Brief Pastoral Counseling: Short-Term Approaches and Strategies

Most pastoral counselors clergy and psychotherapists assume that truly effective counseling requires months or even years.Research suggests otherwise. Studies have provided two startling findings. First most persons come for four or fewer counseling sessions whatever the counseling method employed. Second the majority of any counselings effectiveness occurs in the opening few sessions.Part One uses brief pastoral counseling as a framework for detailing specific issues and approaches: getting the problem clear assigning homework between sessions and focusing on strengths.Part Two connects many of the typical problems encountered in parish ministry to specific counseling interventions which work in only a few sessions. Using many examples formulated out of Stones years of counseling experience it allows the reader to visualize each approach and make use of it as a counseling strategy.