Gestalt in Pastoral Care and Counseling: A Holistic Approach

by Hamilton; Jeffrey D

• ISBN13: 9780789001481
• ISBN10: 0789001489
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-07-14
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Gestalt in Pastoral Care and Counseling is the only book to provide you with an integrated model of pastoral care and counseling from the perspective of Gestalt theory. Covering all aspects of ministry, including visitation, counseling, worship, and administration, it is a valuable text for advanced undergraduate or graduate classes and small group or individual study for seminaries, church ministries, pastoral counseling training programs, and lay pastoral ministry programs. This book will increase your confidence in your work, help you understand blockages as well as avenues of change, and lead you to a more creative, yet consistent, stance in your ministry. Gestalt in Pastoral Care and Counseling makes clear that all of ministry is, in fact, pastoral in nature. It demonstrates the principles of Gestalt in pastoral ministry in a gradual manner, true to both Gestalt principles and your needs. Some of the topics you learn about include: key elements of Gestalt theory, from the early developers through more recent practices the cycle of experience--a model that provides an understanding of the various steps involved in change on all levels Gestalt applications in pastoral counseling, worship, and administration a theology of pastoral caring--a model for pastoral ministry based on the relational aspects of the Biblical narrative and its application in ministry ideas for continued growth based on daily life experience With well-developed presentations of Gestalt principles and pastoral ministry, Gestalt in Pastoral Care and Counseling provides you with a new perspective on the meaning of pastoral ministry. Not only will you learn new skills, you will also develop a new appreciation for what can occur within pastoral relationships. The theoretical basis of Gestalt embraces the whole of life experience as part of the process of change and growth and holds sacred the relationship that exists between persons. As your understanding and use of these principles increases, the quality of care and counseling you provide in your ministry will continue to improve.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix	(2)
Carolyn Stahl Bohler
Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	1	(18)
PART I: THE LANGUAGE OF GESTALT	19	(78)
Chapter 1. Here and Now	19	(4)
Chapter 2. Process versus Content	23	(4)
Chapter 3. Figure/Ground	27	(8)
Chapter 4. Attending	35	(6)
Chapter 5. The Whole Is Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts	41	(4)
Chapter 6. Being Aware	45	(4)
Chapter 7. Theme	49	(6)
Chapter 8. Contact Boundary and Self-Regulation	55	(8)
Chapter 9. Polarities	63	(4)
Chapter 10. Resistance	67	(6)
Chapter 11. Confluence	73	(6)
Chapter 12. The Paradoxical Theory of Change	79	(4)
Chapter 13. Level of Systems	83	(5)
Chapter 14. Experiments	89	(8)
PART II: THE GESTALT CYCLE OF EXPERIENCE	97	(74)
Chapter 15. The Cycle of Experience	97	(4)
Chapter 16. The Sensation and Awareness Phase	101	(6)
Chapter 17. The Resistances in the Sensation and Awareness Phase	107	(4)
Chapter 18. The Energy Phase	111	(4)
Chapter 19. The Resistances in the Energy Phase	115	(4)
Chapter 20. The Action Phase	119	(4)
Chapter 21. The Resistances in the Action Phase	123	(18)
Chapter 22. The Contact Phase	141	(6)
Chapter 23. The Resistances in the Contact Phase	147	(2)
Chapter 24. The Assimilation and Withdrawal Phase	149	(6)
Chapter 25. The Resistances in the Assimilation and Withdrawal Phase of the Cycle	155	(2)
Chapter 26. Review and Case Presentations	157	(14)
Bibliography	171	(2)
Index	173