Strategic pastoral counseling

Document Type:Essay

Subject Area:Religion

Document 1

Hence, it is from this point of view that I agree to Banner's statement, which states that "the foundation of a helpful pastoral encounter lies in the personal qualities of a pastor” (Benner, 2003). Of course, this is because according to the scope of practice of a pastoral counselor, the pastor is expected to achieve specific goals including enlivening the other party's mind to ensure a healthy personal relationship between the two with the end motive being personal growth of the counselee. In any situation, it is believed that for one to be deemed honest, they have to show by their actions and what they do. It is least expected for a wicked pastor to always maintain good deeds or for people to follow their teachings.

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Therefore, for people to follow the teachings or counseling tips of pastors, they have to ethical, honest, and maintain high levels of integrity. For instance, empathy as a trait that allows the pastor to understand the client's feelings and be sensitive to the thoughts and past experiences of the counselee. Although it might be simple recognizing the unavailability of respect, it is not so easy defining and reflecting respect in the day-to-day interactions with individuals. Respect implies showing high regard for someone or something. The requisites of respect have to be taken in consideration from both an individual and social context. People learn the fundamental guidelines for respect or regard as kids. The stages include the encounter stage, the engagement stage, and the final stage being the disengagement stage (Benner, 2003).

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Besides, each stage of the counseling process is also sub-divided into other minor categories that the pastoral counseling process must undergo through to ensure the effectiveness of the entire process. From the stages, it is evident that the first stage, which is the encounter stage, is aimed at building a rapport between the counselor and counselee with the aim of building a personal relationship between the two. Overall, this is done by conducting thorough research on the client's history and conducting a personal diagnosis to get an insight into the clients past and the cause of the problem (OZOLIŅŠ, 2012). The second stage involves studying the behavioral aspects of the clients and determining the best ways to handle the patient by applying the effective personal attributes of pastoral counseling.

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