Pastoral Counseling
Issues in the helping profession
Pastoral counseling: An overview
Multicultural sensitivities
Pastoral counselors today will inevitably come into contact with persons of widely varying cultural traditions. For example, when counseling someone regarding how to care for an elderly parent with whom the family is now residing, the counselor must be aware that different cultures view the elderly in different ways. For some people, taking care of older parents is considered to be a necessary obligation -- the extended family rather than the nuclear family is prioritized. The counselor will not necessarily alter his advice, but it should be nuanced and informed with cultural awareness.
In other matters, such as dealing with diverse religious groups and matters of sexual orientation, personal desire may seem to come into conflict with scripture. The counselor may state the position of his faith, but still approaches the client with a loving and open mind, rather than reacting in a judgmental fashion. The first ethical principle of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors is that counselors are "respectful of the various theologies, traditions, and values of our faith communities and committed to the dignity and worth of each individual" (Code of Ethics, 2011, AAPC) The first ethical precept of the American Council of Christian Counselors is that: "regardless of how we respond to and challenge harmful attitudes and actions, Christian counselors will express a loving care to any client, service-inquiring person, or anyone encountered in the course of practice or ministry, without regard to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual behavior...
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clergy psychotherapists are noted by Haug (1999) to encounter a complex mix of ethical dilemmas as a result of their dual roles. The pastoral counselors deal with several boundary issues as well as potential roles conflicts in the professional life. In this paper we evaluate these boundary issues as well as the potential role conflicts that the pastoral counselors face in their professional capacities. The boundary issues and role conflict
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