequate health insurance, confronted with the chronic illness of loved ones, the need for continuous in-home support, including pastoral care, will become dire. For many families whose situations are complicated by low incomes, under-insurance, and membership of minority populations, pastoral support will tax their congregations beyond present capabilities. Interfaith Care Partners' Care Team model of in-home pastoral support is the most effective means of delivering the pastoral support such families need. It calls for a creative linking of hospital out-patient services with individuals' congregations, and, particularly, of a stronger connection between hospital chaplaincy services and community clergy.

Hindu Counselling in the Nederlands

Increasing participation of Muslims and Hindus in church-state relations in the Netherlands is bringing about a slow change in the different cultural and historical backgrounds of “non-indigenous” religious traditions and in their self-esteem and religious attitudes. We may call this participation, and especially the changes it causes, a good example of Systemzwang, the systematic power of the dominant but historically grown social and cultural order in which newcomers are expected to fit. This process of external influence will be demonstrated by the example of the development of the traditional Hindu priest, the pandit, to a modern professional pastoral or Hindu-spiritual counsellor and by the mutual-learning process of the religiously different pastoral professionals in the semi-governmental service organizations.

Prevalence and patterns of physician referral to clergy and pastoral care providers.

There is a heightened interest in spiritual and religious interventions in clinical settings, an area marked by unease and lack of training by physicians. A potential resource for generalists is specialty consultation and referral services, although little is known about the prevalence and patterns of involvement of clergy or pastoral professionals in patient care. To identify the prevalence and patterns of physician-directed patient referral to or recommended consultation with clergy or pastoral care providers and to describe attitudinal and demographic variables that can predict referring and nonreferring physicians. A mailed anonymous survey. Family physicians in the United States. Active members of the American Academy of Family Physicians whose self-designated professional activity is direct patient care. Of the 756 randomly selected physicians for participation in the study, 438 (57.9%) responded. Physician reporting on their attitudes and referral behaviors, including referral frequency, and conditions or reasons for referral or nonreferral to clergy and pastoral care providers. More than 80% of the physicians reported that they refer or recommend their patients to clergy and pastoral care providers; more than 30% stated that they refer more than 10 times a year. Most physicians (75.5%) chose conditions associated with end-of-life care (ie, bereavement, terminal illness) as reasons for referral. Marital and family counseling were cited by 72.8% of physicians; however, other psychosocial issues, such as depression and mood disorders (38.7%) and substance abuse (19.0%), were less prevalent. Physicians who reported a greater degree of religiosity had a small increased tendency to refer (r = 0.39, P<.05) to these providers. In addition, physicians who were in practice for more than 15 years were more likely to refer to clergy (P<.01). Most family physicians accept clergy and pastoral professionals in the care of their patients. In medical settings, the providers of religious and spiritual interventions have a larger and more expanded role than previously reported.

From the walls of the city: disabilities as culture.

Invites pastoral professionals to consider the disabled as a cross-cultural population who faces a crisis while searching for meaning in a larger culture that finds meaning in beauty, power, freedom from strife, and physical and emotional wholeness. Argues that the disabled merit the same informed and specific study as other persons who are "different." Urges pastoral professionals to examine what they know about disabilities and discusses the unconscious, unchallenged myths about the disabled and treatment implications of considering disability as culture.

Dependence and manhood

American culture is at best ambivalent and at worst hostile to the appropriateness of dependency in males. To reorient this cultural misconception, a healthful model of male dependency is needed-especially for health care and pastoral professionals. This paper offers such a construct by bringing the perspectives of a theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and a psychoanalyst, Heinz Kohut, to an examination of this issue. Out of this discussion, an ethic can be formulated which offers guidelines for the exercise of male dependency and a more complete model of manhood.