ACT for Clergy and Pastoral Counselors, livre ebook

“Physical and emotional suffering bring to light the spiritual in most persons, whether overtly expressed or not. Frontline care of the spiritual needs of the suffering usually falls to spiritual care providers, such as clergy and pastoral counselors, yet does not escape the responsibility of the ‘secular’ therapist. When spiritual care providers meet the patient, the encounter can vary widely across the same faith tradition, not to mention different traditions. In addition, persons suffering are both vulnerable to ill-advised comments by these care providers, and resistant to anyone viewed as tampering with their faith. Nieuwsma, Walser, and Hayes provide a guide into and through this most important yet tenuous relationship—the application of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). The central tenants of ACT—openness, centeredness in the present, and engagement through commitment—clarify this confusing experience for those suffering through informed and empathic intervention by the spiritual care provider. ‘If I am suffering, what am I to do with my faith?’ Recognize who you are, recognize where you are at this critical stage in your life, and recognize and engage your core values. This approach is inclusive yet does not devolve into a watered down generic spirituality. Rather it calls upon the inner values and strengths that each faith tradition brings to the healing of the body and the emotions.” — Dan Blazer MD, MPH, PhD , J.P.