Overview of Pastoral Counselling

Online ISSN: 2971-5202
Overview of Pastoral Counselling Pastoral Counselling . Oct 20, 2021 . 25 Mins Read . PC - Admin .

Abstract

The thrust of spiritual counselling is to bring humans back into right relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and to lead them into the abundant life which God ordained for all humanity.  In Nigeria, pastoral counselling is an emerging academic discipline with platform for apologists of diverse faiths and religions, each expressing their perspectives. Jesus Christ remains the model pastoral counsellor. Pastoral counselling is all about empathetic delivery of biblical psychotherapy. It is expected that the Christian therapist, apart from being trained in psychological counselling, should be born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, with demonstrated knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. The pastoral counsellor, full of love for humanity like Jesus, intervenes in various cases including (but not limited to) bereavement, trauma, personality disorders, spiritual commitment, marital differences, sibling rivalry, financial incompatibility and mental health concerns of church members and other inquirers.


Introduction

In the opening chapters of Genesis, God teaches us basics of pastoral care and counselling, in the manner He related with Adam and Eve, before and after their fall into sin. God has consistently demonstrated His love and compassion towards man who He created in His own image, after His own likeness. Right from the creation, God made the first man Adam only after He had put all things in place for his comfort. God saw that it was not good for the man to be alone so He provided Eve for him. Even after Adam and Eve disobeyed and sinned against God, God still clothed them with leather clothing. From that point, every generation continued in defiance of God. However, God already made provision for humanity’s redemption. The sacred scriptures record “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but will have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus Christ of Nazareth was unarguably the model pastoral counsellor, every Christian therapist should emulate. All the qualities of the efficient counsellor were exemplified in him. Characteristics such as empathy, unconditional love for humanity, unconditional positive regard, and systematic delivery of therapy, among others, were demonstrated by Jesus in his earthly ministry. Pastoral Counselling has been a primary duty of all those entrusted with spiritual leadership, as pastors or ministers in a local congregation, since the selection of deacons in Acts of the Apostles chapter 7. The word “Pastor” literally means shepherd, nurturer, watchman, carer. Pastors have a divine mandate to watch over spirit, soul and body of individuals and families committed to their care. Theological training of the clergy may not necessarily make the pastor a counsellor. It will take some level of training in pastoral counselling for a pastor to earn the title “Pastoral Counsellor”. N. Pam (2013) describes Pastoral Counselling as “a type of counselling or psychotherapy wherein knowledge and standards stemming from the disciplines of theology and the behavioural sciences are utilized in working with people, couples, families, other sets of people, and cultural systems to reach a place of healing and development…” Odeleye (2017a) submits that Pastoral Counselling is a helping relationship in which a trained therapist (pastor or minister) assists individuals, couples and families resolve their emotional, relational and psychosocial issues, utilising the Bible as primary manual.  Pastoral counselling is a unique form of counselling which utilizes spiritual and psychological capital to help individuals to understand possible options to attain the balanced life.

It is imperative to restate that pastoral counselling is a therapeutic relationship between a congruent, stable and coordinated pastoral counsellor and an incongruent, disturbed and confused counsellee (church member, congregant). While it is true that there are times when the counsellee is not exactly disturbed or confused but will just like to seek more information or clarification on particular issues of interest, pastoral counselling concerns cover a range celestial and terrestrial matters.

For instance, in the church setting, while homiletics may meet needs of many individuals and families in congregations, there are certain life issues that may be well addressed only by one-to-one interaction with the pastoral counsellor. For instance, the church member dealing with addiction or disorders, and seeking help, may find it a lot easier to confide in the pastor in private. Also, a couple having marital problems may find succour as they vent their disgust to the pastor, just as a couple seeking healing from marital infidelity may find requisite help in the pastoral counsellor. Pastoral Counselling seeks to help faith adherents to restore and strengthen relationship with the Creator of the human race.

Modern pastoral counselling began in the United States of America when Rev Anton Boisen started a clinical training programme in a Boston hospital. He was influenced by the works of Sigmund Freud and William James. He believed people’s past experiences and relationship with God could determine their mental health. He believed that some mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and depression may be indicative of some spiritual disconnect from God

Pastoral counselling has since evolved leveraging some skills of psychotherapy, demonstrating rapport, empathy, acceptance and unconditional positive regard.

Theory of Pastoral Counselling

The essence of theory in Pastoral Counselling is to get understanding of diverse backgrounds and dispositions of the clientele, with platform to deploy various spiritual and psychological strategies and techniques for behaviour modification. Proverbs chapter 23 verse 7 establishes a fundamental issue in pastoral counselling theory: “As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is.” The Holy Scriptures have long established the fact that human activity may be resultant of cognition. It has been postulated that thoughts give birth to actions, actions lead to habits, habits become lifestyle, and character evolves from lifestyle, while character leads to destination in life. In the 3rd chapter of the book of Genesis, the tempter leveraged the thoughts of Eve to ensure the fall of the human race. In Genesis chapter 6 verse 5 “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Even God, the Creator declares “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,...” Isaiah 55:8. “For I know the thoughts I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11. Jesus Christ of Nazareth summarised the centrality of our thoughts to our ultimate destination in life while answering the leaders “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Matthew 12:34. Past and present experiences have a way of impacting future outcomes. In order to make success of pastoral care and counselling, practitioners need to seek systematic knowledge of some psychological theories and therapies as they seek to elucidate the biblical perspectives of thoughts and wholesomeness of human personality. Such theories include Psychoanalytic theory, Existential Therapy, Person Centred Therapy, Gestalt Psychology, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), Transactional Analysis (TA), Bowenian Family Systems Theory (BFST), Gary Becker’s Economic Theory,  and some others of the 3rd wave CBTs.

It must be noted here that even though in some instances Theology and Psychology agree, on the subject of human potential, there is fundamental difference between Pastoral Counselling and Humanism. Whereas the biblical perspective is that humanity is unfruitful outside the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary (John 15:5; Philippians 4:13; Galatians 2:20), secular Humanism states that the human potential is in themselves, and that success or failure to attain potential is innate and personal.

Theopsychology of Pastoral Counselling

The 21 point theopsychological postulation which forms the premise for Christian pastoral counselling is as follows:

  • God is the Supreme Being who is not created and his source is in himself.
  • God is the one who made the universe, material and non-material, the planets, humans, aquatic world and heavenly unidentified objects.
  • God is the one sustaining the universe.
  • Human race, in spite of unending potential, is limited
  • Sin is at the heart of human problems
  • Jesus’ vicarious sacrifice is God’s provision for remission of human sins
  • Individual and corporate penitence are basic to the victorious life, and attainment of destiny
  • Humans have freewill to do things, but there are social boundaries and controls
  • Human race always have needs that humans cannot satisfy
  • God is the only one that can satisfy all human needs
  • God made man in his own image and after his own likeness.
  • God made humanity, his wisest creature as an extension of himself and to showcase his splendour.
  • God knows all things and can do all things.
  • The Bible is God’s manual for humanity
  • The Bible presents God’s recipe for wholesome living
  • Jesus of Nazareth is the mould and pattern for every individual aspiring to divine approval and excellence.
  • There are certain issues in life only God can help with, while there are many other matters humans need to deal with by themselves.
  • Humanity is blessed with secular wisdom to identify, process and resolve some life challenges.
  • Human knowledge, even though limited, is required in resolving certain problems.
  • Some psychological counselling skills and methods are relevant tools for the pastoral counsellor.
  • Aspects of psychology that align with biblical theology are useful in helping individuals dealing with disorders and addictions.

Thus, if the human race listens to and follows God’s instructions, there will be serenity, peace and progress in the world. The present global restiveness, moral degradation, terrorism, man’s inhumanity to man and potential nuclear destruction may be checkmated if nations would return to God. This is in the same sense that if individuals want to maximise the potential of their Toyota car, the best place for service and repairs should be the authentic Toyota Company.

If the premise is taken that God is the first parent, having provided for humanity all that is needful for a good life, even before humanity’s creation, a disconnect from God, the creator of humanity may be the bane of the current global confusion and moral depravity. Parents are the primary and first socialization agents for their offspring, and a lot of the children’s outcomes in life may be dependent on the parents. Researches assert that the child’s intelligence is determined by the mother (Edarabia 2021). Odeleye (2017b) submitted that most of the world’s challenges today may be traceable to parental failure. Given that parental DNA runs in their offspring and children inherit intelligence from their mothers, it may be argued that most of life’s outcomes for children may be due to parental influence. Therefore, it may be further postulated that nations’ leadership problem and underdevelopment may be a function of parental failure.

Some Principles and Techniques of Pastoral Counselling

There are underlying principles which every pastoral counsellor needs to master. These are norms that stand out the practitioner from other genre of counselling. Though the underlisted are critical to optimal performance in pastoral counselling, they are not exhaustive.

1. Adept knowledge of the Bible

The Bible is God’s manual for humanity in all generations. The Word of God, with the total of 66 books, came by divine inspiration of holy men and women. It is God’s revelation to guide effective functioning of the human race. In every aspect of Christian counselling, we start with the Bible, the Word of God is sine qua non. It is God’s mandate to guide lives and reveal God’s mind in matters of life to believers. Since one can only give what one has, the pastoral counsellor needs a mastery of the Word of God. The implication of this is that counsellors need to make Bible reading and studying an integral part of their lives. It is advised that the pastoral counsellor should make it a habit of reading through the Bible at least twice in a year.

2. A lifestyle of prayer and meditation

A lifestyle of prayer and communion with the Holy Spirit should be the defining hallmarks of the pastoral counsellor. A prayerful life will enable the counsellor to grow in grace and in the knowledge of his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Through prayer, the counsellor receives revelation on issues as they come up in and out of the counselling encounter. Coupled with our deep insight and knowledge of the Scriptures, it is imperative for the therapist to be soaked in prayers. For instance, it is expedient that pastoral counsellors must be strong in prayer and should always pray for their counsellees. As counsellors invest time in prayer, they also need to make a practice of listening to God, and meditating on the Word of God. One of the keys to making success in therapy is the ability to wait on God, and meditate in solitude as Jesus did.

3. Pragmatic Preaching and Teaching

Since pastoral counselling is the responsibility of pastors and elders, it is important to note that counselling may actually begin from the pulpit. Preachers should endeavour to make their preaching relevant to the needs of the people. Sometimes, issues that might be difficult to resolve in a one-to-one situation may be sorted by a message through the pulpit. Pastors should be deliberate in taking on problems parishioners face, in their preaching. Biblical solutions should be proffered in the course of preaching and teaching.

4. Maintaining Confidentiality

The therapist should be careful to keep all information the client gives to them in confidence secret. The ability to keep secrets is one good way of earning the client’s respect. This is usually the point where pastors have a problem as biblical perspective of do’s and don’t’s may be at variance with psychological counselling’s confidentiality. However, under certain circumstances, there may be ethical issues involved, and the therapist would need discretion in divulging classified information about the counsellee. For instance, where the counsellee is under-age and such disclosure may be in the interest of the counsellee, in such cases, the counsellor is free to divulge information, having given the counsellee reasons for such action.

5. Empathy

Empathy is not placing oneself in the shoes of the counsellee. Rather, it is being able to bear with the client. The counsellor needs to demonstrate Christ’s love in the helping relationship. The Word of God enjoins us to bear one another’s burdens, thus, fulfilling the law of Christ. It is important to always let the counsellees know that God is well able to resolve the challenges they are facing.

6. The New Birth Experience

Even though pastoral counsellors should be a firm believer in Christian principles, they must definite conversion experience. Anyone seeking to work as pastoral counsellor must be born again. No academic qualifications can take the place of spiritual commitment to Jesus Christ and his doctrines. The counsellor needs to be energized by the power of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. The counsellor should be a minister of God with correct insight into human nature.

7. A personal life of purity

With a personal conviction of salvation through Jesus Christ, the pastoral counsellor is able to lead a pure life. Nothing can compare with the serenity and peace the believer receives while in alignment with Jesus. Except the counsellor is leading a righteous life, they may not be qualified to help others. The counsellor should have positional and experiential sanctification experience, and should be committed to live above board in all areas of life.

8. Fruit of the Spirit

The therapist should exhibit the fruit of the Holy Spirit as enunciated in Galatians 5 verses 22 and 23. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance are virtues that pastoral counsellors should continue to manifest. When a minister exudes the fruit of the Holy Spirit, loving and caring for others will not be a struggle. It will be more natural for such persons to be self-abnegating, meek and compassionate towards others. It is evident that pastors who are trained in psychological counselling but do not have these virtues in their lives need to seek God, and deliberately covet the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Our counsel to such people is to amend their ways before the Lord since one can only give what one has. The implication of delivering pastoral care and counselling without the fruit of the Holy Spirit may be pollution of the sanctuary.

9. Attentive Listening

The therapist should be a good listener. A fundamental requirement in secular and spiritual counselling is the ability to listen with rapt attention. The pastoral counsellor should be a lover of humanity, with a desire for others’ progress. Listening is a very important the counselling relationship. It involves every part of the body i.e. eyes, voice, and ears. Active listening conveys to clients that they are valued by the counsellor. If the counsellor does not listen attentively, they may miss out on what their client’s problems are.

10. Referral

The strength of many a pastoral counsellor is in the ability to define boundaries in the helping profession. After terminating a counselling relationship, there are two options to the counsellor; it is either that the therapy succeeded in resolving the problem or that the counsellee be referred to a more competent or relevant professional. For instance, if a pastoral counsellor with little or no experience in exorcism or demonology should not try and experiment with a demonized client, but rather refer the client to more competent therapist.

Some specific issues in Pastoral Counselling

It should be emphasised that the pastoral counsellor is first and foremost, a minister of the gospel, who is professionally trained in psychological counselling and holds the Word of God (the Holy Bible) as man’s compass for navigating the world. In other words, the pastoral counsellor is a biblical psychotherapist; they may be pastors or elders who believe in and practice biblical Christianity. They must be truly mature Christians who live and practice the Bible. They must be baptized with Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. They must be spirit-filled and spirit-led Christians. They must have proven testimony that they are children of God. They must be lover of people, someone who loves seeing and celebrating people succeed. They must be patient, apt listener and passionate about godliness. What all these means is that a pastoral counsellor must be (apart from being a solid practicing Christian) time-tested and well-trained psychotherapist.

There is need to understand that the pastoral ministry is quite demanding and there are issues that will always show up in the course of work. The pastor’s role is not time bound, even though we counsel that pastors must learn to take rest, and delegate assignments. When members or worshippers take ill, the pastoral counsellor would need to pray the prayer of faith for healing. They will need to visit the sick in hospital and at their homes, depending on the situation. At other times, the inevitable would happen; a member may die and the pastoral counsellor would need to go and comfort the bereaved and help to set the stage for and also execute the burial. Time and again, the pastor may be called upon to come and intervene in other emergencies. This is one big reason why counsellors need to know their onions and be abreast of the needs of church members.

Here are some examples of some cases pastoral counsellors may have to deal with, in the course of their work.

Counselling the Dying

There are three specific areas that the pastoral Counsellor should seek to resolve with the dying:

First, it needs to be ascertained if the person needs to put anything right with God. In leaving this earth, eternity is the next port of call, so the question must be asked, ‘Is this person ready for eternity?’ If the counsellor is unsure of the client’s personal faith, then there is need to counsel the person to be prepared to meet God. The Bible says in Hebrews 9:27 (NKJV), “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this, the judgement.” The person’s only hope is in Christ Jesus and in His salvation. If the counsellor is sure the person is a true believer then they should be reminded that they are about to meet with God and therefore there is urgency for them to put right anything in their lives that still exists.

Secondly, while dying, it is expedient for the person to resolve outstanding issues with others. Does the dying person need to forgive someone or need forgiveness from anyone? Sometimes the counsellor may have to give help in other practical matters. For example, the counsellor might need to help the client sort out some indebtedness. If the dying person has any possessions, and they do not have any Last Testament (Will), they may want us to ensure the right people will collect the inheritance. They may also need guidance over making provision for their family members. In this kind of situation, the pastor will need to demonstrate care, understanding and love, without bias.

Thirdly, the dying will need spiritual comfort. The dying will need spiritual and physical succour. In the case of a church member or worshipper, the pastor is well placed to give reassuring words to encourage the counsellee. Most sick members would desire a visit from the pastor. The pastoral counsellor should optimise such opportunity to pray for and encourage other members of the family. Sometimes as death is closing in, the member may be too weak or in too much pain to be able to receive many visitors. In this case perhaps only the pastor or an elder or a friend from the church could visit. Please, note that such visits be brief.

Counselling the Bereaved

This is closely related to counselling the dying. Essentially, the pastoral counsellor seeks to give succour and encouragement to members bereaved of their loved one. However, it may be a somewhat challenging assignment if the pastor has to comfort a family whose departed one was not a Christian. The counsellor would be careful not to give a false impression that the departed was going to heaven. At the same time, the bereaved have to be encouraged and emotionally supported. If there are some members of the family that have not made decision for Christ, this would provide great opportunity to present the gospel to them. Scriptures such as Hebrews 9:27 (And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement:), Romans 3:23 (All have sinned and have come short of the glory of God) and Romans 6:23 (For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord) would be handy in reaching out to unbelieving members of the household.

If the deceased was a believer, the family can be comforted on at least three levels:

First, they must remember their Heavenly Father’s loving care. If, for instance, if it is the husband that died, then remind them of these passages of Scripture, Psalm 146:9, “The Lord… sustains the fatherless and the widow.” Psalm 68:5, The Lord is a “…father to the fatherless and a defender of widows.” All the counsellor is doing is to explain God’s gracious care for the bereaved.

Secondly, if the family members are believers, they should be encouraged that they will see their loved one again. The counsellor must keep reminding the believers that if they remain faithful to Jesus, the reunion with the departed in heaven will be glorious. This is the glorious hope of every believer in Christ, to be with the Lord and all of His people, for all eternity. We know then that death will never separate us again; there will be no parting there. If some members of the family have not come to faith in Christ, this is a good opportunity to witness to them, and remind them of their loved one’s faith in Christ, and urge them also to trust Christ.

Thirdly, we can help those who sorrow in some practical ways. Often there are many matters, which must be done before and after the funeral. At times like this those who sorrow will not be able to deal with these and will depend upon the pastor or some friend from the church. Of course, there are several practical ways through which the pastor and other church members can help assuage the pains at this time. Apart from reading and quoting Bible passages copiously, words of encouragement and prayers, food preparation, care of little children, household chores, payment of bills and staying around mostly, are some of the many ways the Christian community can show their commitment and love to the bereaved.

Counselling the Fearful and the Worried

This is commonplace in pastoral counselling practice. Even though there are 365 “fear nots” in the Bible, a lot of church members and worshippers are full of fear, anxiety and worry about the basic needs of humanity such as where to live, what to spend, what to eat and what to wear. From generation to generation these have been real issues in human life. These may be indices of some disconnect with God, who cares for us much more than we can imagine.

Our Lord Jesus Christ addressed this issue in the Beatitudes (Sermon on the Mountain) in Matthew chapter 5, making it clear that fear, worry and anxiety are hallmarks of unbelief. What it means is that the counsellor needs to carefully and prayerfully redirect such counsellee to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It has been discovered that when Christians are bereft of the Word of God, they are left to the forces of the world and would be full of fear, worry and care instead of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The counsellor’s role therefore will be to prayerfully redirect the individual back to where they missed it and guide them to begin seeking the Lord Jesus again by careful and diligent reading and studying of the word of God. This routine has to be followed up diligently and regularly.

Anti-worry and anti-fear Scriptures such as Matthew 6:25-34, 1John 4:18, Philippians 4:6-8, 1Peter 5:7 and 2Timothy 1:7 should be given to the worried believer to meditate upon and commit to memory. The therapist will be careful to continuously supervise the clients’ restoration. It may sure take some time but, with prayerful persistence of the therapist, the clients will become strong in the Lord as they give all diligence to seek the Lord Jesus.

Conclusion

In all, the meaning, dynamics, theory and process of pastoral counselling were examined in this write up. Whereas pastoral counselling is a distinct helping profession premised on the efficacy of the Word of God in processing human concerns, it finds collaborator in psychological counselling skills and techniques for cutting-edge service delivery. The new birth experience coupled with being filled with the Holy Spirit and deep insight into the scriptures, plus love for humanity are prerequisites for the Christian therapist. The mental health challenge of contemporary times places a lot of pressure on faith-based therapists. This is one reason why pastoral carers, christologists and biblical counsellors should work on and develop contextual interventions for the teeming population of inquirers. In Christian counselling, the thesis is the sovereignty of God over human challenges. The pastoral counsellor is the divine bridge between the counsellees and the divine, in the resolution of varied personal, family and societal problems.

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