Pastoral care is an ancient model of emotional and spiritual support that can be found in all cultures and traditions. It has been described in our modern context as individual and corporate patience in which trained pastoral carers support people in their pain, loss and anxiety, and their triumphs, joys and victories.
Pastoral care as a care model and profession is emerging in the public arena in its own right, in our day, and its value and helpfulness is now recognised as applicable to people generally in their everyday life.
Just as its theory and philosophy is not dependent on any one set of beliefs or traditions, so pastoral carers are trained to relate gently and skilfully with the inner world of individuals from all walks of life, and the elements that go to make up that persons sense of self, their inner resources, resilience and capacity to cope.
They are not counsellors or therapists. They are personal relators operating under a positive motivation that has no strings attached.
- Holistic approach the whole person
- To explore the inner essence soul in all of us: the inner world
- Historically Christian but is now a multi faith community
- Caring for the sheep is the role of pastors.
What qualifications does a pastoral care worker have?
- Minister of religion can be a chaplain or theologian, or both
- Clinical pastoral education diploma.
What is clinical pastoral education?
- Educational through learning about holistic self, identity
- Clinical through healing, personal and spiritual growth toward wholeness, reaching full potential, for example through the confrontation of pain, or identifying barriers to growth
- Interpersonal training patients, supervisors, groups your stuff, my stuff awareness
- Seminars, daily journals, case-studies, worship, life journeys, verbatims, evaluation (final)
- Minimum standard 150 hours ASPEA, TCMA
- Internationally recognised
- Encouraging students involved in pastoral relationships to have a spiritual connection person to person. Quote from poetry, poems, music, song, meditation, prayer, morning worship.
How does pastoral care differ from chaplaincy?
A religious leader can perform religious ceremonies for a particular faith, and helps people meet their obligations to that faith, and examine the implications of that faith and its beliefs. Some religious leaders can also be pastoral care workers.
A pastoral care worker is available for general or specific life issues concerning grief, loss, identity, cultural and racial, climate if alienation (food, wine), meaning of life, loss of hope, marriage break-downs, financial burdens, language barriers, loneliness, coping with disability, etc., as well as peoples triumphs, joys and victories.
To spend time with a pastoral care worker:
- We seek to be available to you at all times, however it may be necessary to make an appointment (except in crisis).
- Somewhere to go, someone to listen without necessarily wanting an outcome or treatment e.g. for depression
- Spiritual/religious issues are often a part of a quest for a deeper meaning of life, and understanding of self.
- Pastoral care workers are willing to refer people to Health and Counselling
- Pastoral care workers assist people who are too afraid to approach more formal avenues of help that is, they can act as gatekeepers
- They provide a place to go and talk for those who are uneasy with the society in which they find themselves e.g. international students with cross cultural issues such as alcohol, dress codes such as veils, or with relationships.
- Pastoral care workers may sustain ongoing relationships with people to develop healthy relationships.
- Pastoral care workers seek to nurture and celebrate the respective cultures, rituals and customs of individuals and groups eg. UC Harmony and Face Project.
To view the full report about Pastoral Care click here
