Retirement gave me the opportunity to look back and see more clearly what worked and what didn't. Busy with the everyday comings and goings of running the show, The priorities was usually fixing what was going wrong, or looked as if it was about to go off the rails. As for the rest the dictum "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" was my guiding rule.
My own work had two streams in it, laid down by the Bishop when appointing me. The theoretical base was what differentiated the two tasks. One was theological at base, the other medical, therapeutic. The difficulty was blending the two.
I needed to be very clear about what I was doing. Counselling parishioners had very different nuances when compared to working the private practice which resulted from the Bishop's commission. "Freelance your own way" was what he wanted and what I strove to provide.
This was not helped by the emphasis by BAC (the British Association for Counselling, noe the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy) which regarded office-based counselling, as in some ways definitive for everyone. In parish life, as in life in the workplace, it was not possible always to accept the insistence of BAC that there be only formal relationships between counsellor and those being counselled, anything informal being regarded as a "no-go area". To their credit, it was probably necessary as BAC sought to establish a full-time, paid, counselling profession
Pastoral counselling, the work of the parish priest or minister as against "centre-based" or "office-based" counselling derives from both the traditional church stream and the psychological insights of the period from the late 19th century to the mid-twentieth century. Its root is described in the Book of Common Prayer as "the ministry of God's holy Word" which with the benefit of absolution, together with ghostly counsel and advice" leads "to the quieting of... conscience, and avoiding of all scruple and doubtfulness" - here in the precise context of worthiness to receive the Holy Communion.
It is set also within the social context of establishing a healthy congregation. In his or her priestly formation the Church of England minister is "to forsake and set aside (as much as you may) all worldly cares and studies!" This places limits on the study of present-day counselling methods and skills for the pastoral counsellor. It suggests that the politically correct must be subsumed under the theologically correct and be compatible with the teaching of Holy Scripture.
Ministers need to take care and to make this distinction. Counselling parishioners has a different context to office based counselling. Many clergy undertake training with BAC accredited organisations. Having done so, it is very important to be clear as to whether you are operating as a pastor, with its social context, or an independent counsellor with no social context.
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