Product Overview
The Practice of Pastoral Care has become a popular seminary textbook for courses in pastoral care and a manual for clinical pastoral education. In it, Doehring encourages counselors to view their ministry through a trifocal lens that incorporates premodern, modern, and postmodern approaches to religious and psychological knowledge. Doehring describes the basic ingredients of a caregiving relationship, shows how to use the caregiver's life experience as a source of authority, and demonstrates how to develop the skill of listening and establishing the actual relationship. This new edition elaborates on and expands the author's previous work, adding an intercultural perspective that gives more attention to religious pluralism in the pastoral care setting. It offers a road map for using a step-by-step narrative, relational, embodied approach to spiritual care that respects the unique ways people live out their values and beliefs, especially in coping with stress, loss, and violence. Readers will be able to confidently and professionally offer pastoral care and counseling to members of their congregations or other places of ministry. Read the Table of Contents and Introduction!
Reviews
"I welcome this new edition from a leader and pioneer in the field of contemporary pastoral care. Its rich interweaving of narrative, literature, autobiography and cutting-edge theology promises to enrich and challenge practitioners in church and academy for years to come."
—Elaine Graham, Grosvenor Research Professor of Practical Theology, University of Chester, UK
"What was already a number-one go-to book in pastoral care has become even better in this new edition. I am especially grateful to see such an expert teacher, scholar, and caregiver tackle the question of theology-as-practiced in a way that readers will find immensely useful. This book reflects years of accumulated wisdom and real sensitivity to both personal suffering and intercultural dynamics, and is a classic in the field."
—Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, author of Christian Theology in Practice
"A remarkable contribution. Somehow Dr. Doehring is able to weave together the threads of theology, trauma, mental health, culture, self-reflection, research, and practice into a beautiful piece of work that constantly reminds the reader of the distinctively spiritual character of pastoral care. The book is filled with evocative stories, useful concepts, practical tools, and always, Dr. Doehring's own distinctive voice, wisdom, and humanity. Highly recommended for not only pastoral counselors, but counselors from every helping profession."
—Kenneth I. Pargament, Professor of Psychology, Bowling Green State University; author of Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy: Understanding and Addressing the Sacred; and Editor-in-Chief, APA Handbook of Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality (Vols. 1 and 2)
"A carefully constructed and nuanced articulation of the essential features and dynamic operations of pastoral and spiritual care. Whilst not neglecting historic resources, Doehring helps situate the practice of care squarely in contemporary postmodern and pluralist settings drawing on narrative, intercultural and theological engagements with the complex exigencies of human experience. Spiritual caregivers of all kinds must have, read and digest this book."
—Emmanuel Y. Lartey, L. Bevel Jones III Professor of Pastoral Theology, Care, and Counseling, Candler School of Theology, Emory University
"In this revised and expanded edition, Carrie Doehring makes another remarkable contribution to pastoral theology and to contemporary practices of pastoral care. Using a narrative approach, she provides rich interdisciplinary and current resources for engaging the complex and intersecting differences that shape contexts for care as well as the embodied relationality of those who give and receive such care. Her experienced skill as a teacher shapes each chapter accessibly. Doehring artfully demonstrates the practice of intercultural care as a theologically reflective and co-creative process that seeks spiritual integration and relational justice."
—Nancy J. Ramsay, Professor of Pastoral Theology and Pastoral Care, Brite Divinity School
"In this revised and expanded edition of her extensively read text, The Practice of Pastoral Care, Professor Carrie Doehring offers a clear and insightful explanation of intercultural pastoral and spiritual care. The book's lucid prose makes it accessible for beginning students who are taking introductory courses. At the same time, Doehring's richly nuanced conversation with current literature in the field makes the book an indispensable resource for seasoned scholars. Doehring unpacks the meaning of spirituality in lived experience, using examples and diagrams and making reference to stories and films that help the reader understand the intersection of psychological, cultural, and theological dimensions of pastoral and spiritual care. She emphasizes the values of respect and compassion and teaches us how to embody these values in caregiving conversations and interactions. This is an eminently practical and wise guide for those learning to offer life-giving care."
—Mary Clark Moschella, Roger J. Squire Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling, Yale Divinity School