Name of assignment/report
Pastoral Counselling Reading Report
Presented in partial fulfilment
For the requirements of the course
Name of Course: Pastoral Counselling 1
Code of Course: REP 210

Lecturer: Dr. Simbrashe
Student: G Cairncross
Student number: 0000
Date: 28 April 2016

Declaration of Academic Integrity:
I hereby declare that the composition of this assignment/report is wholly my own and where other authors have been either quoted or paraphrased, this has been precisely referenced. I understand that any person found guilty of plagiarism will not only automatically receive a failing grade for this paper—but possibly for the whole course; and may face additional academic penalties that could include dismissal from the Faculty of Arts or from Helderberg College.

Sign:

Table of Contents:

Introduction: 3
Biblical view: 3
What PCT is all about and how its effects people in counselling: 4
My View of Effective Christian Counselling: 6
Conclusion: 7
Bibliography: 8

Pastoral Counselling 1 Term Paper – Person Centred Therapy
Introduction:
“Person-centred therapy (PCT) is a humanistic approach, a belief that humans can achieve happiness and can solve their own problems. The fundamental belief is that people tend to move towards growth, self actualisation and healing.” This is one of the therapies used in counselling today and it supports personal growth but does not always include Christian virtues. The approach seem very important because it claim to mould a person from the help seeking broken state they in to self actualisation and fullfilment. In reality, is it really what happen to people being counselled using PCT as their method of counselling? PCT method of counselling recommend a non-directive approach that allow the client to lead himself and can anything good come from within us without God, the source of life. Our nature as human beings outlines the fact that we have a sin problem that we cannot get rid of unless we claim God’s power on a daily basis. Person-centred therapy is good in the sense that it wants to help people grow and enhance their self esteem but this can only be done when given the right environment. In this case my view is that there should be personal interaction between client and counsellor, a mutual understanding of the goals set, copled with respect and joint effort to restore the client.
Biblical view:
Jesus is our example from Christian centred counselling; John 14:6 Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (Andrews Study Bible, 2009). The therapy says that the person will grow by his/herself but it is impossible when they come to a counsellor for help which they do not have, sometimes it is their last resort and they look for help from people who have more answers. If this view of therapy is important how does a created human being, strive to build himself up without any form of help from his/her creator. Many reasons why people today are unhappy is because they cannot seem to find the fulfilment on their own with or without the correct environment, the environment play an important role but many people succeeded from the most appolling enviroments. A good example of people not able to heal themselves come from the bible , were the man at the pool of Bathesda, when ask by Jesus he respond, “I have no man”. We can as mere humans try and find many theories to bring healing and help to ourselves but if we fail to acknowledge the one who made us and ask Him for help what is the point in asking for help. The problem with Client centred therapy is the fact that no open questions are asked only closed questions and it limit the counsellor on obtaining enough information to properly help the client. The treatment solutions in this case will mean nothing because a proper understanding of the real situation is lacking; consequently the findings of the counsellor is based on very limited information and is bound to be skewed.. This causes the counsellor to appear not really interested in the real issues of the client’s problem since the wrong interpretations are made and the clients needs are not met.
What PCT is all about and how its effects people in counselling:
The PCT therapy gives the view that it backs off and stands at a distance and allow the client to make their own decisions, this is risky because as a caring counsellor you would want the best for your client and ultimately help them to arrive at the best solution to the problems they are facing. When someone close comes to you, like your family members seeking advice, they are asking that you tell them the dangers of their decision and how it could effect them both positively and negatively. PCT therapy require that the client defines how far they want to grow by choice and effort, yet when someone comes to you for help they acknowledge they cannot achieve the outcomes they desire for their life and family, hence they need intervention and support from a counsellor. The question is, will the client return if he feel he is not helped as expected from a counselling session.
When I agree to do a task I want to look back nd say I did my best even though the results were not desirable, the question is do you get involve in counselling and respond in a genuine way if you do not get personally involved. The will of Christ for His disciples were that they become “Fishers of men” if they follow Him. Mark 1:17 “And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.” (Andrews Study Bible, 2009)
The view states that the person that got hurt moves toward healing. This is not true because one cannot heal automatically if you not willing to deal the hurt. The person could have gotten hurt more than once and it can go into extremes with depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, the possibilities are endless. The Person centred therapy is good in that it makes things a lot more personal for the client and increases their level of comfort. I believe the right environment should be created to allow the client to speak openly and approach change.
The approach mainly depends on the stage that a person is at; in whatever they are going through whether it is anxiety or addictions or whatever the client is struggling with. Pastors that are not trained to deal with issues like drugs and extra normal issues faced by the public and therefore it is wise to refer these clients to professional people such as psychologists and other specialist in the field. This is a choice that the pastor must make together with the client and be honest about his limitations or the severity of the case.
The way in which a person’s perspective or view of things are, is the specific person’s point of view, which makes their view subjective. An objective view is one that regards a wider perspective of a situation and in terms of counselling a broader view is needed to have a fuller understanding. This is crucial, for example in the sense that people sometimes find themselves in a deeper situation than they are willing to share with a counsellor and therefore limit the counsellors understanding of the situation.
Person centred theory says that having the right environment brings about healing, yet who is to say that the right environment will ever exist to which the person will be able to grow in. We will constantly be exposed to situations around us and the right environment might never arise or be there for the client to experience true person centred therapy.
My View of Effective Christian Counselling:
I personally agree and promote the following statement on counselling and would incorporate it into my ministry. “Counselling can be defined as a relatively short-term, interpersonal, theory based process of helping persons who are fundamentally psychologically healthy resolve developmental and situational issues.” (Gladding, 1996). I support the pastoral counselling view because logically it just makes more sense not because I am a theology student but because this type of counselling also includes a third person view within the counselling namely God as the third person. This view helps in the perspective that the weight of the problems that we go through that the client feels or has to deal with is not as harsh because the damaged or cares of the problems are taken by God. The bible says in 1Peter 5:7 “casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” If the counsellor can help the client to build a relationship and to establish that there is a higher power to help deal with some of the issues being experiences and dealt with adequately.
Whenever we view our problems in the light of a greater power or person able to rescue us from any situation it becomes easier to handle because firstly we realise that we are not alone and secondly we can see the situation without it clouding our emotions with overwhelming feelings or too much pressure.
Conclusion:
Person Centred therapy is great in that it helps promote development of a person. A Persons action speaks louder than their words; it is easier to draw of what the person is feeling than their actions than what they say at times. I am sure there are many different therapies but not all of them seem to be successful due to the fact that it was developed by humans. I personally seem to agree whole heartedly with the pastoral counselling approach which means that it allows for an approach and relationship that normally would not just exist without personal effort from both sides. It is very important to be objective when taking into consideration what exactly we want to achieve when counselling. Ultimately a counsellor should desire the good and improvement of the one you counsel, just like Christ desired the good of those He came into contact with.

Bibliography

Gladding, S. T. (1996). Counselling: A Comprehensive Profession, Third Edition. From http://www.definethis.org/word/Counseling.html
Andrews Study Bible. (2009). The Study Bible. Washington: Review and Herald.
E.G. White. Ministry of Healing.