Pastoral Relationships Research Articles

Religious doubt and depression in later life: gender differences in the buffering role of supportive pastoral relationships.

Research suggests that religious/spiritual (R/S) matters take on increasing importance in later life and tend to be favorably associated with mental health, but religious doubt or uncertainty can undermine this salubrious relationship. Few studies assess whether social relationships, and the support contained within them, can mitigate these negative mental health consequences. The current study focuses on an important yet understudied social relationship in the context of spiritual struggles in later life: informal support from a religious pastor. Members of the clergy occupy a highly prestigious position in the church and are often a trusted resource for older adults as they confront problems. We use two waves of longitudinal data of Christian older adults in the Religion, Health, and Aging Study (2001-2004) from the United States (N = 639) to test whether support from a pastor attenuates any detrimental mental health effects of carrying religious doubt in later life. Results from lagged dependent variable models suggest that increases in religious doubt are associated with increases in depression over time, and that greater pastoral support attenuates the relationship between increases in religious doubt and depression, but only for men. We highlight the need for future research to explore this important social relationship with religious clergy for older adults in confronting both spiritual and secular challenges and the importance of considering gender differences in the process. We also suggest several practical implications for religious clergy, family members, and older adults in dealing with or helping others confront spiritual struggles.

Vulnerance of Pastoral Care

Disproving assumptions to the contrary, this article clearly shows how and why adults can become victims of abuse in church contexts. It does this by focusing on the pastoral care context and the interdependent potential risk factors lying within. As previous studies suggest, this context is especially susceptible to perpetrating abuse. Approximately three-quarters of all cases of abuse occur or begin in the context of pastoral care or spiritual counseling. Often, theories of pastoral care do not address this danger and tend to idealize the practice of pastoral care. In contrast, it is necessary to recognize a specific power to victimize due to the theological and structural power differential in pastoral relationships. Therefore, this article proposes a complex understanding of “vulnerability” and “vulnerance” that accounts for the victimization potential inherent in all pastoral care settings and advocates a theory of pastoral care that is not only concerned with the individual but also incorporates reflections on structural and systemic power dynamics.

Trostbedürftig und hassgefährdet. Religiosität in Zeiten globaler Krisen

Abstract The article shows that severe global crises, such as we are currently experiencing, threaten not only natural and mental life, but also spiritual life. Self-confidence, trust in the world and trust in God are shaken. For theology and the churches, self-examination and self-criticism should be the first priority in this situation. Long-held misconceptions of God and God's omnipotence and nature-romantic notions of creation urgently need to be corrected. Constructively, the powers of the divine Spirit, a spirit of justice, freedom, truth, peace and human kindness should be recognized, appreciated and strengthened. This Spirit gives multiform comfort and counteracts the dangers of the spread of a multifaceted hatred. The danger of hatred not only in its loud and aggressive forms, but also in the quieter forms of increasing unkindness and decreasing trust in God, paralyzing resignation and indifference, is counteracted by the Spirit of comfort in an overwhelming way. It surrounds us from all sides, not only in family, friendship, therapeutic and pastoral relationships. As a Spirit of practiced justice, freedom, truth and peace, it is a worldwide source of reassurance, security, confidence, courage and new hope.

The Unedited Self: Fostering Subversive Imagination in Ministry with Boys and Young Men

This article draws from the life and work of George Bellows (1882–1925), a noted American painter at the turn of the twentieth century, in relation to his art instructor, Robert Henri (1865–1929), to envision pastoral relationships that foster spontaneous self-expression and the embrace of intrapsychic complexity in contemporary American boys and young men. It examines cultural trends and male psychosexual struggles that bolster undue self-screening at the expense of archaic, semiconscious desires to see and to be seen, to know and to be known. By identifying with artwork, artist, and art instructor, ministers or mentors aspire to evoke and enrich several facets of their own and their protege’s self-experience, designated here the unedited self, the unmanifested self, and the unencumbered self.

Quality Pastoral Relationships in Healthcare Settings: Guidelines for Codes of Ethics.

"Pastoral caregiver-patient relationships" sections in ethical codes commonly provide a list of principles, proscriptions and prescriptions, with a focus on boundaries to safeguard the professional character of pastoral relationships and avert their harmful potential. The article promotes this code section's coherency and comprehensiveness by respectively (i) drawing a framework in the context of which ethical guidance can be orderly presented, and (ii) focusing on the inter-personal core of pastoral relationships and their healing potential.

Witnessing Lot's Wife

The literature surrounding the fate of Lot’s wife agrees that memory is dangerous business. Scholarly opinions diverge, however, regarding whether the danger of “looking back” arose from the pain of grief or from subversive disobedience of divine injunction. Were the angel’s words a warning or a command?This paper will examine the role of the pastoral caregiver in witnessing traumatic memory. Pastoral relationships are present to various forms of recollection, including flashbacks, the therapeutic process, and ritual. This creates a dynamic of dual spectatorship: the individual looks at her/his traumatic past, while the caregiver looks at her/him. This tableau mimics the Biblical scene in which Lot’s wife becomes petrified as she glances toward her burning home; like Lot, the caregiver stands further removed from the horror. For fear of sharing his wife’s fate, Lot continues his journey without ever turning to bear witness to this loss.Inasmuch as the pastoral caregiver works to bear witness, (s)he is vulnerable to “vicarious trauma.” Unlike Lot, who forged ahead despite Sodom and his wife both crumbling behind him, the caregiver risks glimpsing the apocalyptic scene in the process of attending to the petrified woman.This leads back to the questions posed above: was the fate of Lot’s wife nature or punishment—and how can the pastoral caregiver heed this cautionary tale? This paper will describe transgressive, masochistic, and healing modes of memory, drawing from the literatures of pastoral and trauma studies. The caregiver’s role will be examined with regard to each mode in order to assess the importance of witness and the risk of vicarious trauma.

Pastor, Mentor, or Father? The Contested Intimacies of the Eddie Long Sex Abuse Scandal

In September 2010, four young African American men filed lawsuits against Bishop Eddie Long and New Birth Missionary Baptist Church alleging that Long had sexually abused them as teens. Though the case generated a number of discussions about the institutional politics underwriting clerical privilege, missing was detailed attention to the interior social dynamics that connected the religious participants. Informed by an examination of the case's legal texts and related local and electronic media, this article examines how the relationships between Long and his accusers were differentially constructed as pastoral relationships, mentorship ties, and spiritual kinship bonds. Applying anthropological frameworks that demonstrate how different forms of sociality can intersect to reinforce social structures, I use this timely investigation to argue that despite the variegated and contested character of the relationships, all are mutually organized by the social logic of patriarchy and the complex intimacies mediating contemporary Afro-Protestant religious belonging.

Culturally Competent and Spiritually Sensitive Therapy with Lesbian and Gay Christians

This article presents results from a retrospective qualitative study of 27 lesbian and gay (LG) Christians that examined religious and spiritual issues and resolutions. Participants were also asked to identify the necessary knowledge and skills that practitioners (social workers, therapists, pastoral care providers, and so on) working with clients who are coming out need to help such clients integrate their sexual orientation and religion or spirituality. By analyzing the stories of participants, the authors identified information to enhance practitioners' cultural competence and spiritual sensitivity. Themes identified as important were having a historical perspective, self-awareness, and a nonjudgmental attitude; expanding definitions; and understanding the power of words. Participants described both their negative and positive experiences in integrating their faith and sexual orientation, and offered pragmatic suggestions for LG Christians. Themes identified were reframing scripture and tradition, supportive pastoral relationships, affirming Christian communities, peer support, and educational resources. This article will increase practitioner understanding of how to support the integration of sexual orientation and Christianity for LG clients who are coming out. It is also a resource for LG Christians who can benefit from reading stories of those who have successfully integrated their faith and sexual orientation.

ABUSE OF POWER IN PASTORAL RELATIONSHIPS

Pastoral Care, in a mental health setting as elsewhere, ideally offers understanding, comfort and help. But pastors are only human, and can in subtle ways, consciously or unconsciously, fall short of their own standards. This article discusses ways in which power can be abused in the context of pastoral relationships, and gives illustrations and examples from the author’s own experience in mental health chaplaincy.

Chaplains Perceptions of Supervision

Several professional groups have effectively incorporated supervision into their everyday practice. Chaplains as a ‘caring’ profession cannot be immune from the personal effects of engaging in pastoral relationships with patients, carers and staff. Clearly, Chaplains require adequate support to prevent ‘burnout’ and stress. This paper explores Chaplains perceptions of supervision using a focus group methodology. The emerging themes from the findings provide a valuable insight into the perceptions and attitudes of chaplains towards the concept of supervision. In particular, Chaplains view supervision as a necessary part of their professional practice.

Geriatric-Focused CPE as a Tool in Seminary Training

Clinical Pastoral Education in a geriatric setting enhances seminarians' classroom education and prepares them for pastoral care with the growing numbers of elders they will serve in congregational, health care, and residential settings. Strengths of a geriatric setting for CPE include demographic congruence with most ministry settings, breaking stereotypes of aging, longevity of pastoral relationships, opportunities for multifaceted care, decreasing fear of dementia, learning from care recipients, caring for multiple generations of a family, learning about the importance of context to pastoral care, exposure to systems, end-of-life decision making, learning about a good death, and profound clinical theological reflection. Several downsides of geriatric settings are also described.

Power, justice, asymmetry and relationality in pastoral care and parent–child relationships

This contribution develops a practical theological reflection on power in relations of ‘pastoral care’. In a first step, different critiques on ‘power’ in pastoral care are analyzed. The author argues that the influence of ‘power’ has to be taken seriously in pastoral relationships. In a second step, a reflection on care for children functions as a starting point for thinking about power, asymmetry and mutuality in pastoral relations. Thereby, the reflection about ‘asymmetry’ in the theories of Emmanuel Levinas and Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy is considered as fruitful not only in parent-child relations, but also in relations of pastoral care. Reflection on pastoral care should also include thinking in terms of ‘justice’. In a third step, the author argues that a relational anthropology is the basis for an adequate thinking on power, asymmetry and mutuality in pastoral relations. In a fourth step, the author asks how we can avoid thinking about pastoral relationships in an excessively individualistic way, and how we can avoid the individualistic tendency that the parent-child relationship inspires when reflecting on pastoral relationships? She argues that solidarity is a very important aspect in thinking about asymmetrical relationships. Nevertheless, it does not remove the burden to reflect permanently about goals and aims in relationships, about justice and about power balances.

Reconciliation: A Real Possibility for Survivors of Sexual Abuse in Pastoral Relationships?

In matters of sexual violence in a pastoral relationship, forgiveness and reconciliation seem impossible assignments. After all, a person in a position of trust (the pastor, elder, deacon) has expl...

Pastoral relationships and holding work in primary care: affect, subjectivity and chronicity

To understand family doctors' constructs of long-term therapeutic relationships with patients in primary care. Semi-structured interviews were administered to general practitioners with > 5 years of experience (n = 28) working in an English semi-rural district, and the results were subjected to constant comparative qualitative analysis. Participants identified pastoral relationships as long-standing patterns of doctor-patient interaction aimed at providing reliable supportive care indirectly concerned with clinical medicine. Holding work was identified as a technique for structuring and delivering care within pastoral relationships. Pastoral relationships and holding work were seen as valuable in the affective management of people with long-standing chronic illness, especially mild-to-moderate depression and anxiety. At a time when primary care is undergoing significant structural change, respondents in this study laid emphasis on personal and continuing relationships with patients who had diffuse needs connected with the experience of complex and chronic problems, and their accounts intimately connected life events with health status. Importantly, these accounts suggest that such relationships are hard to define and therefore hard to measure, but have important therapeutic purposes.

Pastoral relationships and holding work in primary care: affect, subjectivity and chronicity

Pastoral relationships and holding work in primary care: affect, subjectivity and chronicity

Trinity, Polyphony and Pastoral Relationships

The author explores the Christian doctrine of the Trinity to shed light on the nature of the pastoral ministry. Using the trinitarian term, "polyphony" (David Cunningham) for this purpose, he explicates unity and difference as key polyphonic categories in the doctrine of the Trinity. The author suggests that the polyphonic notes sounded by pastoral caregivers are toughness and tenderness, woundedness and health, wisdom and folly, and communion, nearness and distance.

Erotiese oordrag en teenoordrag as psigologiese fenomeen in ’n pastorale relasie

The psychological phenomenon of erotic transference and countertransference within the framework of pastoral careThis article aims to discuss the psychological phenomenon of transference and countertransference in therapeutical relationships. This phenomenon often leads to a sexual relationship resulting in emotional and psychological damage to both partners. The cause of this destructive sexual relationship is based on the therapist’s misunderstanding of positive transference within the therapeutic relationship. The therapist, unknowingly in most instances, misuses his or her position of trust for sexual exploitation of the client. This phenomenon also manifests in pastoral relationships. This article describes the phenomenon and provides possible guidelines to the pastor in order to identify and prevent the occurrence of “sex in the forbidden zone.”

The Chaplain's Role in an Institution for the Mentally Retarded

SUMMARY A chaplain in an institute for persons with mental retardation faces challenges in pastoral relationships, worship, religious education, working with a team of clinicians, and theological reflection. The minister must think creatively and tailor his or her responses directly to the needs of the person with mental retardation. Taking into account the needs of each individual, the minister must communicate through physical interaction, repetition of themes, and a great deal of participation on the part of the person with mental retardation. Out of these concrete pastoral experiences, theology can be developed that uses the experience of parents of those with mental retardation. This theology can question the traditional divide between those with mental retardation and the “normal” people.

A Psychodynamic Perspective and Theological Implications of Hate and Hostility in Pastoral Counseling

ABSTRACT In this essay I discuss, from a psychodynamic perspective, the challenging and beneficial task of recognizing, containing, and working through hatred and hostility in pastoral counseling relationships. I briefly describe Freud's, Klein's and Winnicott's theoretical and clinical perspectives on hate and hostility in order to highlight several crucial and beneficial aspects and constructive functions of hate and hostility in human development. This provides the groundwork for positing three necessary steps in achieving a greater sense of trust, spontaneity, and hope in pastoral counseling relationships. First, the pastoral counselor must recognize possible signs of and defenses against hatred and hostility. Acknowledgment is the first step toward handling and making use of hate. Once recognized, hate and hostility must be contained by not retaliating, condemning or withdrawing but by meeting the client's hate with “objective hate.” This communicates to the client that hate and hostility will not de...

How Not to Do Pastoral Care on the Smoker's Porch or I Didn't Mean to Inhale

A short article written in a paradoxical and humorous way which prompts a pastoral reflection. The article points out that specialized settings have areas for pastoral care that may well take a creative approach. Ways to establish pastoral relationships are listed in a paradoxical way. Also highlighted is the extreme “neediness” of people to engage in conversations.