Curious Christian

I would be remiss if I did not also jot down a few notes about this week’s lecture at Morling College, particularly those aspects that relate to me personally.

I will start with the easy stuff. Firstly, I was pleased that my objections to the core assumptions of the four models we were asked to read about last week were taken seriously. We had a long discussion about love in the counseling context and what that means from a Christian perspective.

We also spent some time considering the difference between counseling and pastoral care which cleared things up for me a bit. Quick synopsis – counseling is less reciprochal, more intense on personal issues, potentially more painful and more grounded in empathy than sympathy.

I also raised the issue of male / female counseling relationships given 75% of the people who come to me for a chat about spiritual and personal issues tend to be women. Clear understanding of your own boundaries was the answer to that. I think I will have to review my own boundaries in light of it.

We also had some interesting discussions about theophostic prayer counseling, the theraputic alliance and the implications of Galatians 6:1-5 in the counseling context. All of which I want to investigate further.

Ok, now for the harder bit. We also did an visualization exercise where we were asked to imagine an object representing (1) ourselves and (2) our perfect counselor. The thing I visualized for myself was a large heavy dark black box made out of lead. I am giving away a lot about my current emotional state here. There is a certain irony in finding it easier to do online than in the classroom. Analyze that! The object I visualised for my counselor was a glass of water that wore the box down over time, finding the cracks and eroding the impenetrable shell.  On reflection, I think what that is dredging up is that one of the attributes a counsellor needs is patience, to be able to say to a person, I have plenty of it for you.

Note: This thread, College Reflections, is to be submitted for assessment as part of my coursework in The Foundations of Christian Counseling at Morling College
at the end of Semester 1, 2007. If you would like to speak to me about
issues I raise in this thread, but are concerned about privacy, please
email me privately  instead of leaving a public comment.