Pastoral Care and Counseling

Introduction Pastoral care and Counseling is one of the important ministries in the Church at any place in the world. Our churches are filled with people who experience crisis, lost, loneliness, anxiety, depression, divorced, and family problems. Pastors have a huge opportunity to help people just by listening and encouraging those in household of faith. In some cases it is just enough to listen and teach biblical principles of living but in the other cases there is the need to be specifically train people for a specialized ministry of counseling with deeper problems.In the context of my Country, Russia, I choose three issues which mostly need response in the churches. These issues are Premarital Counseling, Marriage Counseling and Crisis care and Counseling. Most of the times we do not feel comfortable to talk about these issues on the church but it do not mean that the problems do not exist. To have a healthy church these issues need to be addressed and pastors need to learn how to approach people because the people are not going to approach pastors first and ask for help. Part I: Premarital CounselingPsychologist Carl Rogers once gave a sobering perspective on marriage. â€Å"If 50-75 percent of Ford or General Motors cars completely fell apart within the early part of their lifetimes as automobiles,† Rogers wrote, â€Å"the public outcry would be overwhelming and drastic steps would be taken to correct the situation. † But this happens to many marriages and hardly anyone rises any complain. Divorce is fre ¬quent, fewer than half of the marriages that persist could be considered successful, and often couples seem unable or unwilling to correct the situation.The same situation and attitude to marriage we have in Russian, people usually get marry in age of 20 and mostly marriages fail after first three years. When I was getting my bachelor degree, 90% of my classmates were getting married at ages of 20 – 21 but 95% of them got divorced i n the senior year of College. I am talking about secular world and we may have a different statistics among Christians but the fact is that young people have no clue what marriage is about.There are many reasons for the present instability of marriages, but one of the many causes of failure is built prima ¬rily on sexual attraction, the desire to escape from a difficult home situation, a vague feeling of love, or some equally fleeting motive. Many marriage relationships are too flimsy to survive the pressures, challenges, and storms of daily living. Unprepared for the stresses or for the effort and determination required making mar ¬riage work, many people prefer to give up and bail out. That which was meant to be meaningful and fulfilling thus becomes frustrating and personally devastating.I believe that if the society in Russian would pay more attention on premarital counseling in the church and outside then the family institution would have grow stronger and that would lead t he country to success because the foundation of any country is the family institution. Premarital counseling seeks to help individuals, couples, and groups of couples to prepare for and build happy, fulfilling, Christ-honoring, and successful marriages. There are many values in premarital counseling if it is done carefully and consistently by the pastor. One of these values is the satisfaction that it brings to him personally.One pastor cannot change this societal attitude by himself, but each one can experience the inner reward of knowing he has done his part to change this pre ¬vailing attitude. The values of premarital counseling are first of all to help the couple to approach marriage more realistically because they are aware of only two things that they are in love, and they want to spend their lives together. Another value of premarital counseling is that it affords each partner a better understanding of himself. A value of great importance is the knowledge that each partner gains of the other through the counseling process.The pastor must help the partners to gain a greater understanding of the thought patterns of each other. Another practical value of premarital counseling is that partners can see the value of, and gain experience in the skill of communication. Finally, a great value of premarital counseling is that it helps persons to realistically determine if they are making the right choice regarding marriage. Reasons for premarital guidance Gary Collins outlines seven basic principles of premarital counseling that I found helpful in my context. These are: 1.Unrealistic Expectations That Can Lead to Disillusionment. When they ap ¬proach marriage, perhaps most people assume that they have unique relationships. Perhaps these expectations are changing now that marriage failures are so much taken for granted. Often there is impatience, insensitivity, self-centered, attitudes, inadequate skill in relating, and great disappointment and disillusionmen t when one's expectations for marriage are not met quickly. Premarital counseling lets couples express, discuss, and realistically modify their expectations for marriage. 2.Personal Immaturity That Can Lead to Insensitivity. Most 92% marriages in Russian happened because of pregnancy and this is the normal thing nowadays. It is not surprising that one's attitudes and behavior within a marriage differ little from the characteristics that were brought to the relationship. If one or both of the participants are self-centered, hypercritical, impatient, competitive, or striving for status—that is, immature—before marriage, these traits will put a strain on marital stability later. People who are irresponsible before marriage tend to be irresponsible after the wedding.Premarital counseling should seek to uncover and discuss the self-centered tendencies that put strain on a marriage. The couple must be taught how to resolve differences, and they must develop both sensitivity and a willingness to accept and meet each other's needs. This involves giving freely to one's mate just as Christ gave to us. 3. Changing Roles That Can Lead to Confusion. Confusion and conflict may follow when a man and woman each come to marriage with unclear roles and vague expectations about their own and each other's responsibilities.Differing assumptions and views about who is supposed to do what can lead to tension unless the couple has learned to communicate honestly, not defensively, and in loving way. Premarital counseling provides an opportunity for a couple to begin this type of communication. Together they can learn to discuss their different expectations and decide on areas of responsibility. Such role clarification must not ignore biblical teachings. According to Scrip ¬ture, both the Christian husband and wife must be filled with the Spirit: daily confessing sin, giving thanks, and praying for the Holy Spirit to control each of their lives.There also must be an att itude of mutual submission to each other, but the more stringent requirements are laid on the husband. The husband and wife are equally valuable and equally important in the building of a good marriage, but they have different responsibilities. 5. Loosening Sexual Standards That Can Lead to Immorality. Sex before marriage is not new and neither is it rare, even among Christians. But as a result of these more liberal attitudes, dating for many has become a time for exploring each other's bodies and genitals instead of each other's mind, feelings, beliefs, values, and expectations.Sexual standards are loosening and premarital sex, even among Christians, appears to be more preva ¬lent. Nevertheless the Bible still calls this immorality a violation of God's best for our lives. Issues like this should be discussed honestly, faced compassionately, and examined biblically. 6. Previous Experiences That Can Lead to Overconfidence. Books on premarital counseling often assume that most coupl es are young, inexperienced, and entering their first marriage. This is not always true. Many prospective brides and grooms have been previously married.Some previously married people recognize the need for new adjustments and appreciate the help that can come from a sensitive counselor. More often, it seems, people approaching remarriage resist premarital counseling and assume that it is unnecessary and only for those who have had no prior marital experience. The counselor can challenge unrealistic attitudes, help the couple see potential problems that even previously married people might miss, and guide them to resolve issues that may have been unresolved following the previous marriage. 7. Circumstances That Can Lead to Later Misery.When they come to marriage, some people bring what one counselor calls red-flag situations that need special scrutiny and evaluation. Some of these circumstances were mentioned as pregnant bride, one or both participants on the rebound from a previous marriage or engagement, serious drug involvement, emotional problems or mental instability, serious mental or physical handicaps, no financial security, contrasting cultural backgrounds or religious beliefs, wide gaps in education or age differences, and knowing each other for a very short time. Many marriages do not survive.Premarital counseling should not be viewed as a painful procedure designed to snatch unsuspecting couples from the grips of marital misery. Most premarital counseling is done, not with pathological people, but with relatively healthy indi ¬viduals who can be helped to enhance and enrich a growing relationship. Format It should be obvious that a counselor cannot accomplish all of these purposes in one brief interview. Most writers recommend that there be at least five or six one-hour sessions prior to the wedding. This of course can be demanding.It is easy for time pressures and counselee busyness to combine in convincing the counselor that a briefer period of premarital counseling would suffice. Try to resist that temptation. There is much to be discussed if a marriage is to be built on a solid foundation. The general goals according to Hamilton, include the following: (1) an understand ¬ing of the meaning of marriage within the framework of biblical truth and Christian theology, (2) an understanding of the problems affecting marriage in contemporary culture, and (3) an understanding of the Christian concept of the value of human personality.As the pastor deals with these broad concepts he seeks to expand his counselees' awareness of the importance of marriage in the light of its biblical and historical roots, of the unique pressures being brought upon marriage in our times, and of Christianity's view of the worth of persons. All of these goals are of vital importance in building a sound philosophy of marriage.The specific goals, according to Hamilton, center in the following areas: (1) an understanding of each partner's role-percepti on in the forth ¬coming marriage, (2) an understanding of each partner's role-expectation of the other, (3) an understanding of how each partner evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the other, (4) an understanding of the potential strengths and weaknesses of the proposed marriage, and (5) a careful examination of particular problems likely to arise.The underlying, practical goal of all premarital counsel ¬ing is twofold: (1) to enable the partners to pre-solve some potential marriage problems before they arise; and (2) to give the partners knowledge of, and experience in, the art of com ¬munication, which is so necessary in the building of a rich and rewarding relationship. The pastor who wishes to do a creditable job of premari ¬tal counseling should think in terms of at least three sessions: (1) one with the woman, (2) one with the man, and (3) one with both.In each of the individual sessions the pastor will be engaging in four main functions: (1) listening, (2) quest ion ¬ing, (3) analyzing, and (4) teaching. Listening As in other types of counseling, the pastor needs to hear what is, and is not, being said. Only by careful listening can the pastor come to valid insights regarding the counselee’s real feelings about his personal relationship with the proposed marriage partner. Questioning Skillful use of questions enables the pas ¬tor to gather the type of data he needs to help persons prepare for marriage.Questioning will center in the two broad areas of facts and feelings. The area of facts will have to do with such aspects as how they met, how long they have known each other, how long they have dated, and when they plan to marry. The questioning should then move to the deeper level of feelings. This area has to do with such matters as the counselee’s true feelings about the idea of marriage, the de ¬mands of marriage, his perception of his partner as a marriage mate, and his own feelings regarding his ability to be a suità ‚ ¬able marriage partner.The pastor should not hesitate to question his counselees regarding their feelings about every aspect of the marriage relationship including such matters as where they will live and in what kind of dwelling, how many children they want, where they will attend church, whether the wife will be em ¬ployed outside the home (along with how long, how much, and what kind of work), how they will use their leisure time, where they will find their friends and how they will develop social relationships, how each feels about the husband's job, and if either plans for further education.He should also ex ¬amine their attitudes toward in-laws, money, and sex. As the pastor probes the deeper levels of his parishioners' feelings he gains the type and amount of information he needs as he pro ¬ceeds to analysis. Analyzing After the data is sorted out and analyzed, the pastor is ready for a joint session (or sessions) with the partners. In most cases there will be some di fferences in how each partner perceives certain aspects of the future marriage. These are the areas that will need to be given special and care ¬ful attention during the joint session.It is at this time that the two partners will need to be shown the importance of com ¬munication. It will also provide a rich opportunity for them to begin to develop new and better ways of communicating their feelings to each other. Teaching Lastly, the pastor engages in the function of teaching. The amount and type of teaching that is to be done will be determined by what the pastor has discovered in the individual counseling sessions. The broad areas covered in his teaching will usually include the Christian view of mar ¬riage, the tatus of marriage in contemporary culture, the responsible use of sex, the basic differences in maleness and femaleness (most feel they understand the opposite sex but do not), and the art of communication. As a part of his teach ¬ing function the pastor should be prepared to recommend and loan helpful books and articles in areas where the partners lack understanding. It is also important for the pastor to point out the value of a medical examination for the prospective bride, if not for both partners. Thorough work in premarital counseling may involve more than three counseling sessions, but that is the minimum.While this is both time-consuming and exhausting, it is less so than marriage counseling. If a pastor does his premarital counseling work well he may be saving himself, or some other pastor or counselor, from involvement in more extensive mar ¬riage counseling later on. Of greater significance, of course, is that premarital counseling helps couples to build the kind of relationships that are both solid and satisfying We have high incidences of divorce in the church in Russia particularly among young people because they are often pushed into early marriage by teenage pregnancies.Such people do not have any opportunity for premarital counseling. The church often treat them with disdain and may not be readily open to give them some basic premarital counseling that would help sustain them when they get married. Part II: Marriage Counseling Marriage is not a very stable institution at least in the Western and Eastern worlds. In Russia the average duration of a marriage is only 5 years. More than a million couples are divorced every year. Many who stay together have marriages tolerable but not especially happy.Even though happy marriages like these do exist and are possible, we live in a time when marital unhappiness is more common and where many see divorce as a convenient and ever-present fire escape should marital conflicts get too hot to handle. Marriage, the permanent union created by God, is treated more and more as a temporary arrangement of convenience. Marriage is one of the first topics discussed in the Bible. But what does the Bible say about marital problems and ways to help troubled mar ¬riages? Almo st nothing!It should be remembered that marital conflict often is a symptom of something deeper, such as selfishness, lack of love, unwillingness to forgive, anger, bitterness, communication problems, anxiety, sexual abuse, drunkenness, feelings of inferior ¬ity, sin, and a deliberate rejection of God's will. Each of these can cause marital tension, each can be influenced by husband-wife conflict, and each is discussed in the Bible. The causes of marital problems Some common marital problems as found in Russian culture outline by Collins as follow: 1. Faulty Communication.In the professional literature, this probably is the most commonly mentioned cause of marital discord. Citing James 4:1-3, psychologist Lawrence Crabb notes that communication problems inevitably result when people pursue self-centered goals, but sometimes problems also come because individuals have not learned how to communicate clearly and efficiently. Most of us would agree that occasional miscommunication bet ween spouses is inevitable. When miscommunication is more common than clear communication, however, the marriage begins to have serious problems.Poor communication tends to breed more of the same. Try to remember that communication is a learned interaction. Even when it is not good, people can learn to make it better. 2. Underintegrated or Overintegrated Relationships, Getting close to another person is risky. We open ourselves to criticism and possible rejection when we let another person know us intimately, he become aware of our insecurities, or see our weaknesses. Since most of us have learned the value of fending for ourselves, it is not easy to trust another person—even when that other person is a marriage partner 3 Interpersonal Tension.When two people marry, each comes to the marriage with approximately two or more decades of past experiences and ways of looking at life. Each has perspectives that are not shared by the other and sometimes, even when there is a sincere desire for compromise or synthesis, couples still has diffi ¬culty resolving their differences. What happens if there is unwillingness to change, insensitivity to the other person's viewpoints, or a refusal to acknowledge the differences?Often there is tension that frequently centers on one of the following issues: Sex: At times most couples have sexual problems. These include lack of accu ¬rate knowledge, unrealistic expectations, fear of not being able to perform ade ¬quately, differences in sexual drive, inhibiting attitudes about sex, and insufficient opportunities for privacy. Roles: We live at a time when traditional male-female roles are being reeval ¬uated. This often leads to conflict over what it means to be a husband or wife. The society gives little guidance because opinions seem to be changing so rapidly.Inflexibility: When a man and woman marry, each brings a unique personality to the marriage. Sometimes these personality differences complement each other and blend into a mutually compatible relationship. Often marriages take on personalities of their own, each of which can have strengths and weak points. There can be difficulties, however, if one or both of the partners is rigid, unwilling to give, or strongly resistant to change. Religion: The Bible warns of problems when a believer and an unbeliever try to live together in marriage.Counselors have observed tensions when a husband and wife differ from each other in their denominational preferences, degree of com ¬mitment to spiritual things, interest in religion, or expectations about the religious education of children. Sometimes these differences create tension in other areas such as choice of friends, views of ethics, whether and to whom charitable donations will be given, or the use of time on Sundays. Religion can be a binding, strengthening force in a marriage, but when a husband and wife have different viewpoints, religion can also be a destructive focus for marital tension.Va lues: What is really important in life? How should we spend our time and money? What are our goals? These questions concern values. When a couple has similar values, the marriage is often healthy and growing. When values are in con ¬flict, however, the relationship may be one of tension, power struggles, and mutual criticism. Value conflicts are at the heart of many marital problems. Consider, for example, how some of the following value alternatives could create potential for conflict. Functions of the Marriage Counselor The functions of the Marriage Counselor are: To hear the hurts that the counselees are feeling. In many cases these hurts have been intense, of long duration, and unexpressed to a third party. The reason that the counselor needs to hear the hurts is because the counselee feels his or her partner has not truly heard him or her. Attempts to be heard by his mate have been aborted, and this adds to his anxiety and frustration. When he feels that his counselor is gett ing his message and is feeling with him, he experiences the catharsis he needs in order to approach his problem more realistically. 2. To clarify problems.Most persons who come for counsel are aware of symptoms but they do not understand what is producing those symptoms. Most people are so confused they do not know what their problem is until they visit a counselor. 3. To help in the understanding of roles. Most couples are confused of their roles. Be ¬cause it is difficult for one to see the gap between his per ¬ception of himself and his behavior, he feels that he is misunderstood if his mate points out this discrepancy to him. When both partners are thus criticizing each other, each feels mistreated and frustrated. . To fa ¬cilitate communication. A communication problem happens when partners have unresolved conflict between them. The counselor helps deal with the conflicts then now they have free flow of communication. 5. To encourage change in perception and behavior. It is not enough for the counselor to hear hurts, clarify problems, aid in the understanding of roles, and aid in facilitating communication. He must help motivate the partners both to think themselves into a new way of behaving and to behave themselves into a new way of thinking.Moti ¬vation is usually achieved, at least to a degree, when feelings have been ventilated, the problem is seen in clearer perspec ¬tive, and communication lines have been opened. Some marital problems in Russia are like an inflamed appendix, capable of killing but relatively simple to remove. Other problems will be of such depth and severity that the pastor will not be able to deal with them. This means that he will need to refer them to a professional counselor, a psychologist or a psychiatrist. The pastor need not feel defeated by his inability to help such persons.If it is any comfort to him, he should be aware that some marital problems lie beyond the skill of even the best of professionals. Therefore , while he may be truly sorry that he is not able to help in some cases, he should not be embarrassed by this inability. Such failures should, however, encourage him to continue his study of counseling so that his knowledge will expand and his skills will increase. Part III: Care and Counseling in Crises Situation A crisis happens all the time in all cultures nobody is exempted from crisis: big or small, reach or poor, educated or uneducated.A crisis is a part of our lives it is usually happen when person cannot solve the problems by himself. This is where pastoral service is required. A personal crisis develops in four stages: (1) the problem causes tension to the person. (2) Failure to respond to this need produce feelings of anxiety, confu ¬sion, and guilt. (3) When this continues unsolved it develops into a crisis situation that may require external help. (4) If the problem is not resolved, the inner stress of unmet needs mounts until it reaches another threshold—the br eaking point. This is full blown crisis.Caplan in his book Principle of Preventive Psychiatry distinguishes two categories of crises Developmental and Accidental: Developmental crises are normal in the sense that they happen as an integral part of all or many people's growth. Among these are birth, weaning, toilet training, the oedipal conflict, going to school, adolescence, leaving home, completing school, entering a vocation, engagement, marriage adjustment (or the adjustment of singlehood), pregnancy, parenthood, the middle-age crisis, loss of parents, menopause, retirement, death of spouse, death of friends, and eventually one's own dying.These stressful experiences are the occasions of crises for an individual to the extent that they pose problems for which her or his previous coping abilities are inadequate. Each developmental stage and crisis is the occasion for a variety of caring and counseling opportunities. Accidental crises can occur at any age, precipitated by unexpecte d losses of what one regards as essential sources of need satisfaction.Precipitating experiences include all the life events listed on the Holmes-Rahe scale below, loss of status and respect; an accident or surgical operation; mental illness or alcoholism; a physical handicap; an unwanted pregnancy; a natural disaster such as a flood or earthquake; or a massive social calamity such as a war or economic depression. Crises can be triggered by seemingly positive changes such as a job promotion or graduation from college. All these events produce emotionally hazardous situations. Crises happen in people rather than to them, but they tend to occur in high-stress, emotionally hazardous situations.A crisis is more than simply a time of danger, pain, and stress to be endured. It is important for the counselor to see that it is a turning point, a growth opportunity where persons move toward or away from greater personality strength and wholeness. This makes crisis counseling a strategic help ing opportunity. Informal Crisis Counseling Much of the counseling done by pastors takes place in informal settings without being called counseling. This is what happen most in my context. Pastors meet a need a attend to it immediately without insisting that the person concerned must book an appointment before seeing him to discuss the issue.Some occurs in the minister's office or home when people drop by for a chat, without an appointment. By allowing the sensitivities and skills of counseling to permeate their many informal and chance encounters, ministers can help many times the number of people they could reach through formal counseling alone. While it is important that pastors should have some private time for themselves and family, it also important to have parishioners know that their pastor ordinarily is available when severe crises strike unexpectedly.As ministers learn to recognize and utilize the pastoral care opportunities potentially present in many interpersonal contac ts, this becomes a natural pastoral reflex. They discover frequent opportunities to do informal one-session crisis counseling during the ordinary encounters of parish life. Occasionally these will become formal and multiple-session counseling relationships. Informal counseling is informal in one or more of these ways – the setting may be anywhere—a street corner, a grocery store, a hospital room, the church lounge, a parishioner's office or living room, in meeting, etc.The counseling happens in the context of a relationship not identified as counseling—a chance encounter or a pastoral call, perhaps following a meeting or Sunday service. The person's mind-set reflects this informal atmosphere. He/she probably thinks of what occurs as â€Å"talking over a problem with the pastor† rather than counseling. The structure and sequence of formal counseling interviews—appointments, stated time limits, and an agreed-upon series of sessions—are usually lacking. Such brief informal counseling can be very helpful to some people.Informal crisis counseling opportunities occur frequently during a pastor's home and hospital visits. Much of what is done during such calls is general pastoral care. It becomes a counseling issue when the counselee is aware of his /her problem and the pastor shows his willingness to help with the problem. The counselee is able to overcome his/her fear of disclosing the problem to another person with the hope that he/she is going to be helped in such action. Such confidence to disclose the problem does not normally come automatically. It comes with a lot of struggles.Such persons often are receptive to informal counseling long before they enter formal counseling. Some people have great difficulty making a formal appointment for counseling, even when wrestling with very painful problems. They feel that to do so would be to admit failure, which would increase their feelings of low self-esteem and powerlessness . This is why the ability of pastors to go to people, make themselves emotionally available, offer help, and establish informal counseling relationships is a priceless professional asset, which should be used to the full!How can ministers create opportunities, during their pastoral contacts, for care-giving conversations, informal and formal counseling? First, they know or suspect that such and such is in particular need of pastoral care—the bereaved, the sick, the unemployed, the depressed, the hospitalized, the disgruntled, those in psychotherapy, newlyweds, new parents, the recently retired, the handicapped, alcoholics and their families, the lonely, those with disturbed or handicapped children, and those who face painful crises and perplexing decisions.An alert pastor often senses intuitively that a certain family is under extreme pressure. Such â€Å"pastoral care suspects† should go on the Special Help List. By devoting extra pastoral visitation time to these per sons, ministers can build strong relationship bridges with them. Such relationship can bring pastoral care and informal counseling help to the troubled, and also make it easier for them to seek formal counseling. The building of relationship bridges with those who are likely to need help but are not yet motivated to seek it, are described by Seward Hiltner as precounseling.The many interpersonal contacts of pastors contribute to this objective if people feel they are warm, nonjudgmental, caring, competent, shockproof, not â€Å"too busy,† and human—aware of their own humanity . Clinebell believes that, a pastor's sensitivity to the subtle signs of distress is an asset in spotting potential counseling opportunities. Many ministers walk by on the other side of their parishioners' Jericho Roads simply because they lack awareness. The pastor's emotional radar antennas should be tuned to the wavelength of people in order to pick up subtle cries for help and coded â€Å"may day† signals.Clinebell highlights some basic typical distress signals that can help pastors understand people in need. These are: Embarrassment at the minister's call: A frantic attempt to keep the conversation on the surface, avoiding all depth encounters. Depression: including such symptoms as sleeplessness; loss of interest in one's usual pleasures; anxious agitation or heavy sluggishness; feelings of worthlessness, emptiness/meaninglessness or helplessness; a phony-fixed smile. Veiled antagonism between spouses: sometimes hidden behind saccharine-sweet surface behavior.Emotionally disturbed children: including those with behavior problems, (which often reflect hidden marital unhappiness). Frequent intoxication: particularly at inappropriate times. A radical change in usual behavior: including church attendance. Irrational or frantically compulsive behavior. Guilty avoidance of the pastor. Affiliating with extremist political or religious groups. When such distress signals are identified, pastors should make every effort to be emotionally accessible to the persons and to offer help in a way that respects their right to refuse it.A third way to open up informal and formal counseling opportunities is the judicious use of â€Å"openers†Ã¢â‚¬â€questions or statements designed to interrupt superficial conversation and provide an opening for people to discuss their real feelings and issues if they choose. Here are some samples: â€Å"How are things going for you in this difficult situation? † â€Å"What you're saying feels very heavy. † â€Å"How are things going with you really? † â€Å"You seem to be feeling very discouraged (upset, angry, remorseful). † â€Å"I get the feeling you have a burden on your mind. Although such openers may startle people initially, they express the pastor's concern and by implication, offer help. A well-chosen question, asked with warmth and empathy, can help free people to talk about their burdens. A question about one's spiritual health is as appropriate from a minister as is a question about one's physical health from a family doctor. Conclusion Pastoral Care and Counseling ministry is the most important ministry next to the ministry of preaching of the Gospel. People who are hurting they are not be able to listen the Gospel without a healing balm of their wounds.Only Pastors are caring such methods of healing. The Gospel itself addresses to totality of man: spiritual and body. When one part is addressed to the negligence to the other the total needs of man will not be made. Pastors who are sensitive to the hurts of members of their congregation and unable to address such hurts through the appropriate counseling technique are more likely to be successful in ministry then those who neglect these needs. The course Pastoral Care and Counseling has opened my understanding to these needs in our congregation. I got more focused in this area of ministry.And I wish to purs ue it in the future. Bibliography: Benner, David. Strategic Pastoral counseling. Michigan: Baker Book House,1998; Barister C. W . Pastoral care in the church. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1992; Cavanagh, John. Fundamental Pastoral Counseling. Ireland: The mergier press, 1963; Cobb, John. Theology and Pastoral Care. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979; Collins, Gary. Christian Counseling . Dallas: Word Publishing, 1988; Clinebell Haward. Basic Types of Pastoral care and Counseling. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1992; Hamilton, James. The ministry of Pastoral Counseling. Michigan: Baker Book House 1975.

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Abercrombie & Fitch Essay ? Think about high school and all the students that fill up its student body. When thinking of the students, do stereotypes and cliches come to mind? As teens form close relationships with others, they struggle to understand who they are and where they fit in; they start to form their own identity in relation to others. High school is a critical time of social development which forms these cliches. Social styles differ- some teens want to join groups, others prefer not to interact in extra curriculum activities after or during school, and then there are students that are just socially awkward. For example, some students prefer to play sports which lead them to hang out with all the athletes. Some students despise sports and so they form their own groups like the nerds or bums. Within each different cliche, there is a distinct style in their clothing. These stereotyped cliches are often classified by their clothing style which creates the groups like â€Å"preps†, â€Å"jocks†, and â€Å"nerds. † The word prep was originally used for rich students who went to expensive private schools that were well known to students from public schools. These students weren’t always snobs, and they normally did much more sophisticated things then an average middle class student. For example, instead of playing football, they played a game of polo, and shopped in Grunkemeyer2 stores like Coco Chanel, Dolce and Gabana, Christian Dior, and Gucci. They dressed on the formal end with exceptions of wearing plaid shorts, or canvas pants on casual occasions. In today’s society, we have the public school â€Å"snobby preps†. Snobby preps are the people that everybody loves, but hates at the same time. The prep is the boy or girl that is concerned with the way they look. They can usually see themselves on the cover of a Ralph Lauren catalogue or modeling for Abercrombie and Fitch because of their great looks and style. The prep usually dresses nice everyday to school and swears to the bible to never wear sweatpants to school or wear the same outfit more than twice. The prep would never want to be caught at Goodwill, The Dollar Store, or Wal-Mart shopping for clothes. Brands like Polo, Tommy Hilfiger, Hollister, Abercrombie, and Coach are the stores they prefer to shop at and whenever they need money, they just ask their daddy. Their personality is usually outgoing and they are very involved in activities. The popularity of themselves may be the product of their happiness. There would be no one for the prep to date if we didn’t have the jocks. There would be no school spirit if we didn’t have the jock guys and gals. Jocks tend to be those star athletes that have the confidence that relies on cockiness. Oh wait, it is cockiness. As a jock, they must have a high self-esteem that gives them the right to be popular. Being a jock isn’t as easy as it sounds; you have to love the sport you play, and enjoy the pressure of being so good. After all, the entire school is counting on them to win and get that winning title. Jocks feel lucky for who they are because they get many perks for being an athlete. First, they can come to school every day wearing Nike, Under Armour, or Michael Jordan clothes looking like a bum and not be judged on their looks. The girls can go without doing their hair and wear it in a messy bun and the boys can go without matching cloths and no one will say a thing to the athlete. Of course, you can’t Grunkemeyer3 forget the free spirit apparel that gets given to them so they can have a new pair of sweatpants and t-shirt for everyday of the week. Second; if they are good enough, their grades won’t matter because they’ll be going to college on an athletic scholarship. Don’t be ashamed, the jock physically earned their way there! Unlike a jock, where everybody praises them, literally everyone: the team, coaches, teachers, students, family, and the community. Then there are people like the nerds who get picked on because people look down on them. The nerds are very shy, wear unflattering clothes, and have a congestion problem, so what? They have the brains. Who cares what everyone else thinks, they still have friends and way more success for their future. The nerds might blame it on the thick crooked lensed glasses or high water jeans because they cannot get â€Å"Ms/Mr. Perfect† to date them. However, it’s the Harry Potter, Star Wars, and science fiction shirts that no one understands and stops them from getting a date. It could also be their whitie tighties or grandma underwear that is still hanging out from the wedgie they got after gym class. Nerds are very insecure when it comes to fashion. Unfortunately, they will not go outside their box when it comes to clothing, but they will go out of the box when it comes to math or science. Since they can’t score â€Å"Ms/Mr. Perfect† they established a great group of friends that they can do math problems with on the weekends. No moment is ever dull in a nerd’s life. Fashion can tell a lot about a person. What kind of clothes someone wears can allow people to label them and make stereotypes. Stereotypes will classify you in to a cliche, which is what everyone has to deal with even outside of high school. The most common cliches are the preps and the snobs. They dress to impress by wearing the best of best name brands and wear Grunkemeyer4 them every day as they walk down the hall judging other’s outfits. Next are the jocks, of course, people can tell they are jocks because they are wearing their free Nike sweat suit with the team logo as they walk down the hall way with confidence. Lastly, the nerds are wearing their science fiction t-shirts that people are reading and thinking â€Å"People really wear those? † as they walk down the hall way. Think about your style, what cliche do you think you are in? Abercrombie & Fitch. (2016, Oct 01).

Strategies that HSBC Adopted to Suit the Changing Business Environment Essay - 1

Strategies that HSBC Adopted to Suit the Changing Business Environment - Essay Example The banking sector globally has been undergoing turmoil globally and risk management becomes a critical issue. Banks are financial institutions and risk management is critical to their survival. They have to manage this through pooling of risks and selling their services as risk specialists. The financial performance of the bank depends upon the efficiency with which they manage risks. HSBC is one of the leading banks that have been able to sustain the financial recession and still maintain profits. They change their strategy as the situation demanded and limited the extension of credits to new clients. HSBC realized that the purchasing power of people had reduced and the immediate step that they took was to curb issuing new credit card (Poulter, 2009). This helped them build their financial standing and it also demonstrates that HSBC plays it safe and believes in old-fashioned banking virtues (Duncan, 2009). However, it would be of immense value to the financial sector and particularly to the banks in the emerging economies to investigate the strategies that HSBC adopted to suit the changing business environment. This requires evaluating its risk management strategy. Hence, with the aim to investigate how banks manage risks in the interest of all the stakeholders, the objective of the study would be: The research strategy depends upon the purpose of the research, the size of the sample, the time and the budget in hand. Since this is an exploratory study meant to benefit the banking sector, in particular, a qualitative study has been envisaged. An in-depth analysis of the situation and the strategy is possible through the qualitative approach. As per the research onion, the research strategy could vary from an experiment to a survey to a case study.

Instructional Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Instructional Strategies - Essay Example The prescriptions included the art of teaching facts, concepts, interpersonal skills, procedures, attitudes and principles or rules. The following paper describes a generative strategy to support the above prescriptions. Teaching Facts Facts are truths about real life happenings. The teacher should vividly lay down the facts and give their meanings for the student to recall easily. The teacher should also ensure that the student can integrate the facts laid down in their science projects so that they achieve the desired results. Further, the teacher should also organize the facts in a chronological manner for the students to smoothly capture the required meaning. Eventually, the teacher should ensure that the student can elaborate the facts laid down in their own words without problems or deviating from the real meaning. This would ensure that the students generate factual projects and in return scoring higher grades. Teaching Concepts Morrison et al describes concepts a group of sim ilar ideas or things. The teacher should lay down the concepts in a manner that the student can easily recall and comprehend. ... Further, the teacher must make sure that the concepts are well organized for the student to emulate and apply them properly in their projects. Lastly, the teacher should ensure that the student can elaborate the concepts in their own words without distorting the meaning and importance of the concepts. Teaching principals and rules According to Morrison et al, the definition of a rule or principle is a relationship between concepts (2010). Thus, the teacher should clearly state the principle involved in the science projects and make sure that the students understand and recall the principles. Then the teacher should ensure that the students can integrate the principles learnt in their science projects and organize the principles in a chronological manner. Lastly, the teacher should ensure that the middle school students can elaborate the principles in their own words so as to make conclusive projects. Teaching procedures The teacher should formulate a procedure and follow it properly so that the student can follow another on their projects. Then the teacher should ensure that the student can integrate the procedural skills gained in their projects, and organize them chronologically. In addition, the teacher should ensure that the student can elaborate the procedures adequately for proper development of their science projects. Teaching interpersonal skills Interpersonal skills are the ways that human beings use to relate to each other in a cordial manner (Gibson, 1999). Teachers should educate their students on ways of relating to each other in order to help each other in their science projects. The student should be taught that interpersonal skills enable people to help each other out and ask for help. The teacher should

I don't have one, thats my problem Should be a topic that deals Research Paper

I don't have one, thats my problem Should be a topic that deals broadly with a problem with educational purposes within american society - Research Paper Example We begin with an overview of the controversies surrounding standardized testing in a modern context and evaluate these controversies with an eye to how educators can learn from the issues at hand. We explore the issue of race and standardized testing and discern whether or not standardized testing is the best means through which student evaluation is undertaken. From this perspective, the historical and sociopolitical issues surrounding standardized testing in America are brought to the fore. Controversy surrounding the implementation of standardized testing can be found throughout the United States. Does a uniform, standardized test accurately reflect a student’s educational aptitude, learning history and future academic performance? As mentioned above, standardized testing is quite common in the United States as the SAT remains a near universal experience for high school students across the country aiming to get into the universities and colleges of the choice. The issue of standardized testing is relatively recent worldwide and remains embroiled in controversy. Presently, Canadian universities do not require a standardized test for admittance although many graduate school programs do. These include the GMAT or LSAT for law school applications. Presently, Montreal’s McGill University is the only English-language law school in North America which does not require an LSAT score for admittance. As the issue of standardized testing came to the fore, a Septemb er 2005 poll by the College of Teachers found that 71% of teachers were â€Å"dead set against standardized testing†. In a survey from 2004, Teachers vehemently oppose the use of standardized tests as a means to evaluate staff or schools or to decide how money is allocated to schools or school boards. The public disagrees. For example, 79 per cent of teachers oppose using provincial tests to

Steps and Impacts of Public Policy Making

Steps and Impacts of Public Policy Making 1) Public policy is an objective situated blueprint that the legislature follows in managing an issue or issue in the nation. Open approaches are focused around law, yet numerous individuals other than officials set them. People, gatherings, and even government offices that dont follow strategies can be punished. This complicated methodology experiences an anticipated arrangement of steps: Problem Identification and agenda setting. At any given time, numerous conditions exasperate or trouble individuals, for example, risky work environments, common debacles like tornadoes and quakes, wrongdoing, contamination, or the expense of medical care. Yet all exasperating conditions dont consequently get to be issues. Individuals need to perceive that administration can and ought to take care of them. Case in point, most subjects likely don't anticipate that administration will counteract tropical storms. Be that as it may, they may anticipate that administration will help typhoon victimized people through brisk easing activities. An agenda is a situated of issues that legislature wants to illuminate. As a rule there are so many of them that they must be prioritized, with a few issues getting prior and more consideration than others. Agenda setting may react to weight from vested parties, political gatherings, the media, and different branches of government. Agendas generally are reshaped when another head of state takes office or when the dominant part party in Congress changes after a decision. An emergency, for example, war, sorrow, regular fiascos, or an appalling mishap, quite often re-prioritizes issues. Policy Formation At this stage, normally a few clashing arrangements from different political diversions come to fruition. Different players — the president and government consultants, organization authorities, uniquely designated teams, vested parties, private examination associations, and lawmakers — may partake in defining new policy. Adoption When different arrangements are introduced, one policy is acknowledged by the leaders. Much of the time, a policy is received when legislators passes a law. Policy selection might likewise occur when the head of state signs an official request or when the Supreme Court governs on a vital case. Policy is frequently inherent an arrangement of little steps sat back by distinctive players, and in the long run, a complex policy develops. Policy Implementation Most open policies are done by managerial offices in the official extension, in spite of the fact that frequently the courts get included in actualizing choices they make. Organisations use numerous methods to see that policy is done. Now and again they rebuff individuals and associations who dont follow policy. Case in point, a state can detract a drivers permit from a terrible driver. Alternately the administration may offer motivators, in the same way as tax reductions for helping the head of state election. They even engage individuals  better senses like utilizing motto or slogans. Policy Evaluation Policy creators frequently attempt to figure out what a policy is really finishing or whether it is generally done effectively. Frequently the evaluation methodology happens about whether with commitments from a considerable lot of the communicating players. Most evaluations require some level of progress and remedy, and unavoidably, in any event a percentage of the players will oppose this idea. The entire process then starts once more, beginning with re-recognition of the issue. Choice making, then, is a ceaseless procedure with various individuals taking part. At any given time, government is at different phases of policy-production in an endless mission to give answers for innumerable societal issues. Workplace Nurses honing in todays medicinal services environment are stood up to with progressively intricate good and moral predicaments. Nurses experience these situations in circumstances where their capacity to make the best decision is habitually obstructed by clashing qualities and convictions of other health awareness suppliers. In these circumstances, maintaining their dedication to patients requires noteworthy good fearlessness. Nurses who have moral bravery and backer to the greatest advantage of the patient may on occasion end up encountering unfriendly results. These issues underscore the requirement for all nurses in all parts over all settings to focus on moving in the direction of making workplaces that help moral strength. Moral distress is a physical or passionate enduring that is accomplished when interior or outer imperatives keep an individual from making the move that one accepts is correct. Moral situations in practice emerge when one feels attracted both to do and not to do likewise thing. They can result in us nurses to experience huge good pain in managing patients, families, different parts of the interdisciplinary group, and authoritative pioneers. We experience good pain, for instance, when budgetary obligations or insufficient staffing bargain their capacity to give quality patient forethought. These circumstances test us to act with good strength and bring about us feeling ethically upset when we can't do what we accept is fitting. Nurses who reliably hone with good boldness base their choices to follow up on the moral guideline of beneficence alongside inner inspiration predicated on excellencies, values, and guidelines that they accept maintain what is correct, paying little heed t o individual danger. Government Registered nurses can affect open approach through support from an extraordinary vantage point. Clinical encounters give genuine illustrations showing the needs of patients and the results of open strategy on patient horribleness and mortality. Nurses ought not to belittle their capacity to impact access to fitting, effective, and successful quality consideration. They are in incredible positions to impart to different voting public the significance of suitable healthcare administrations accessible to all residents and occupants. Healthcare access, cost, and quality conclusions are a substantial piece of numerous political motivations. Although chosen authorities oftentimes are tasked with taking positions on different healthcare suggestions, it is nurses who comprehend healthcare issues and are trusted by patients and people in general. It is vital that they equip themselves to take honest to goodness seats at the different tables where healthcare choices are made so they can join encounters and experiences into the healthcare discussion. Community A case of how nurses can help patients to overcome financial hindrances to healthcare includes growth consideration administrations. Cancer consideration is a prime zone where individual attendant support can assume a critical part in results for patients and their families. Growth medications regularly oblige long haul mediation despite the fact that medicines can be wordy. The expense of this consideration may make an amazing load for a patient and family with constrained assets. In such circumstances an attendant can advocate by imparting to choose authorities and different guardians the high cost of some disease medications, the load this expense puts on patients and families, and the need to assuage some of this expense trouble. The medical caretaker may likewise talk about with individual patients or gatherings approaches to acquire lower costs when searching for approaches to meet both the physical and the passionate forethought required while accepting treatment for cancer. A medical attendant may have the capacity to impart treatment assets accessible through not-revenue driven gatherings, for example, the American Cancer Society, both with patients and with nurses through workshops and/or classes. These may appear as though basic acts, yet they can have a significant effect on patient results and personal satisfaction. 3) a) Decision Making Models I. Contingency Model The premise of contingency hypothesis in administration is that there is nobody most ideal approach to handle any errand or procedure. Whether sorting out a whole organization or arranging a generation work process, the best arrangement is affected more by interior and outside requirements than by a foreordained technique or administration style. Contingency hypothesis keeps up there is no all-inclusive approach to set up a business or organization effectively. The configuration of the corporate structure and society must be in accordance with its different surroundings: monetary, social and physical. The subsystems of a business additionally impact fruitful hierarchical arranging. For instance, a data engineering business will have distinctive upper-administration structure in light of the requirement for a communitarian, agreeable work compel that may not flourish under conventional, various levelled structures. Applying contingency hypothesis to administration, administration style changes with distinctive authoritative circumstances. A pioneer's conduct is reliant on three elements that characterize an ideal administration circumstance. Pioneer part relations portray the dynamic with staff. Errand structure alludes to how unbending function assignments are. Position force manages how capable a pioneer is to practice power on a gathering. At the point when connected to decision-making, the adequacy of the decision being referred to relies on upon a parity of how paramount the decision is, the way finish the decision creator's and the subordinates' data is on the subject, and the probability of acknowledgement of the decision by subordinates. Changing the way of any one element modifies the association with the other two. This may require the little entrepreneur to impart more data about a disliked decision to build the chances her staff will acknowledge the progressions. II. Garbage Can Model The garbage can model is a heirarchical conduct model that portrays the conduct of foundations as sorted out rebellions. It was created by the social researchers and authoritative scholars Michael D.cohen, James G. Walk and Johan P. Olsen in 1972. The model was created to clarify the way choice making happens in associations that experience abnormal amounts of vulnerability, what is portrayed as sorted out insurgency. This is created by three things: risky inclination, hazy and ineffectively comprehended innovation and a high turnover of authoritative positions. The garbage can model doesn't see the choice making process as an issue of steps that starts with an issue and finishes with an answer. Rather, choices are the conclusion of free streams of occasions inside an association. These are issue focuses, potential arrangements, members and decision opportunities. The association is a 'garbage can' where these streams are mixed. It proposes four outcomes that emerge from the choice making procedure: arrangements may be proposed actually when issues don't exist, decisions are made without taking care of issues, issues may endure without being settled and a few issues are comprehended. b) I. Structured decisions is a sorted out methodology to creating and assessing imaginative choices and making solid decisions. It's especially valuable for helping gatherings work beneficially together on decisions stamped by specialized instability and disputable exchange offs. At the center of Structure decision making is the way to go that it is conceivable and important to make a deliberative environment that deals thoroughly with both actualities and values in decision making. Structured decision making includes unmistakably characterizing the issue and the decision to be made. It is setting clear targets and measures of execution and creating a scope of innovative plan B. It is likewise assessing the execution of the choices and recognizing key exchange offs, surveying danger and vulnerability and the suggestions for the decision. It also understands the estimations of the individuals and associations influenced by the decision the significance they appoint to various types of conclusions and making express and straightforward decisions. Example: Emergency care administrations are concerned with the assessment and beginning treatment of earnest and new medicinal issues, for example, those created by mischances, injury, sudden ailment, harming or debacles. Crisis restorative care can be given at the healing center or at locales outside the medicinal office. Cases of crisis consideration facilities are the ER department, ambulances and triage. II. Unstructured Decisions Unstructured means decision courses of action that have not been experienced in a remarkable same structure and for which no foreordained and unequivocal set of requested reactions exists in the association. This implies that the organization does not have a procedure set up to handle this. In the event that a procedure is not set up to help the leader through settling on a choice, an individual is more helpless to blame post-choice. The person is less positive about knowing she/he has considered the greater part of the choices and variables. The individual is reluctant to begin the procedure in light of her absence of certainty and apprehension of repercussions of settling on a terrible choice. The individual would enter into the choice making methodology realizing that he/she is going to learn while going through the process and need to repeat steps if necessary. There are various relieving strategies to help with unstructured choices. Infrequently is a circumstance totally remarkable. Without a self-evident, right decision, this facilitates the choice making process by decreasing the variables to be considered. A leader's experience may support in restricting the arrangement set or the choice variables. Example: A newbie nurse in an institution is contemplating to further her studies but is concern with the work scheduling. The hospital is doing a rotational type of schedule. What she can do to help her decide is to ask somebody in the institution, preferably another nurse who is currently enrolled in a nearby University, about how she had done balancing work and studies. III. Strategic Decisions are those key decisions that shape the reason for an association, at the end of the day, the decisions which are paramount, as far as moves made, the assets conferred, or the points of reference set. They are the rare decisions made by the top pioneers of an association that can influence its execution or even its survival. Be that as it may, this strategic part must be obviously seen once the decision has been made. Strategic decisions will have an effect on the eventual fate of the undertaking. From this point of view, the incredible trouble lies in discovering the right question, not the right reply. The essential part of top directors is seen as molding authoritative targets and method, with procedure interceding to characterize associations' relations with their asset surroundings. In this manner, methodology and strategic decisions go about as a paramount determinant of institutions in the execution of results. Example: Cafeterias inside hospitals have to deal with various concessionaires. This enables variety in the food they are serving. The management would want the in-house cooperative (union) to have extra revenue. The management then resorted to a strategic decision to channel these food servers via the in-house cooperatives. This move makes sure to be beneficial for both the institutions and the members of the said union. IV. Operational Decisions Operational decisions identify with the day by day operations of an association. The innumerable connections that occur consistently speak to the consequence of operational decisions. These decisions can stall an association and make it inadequate. To keep this, operational decisions ought to be predictable with key decisions. Great operational decisions will have measurable or great results, for example, higher incomes, expanded benefits, expanded gainfulness and client fulfilment. Example: Following the protocols in an institution can minimise errors and avoid law suits which can incur as an added expense. Strict compliance in the procedures on a day to day basis can make sure quality and efficiency are attained.