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The need for clergy to employ pastoral counseling techniques requires education and training in such skills. With a current emphasis on global interaction and missionary work, many priests and clergy find they are ill-equipped to provide pastoral counseling that integrates cultural considerations. This book provides insight into the perceptions of religious brothers training in communication and counseling skills. It highlights possibilities for seminary instruction by sharing strategies for pastoral services that exhibit a new awareness of the meaning of pastoral care. Assessing the priestly role in counseling, the book also identifies the expectations of clients that can lead to stress within the pastoral role. This exploration of perceptions and adaptation of skills will be useful to formators, developers of curriculum, those in the seminary or formation house, and clergy already providing pastoral care to others. Enlightened by the process and expectations, this book can aid in reducing the stress encountered in the role of pastoral counselor while demonstrating that the counseling relationship is more of a shared journey than a resolution to a problem.

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Dr. Jocelyn Sherman, O.P.: Core faculty at Capella University, Department of Counselor Education. Licensed, certified counselor with a focus on counseling studies and integration of brief therapeutic models. Facilitator of clergy workshops for developing brief, pastoral counseling techniques and communication skills with a multicultural focus.

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