Larry VandeCreek, DMin, the author of A Research Primer for Pastoral Care and Counseling (now Part One of the current volume), is the retired Assistant Director in the Department of Pastoral Care, University Hospitals of The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. He also served as Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Neurology. His research interests and publications focus on quantitative research that elucidates the religious/spiritual needs of hospital patients and the impact of pastoral care. Hilary Bender, PhD, STD, is a clinical and research psychologist in private practice in Brookline, Massachusetts. He is a Boston University Professor Emeritus and is on the faculty of the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. His specialty in research and clinical work is the ""all-but-dissertation"" phenomenon and working with the many doctoral students who have completed all requirements for their degrees but the dissertation and become unable to make this final step. Merle R. Jordan, ThD, is the retired Albert V. Danielsen Professor of Pastoral Psychology at the Boston University School of Theology. He is a Diplomate in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and a Fellow and Approved Supervisor in the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. He is the author of Taking on the Gods: The Task of the Pastoral Counselor. Margot Hover, DMin, is an Association of Clinical Pastoral Education supervisor and the coordinator of pastoral research at Duke University Medical Center, Raleigh, North Carolina. She has received the ACPE Research of the Year Award and the Council on Ministry in Specialized Settings Research Paper of the Year Award. She is also the author of Caring for Yourself When Caring for Others.

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Despite astute critiques and available resources for alternative modes of thinking and practicing, individualism continues to be a dominating and constraining ideology in the field of pastoral psychotherapy and counseling. Philip Rieff was one of the first to highlight the negative implications of individualism in psychotherapeutic theories and practices. As heirs and often enthusiasts of the Freudian tradition of which Rieff and others are critical, pastoral theologians have felt the sting of his charge, and yet the empirical research that McClure presents shows that pastoral-counseling practitioners resist change. Their attempts to overcome an individualistic perspective have been limited and ineffective because individualism is embedded in the field's dominant theological and theoretical resources, practices, and organizational arrangements. Only a radical reappraisal of these will make possible pastoral counseling practices in a post-individualistic mode. McClure proposes several critical transformations: broadening and deepening the operative theologies used to guide the healing practice, expanding the role of the pastoral counselor, reimagining the operative anthropology, reclaiming sin and judgment, nuancing the particular against the individual, rethinking the ideal outcome of the practices, and reimagining the organizational structures that support the practices. Only this level of revisioning will enable this ministry of the church to move beyond its individualistic limitations and offer healing in more complex, effective, and socially adequate ways.

An in-depth look at who pastoral caregivers are, what they do, and how and why they do it

"This volume offers authoritative, easy-to-find information that will assist anyone engaged in the study or practice of pastoral care and counseling." "The Dictionary contains more than 1,200 articles, prepared by experts in the field, covering virtually every topic related to pastoral care and counseling. This Expanded Edition includes seven new essays and an extensive bibliography, which bring the volume up to date. The resource is ecumenical in its vision, enlisting the participation of nearly 600 Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, and Jewish contributors."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This engaging collection presents thirty essays by Muslim chaplains reflecting on their experiences as spiritual caregivers. Through their first-hand accounts, they impart how they skillfully apply the mercy and compassion of the Prophet Muhammad to the people in their care. They also share how their faith informs their service, how they navigate the obstacles of a predominantly Christian profession, and how they administer to the spiritual needs of people of different faiths or of no faith at all. Working in a variety of settings—including hospitals, prisons, universities, and the armed forces—Muslim chaplains encounter unique challenges on a daily basis, requiring them to call upon the resources of their Islamic faith with wisdom and tenderness. The contributors to this volume explore these circumstances vividly and honestly. Their personal stories are instructive of how Islamic principles can be employed with spiritual insight to bring strength and comfort to the sick and suffering.

Addresses the critique that pastoral care is indistinguishable from secular psychotherapy by placing a person's relationship to God at the center of pastoral care.