An enlightening guide to bringing spirituality into the helping professions! This unique handbook will help you make the journey that will turn spirituality into the touchstone of your practice. For too long, spirituality has been a skeleton in the closet of many practitioners, but now there is a growing movement to integrate the vital beliefs of clients into the healing process. Spirituality in Pastoral Counseling and the Community Helping Professions addresses the core values of the movement, providing you with a step-by-step process you can follow to increase empathy and healing while building on the foundation of spirituality. Each chapter includes penetrating reflection questions to help you better understand your own spiritual perspective and a list of suggested resources to help you learn more. Spirituality in Pastoral Counseling and the Community Helping Professions investigates: the best tools for spiritual assessment how ethnic background influences spirituality the language of the sacred in daily life how people can develop greater empathy integrating spirituality into community the importance of ritual As author Dr. Charles J. Topper says: Spirituality is the integrating core element of human experience. Reading this book, both clients and care providers will learn to explore their own vibrant spirituality, a powerful innate source of strength and healing. Spirituality in Pastoral Counseling and the Community Helping Professions aims to make spirituality more accessible to everyone. Spirituality in Pastoral Counseling and the Community Helping Professions shows how you can take an active approach to integrating spirituality into your profession, helping the people around you see not just their problems but the connections between every facet of their lives. Complete with figures, assessment scales and surveys, and a thoughtful bibliography that points the way to further reading, this book is an important resource for professional growth and spiritual renewal.

Learn how religion can help in treating those suffering from bipolar disorder The Treatment of Bipolar Disorder in Pastoral Counseling introduces a new treatment model based on Quaker ideas and practices that can be used in conjunction with medical and psychological practice for treating manic-depressive illness. This unique book examines the interplay between religion and psychoanalysis, using the latest research on the importance of silence, prayer, and meditation in psychotherapy, the role of community in healing, and the problem of God and suffering. The book includes clinical examples from the author's counseling practice, case studies of bipolar clients, and an extensive bibliography of materials on this crippling disorder that affects more than two million American adults. With its multidisciplinary approach, pastoral counseling may be the most effective psychotherapy for use with medical and pharmacological treatments. Pastoral counselors can gain valuable insights from psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, learning, and family systems theories for a more complete understanding of their clients. The Treatment of Bipolar Disorder in Pastoral Counseling examines current understandings of the disorder, including the effects, advantages, and disadvantages of medications, genetic factors, and the search for a mood gene, and looks at current treatment approaches, including object relations, psychoeducational, and narrative psychology. The Treatment of Bipolar Disorder in Pastoral Counseling examines: the writings of Quaker reformers, their methods of treatment, and the philosophies behind them key theological ideas of Quakerism that are helpful to pastoral counselors the ethical implications of pastoral counseling self-emptying as a way toward health the client's right to privacy and individuality the nature of suffering the public perception of mental illness theological reflections of mental illness and much more The Treatment of Bipolar Disorder in Pastoral Counseling also includes case studies of bipolar clients and an extensive bibliography of books, journal articles, and Internet resources. This unique book is an invaluable resource for pastoral counselors and psychotherapists in private practice, as well as chaplains and parish pastors.

Turn menopause and midlife into a positive experience Dealing with the Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Menopause examines the emotional toll of menopause, offering help for the worry, anxiety, stress, and depression women can face during the midlife years. Instead of focusing on estrogen, hormones, and osteoporosis, the book shares up-to-date research findings on the link between spiritual and emotional health. Women from different backgrounds and spiritual traditions will find hope in the healing power of the mind/body/spirit connection as they gain a healthy perspective of the changes taking place and restore balance to their lives. Dealing with the Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Menopause goes beyond the traditional medical approach to examine ways women can make peace with the changes they face at midlife. This unique book informs, empowers, and enlightens women about the opportunities for personal and spiritual growth during menopause, offering strategies for exercise, meditation, prayer, and counseling. The authors offer a new perspective on menopause that offers hope in the face of the stress, worry, hot flashes, and often-overwhelming responsibilities women face at the midlife. This book demonstrates that women can do more than just make it through menopause. The authors show that menopause can become a positive experience for women as they discover new avenues for finding peace and hope to sustain them through the challenges of mid-lifeand beyond. Dealing with the Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Menopause examines alternative aspects of menopause, including: dealing with emotional loss on top of physical and psychological changes moods, attitudes, and depression the benefits of counseling and group support exercise as a treatment for anxiety and depression the work experience spiritual issues special challenges of the perimenopausal period and much more! Dealing with the Psychological and Spiritual Aspects of Menopause is a vital resource for physicians, counselors, therapists, and psychologists, and especially for the women they treat.

A perfect introduction to the connection between religious faith and physical and mental health
Faith, Medicine, and Science: A Festschrift in Honor of Dr. David B. Larson is a comprehensive collection of groundbreaking work from one of the principal figures in the establishment, expansion, and acceptance of scientific research at the interface of religion, spirituality, and health. Dr. Jeff Levin and Dr. Harold G. Koenig honor their late colleague with a retrospective of his writings on the impact of religious faith and identity on physical and mental health and on a variety of social issues, including criminal behavior, substance abuse, mental illness, juvenile delinquency, reproductive decisions, marital satisfaction, family functioning, and the quality of life. The book also features a concise history of the religion and health field, a biography of Dr. Larson, and tributes, essays, and remembrances from the leading figures in the field.
Faith, Medicine, and Science honors Dr. Larson's role in raising awareness of the health effects of religious faith and his vision and efforts in establishing coursework on religion and spirituality within undergraduate and graduate medical education programs. His body of theoretical and empirical writings serves as a permanent record of the powerful role played by religion and spirituality, and his work stands as a lasting contribution to science, medicine, and society. These articles combine with the book's supplemental features to provide social and behavioral scientists, medical researchers, and clinicians with an essential resource for clinical research and education.
Topics examined in Faith, Medicine, and Science include: the religious life of alcoholics religion, spirituality, and mortality the impact of religion on men's blood pressure the systematic analysis of research on religious variables a systematic review of nursing home research religious affiliations in mental health research samples as compared with national samples the associations between dimensions of religious commitment and mental health and much more Faith, Medicine, and Science: A Festschrift in Honor of Dr. David B. Larson documents the work of one of the most important writers on the interface of the human spirit and the healing arts. His death in 2002 at the age of 54 remains a profound loss, but through this book, his pioneering research will continue to serve as a thorough and accessible introduction to the religion and health field.

Make parish nursing an alternative to shrinking healthcare resources!
Because of shrinking healthcare resources, both human and monetary, parish nurses in the future will be called upon to deal with rising numbers of elderly and the end-of-life issues that accompany aging. Parish Nursing: A Handbook for the New Millennium is a guide to designing programs that can complement a congregation's ministry priorities for senior adults, identifying strengths to reinforce and weaknesses to avoid. Stories from the fields of service capture the sweat equity and history of the re-emergence of nursing in churches.
Parish Nursing: A Handbook for the New Millennium is a practical planning guide for parish nurses and congregational committee members with limited experience in program development. Suitable for use with multiple faith traditions, the book demonstrates how to take responsibility for health ministries without leaning on direction from local hospitals. Parish Nursing presents multiple practice models, intervention strategies, and methods of program evaluation responsive to boundaries and traditions of various communities of faith.
Parish Nursing includes: conceptual frameworks program design options outlines from field-tested training modules program evaluation options and challenges and much more! In 2001, there were 35 million people over the age of 65 living in the United States--a number that's expected to double in the next 10 years. The American Academy of Family Physicians estimates that nearly 20 percent of family doctors are no longer accepting new Medicare patients. Parish Nursing: A Handbook for the New Millennium is an essential resource for nurses, pastors, andchurch leaders starting a parish nurse ministry to deal with the growing number of "forgotten" elderly persons.

Take your rightful place on the holistic health care team, with the goal of restoring vitality of body, mind, and spirit to people suffering from emotional illness! This book is designed to bring essential knowledge and skills to the religious professional who seeks to provide special ministry to the emotionally troubled. It provides a basic understanding of psychiatric illnesses, theory, and treatment modalities that is certain to enlarge the perspective of the pastoral worker. In addition to an essential overview of psychiatry in general, Mental Illness and Psychiatric Treatment: A Guide for Pastoral Counselors will help you to better serve people suffering from depression, anxiety disorders, chemical dependency, reality impairment, or personality disorders. The book's format is designed specifically to help pastors grasp the principles of intervention in each of these disorders. Each of its five concise clinical chapters follows a four-part format that covers the duties and responsibilities of the clergyman as part of the holistic health care team, consisting of: recognizing the disorder assessing its severity intervening in a crisis counseling in the recovery phase In their experience, the authors have observed that severe emotional or psychiatric illnesses often involve spiritual sickness as well. Spiritual sickness is a complex concept that may take many forms depending on the type of emotional illness it accompanies. Mental Illness and Psychiatric Treatment: A Guide for Pastoral Counselors shows you what spiritual symptoms to look for when assessing someone in your care. For example, did you know that: severe depressive illness could include the loss of faith, abandonment of hope, loss of a right relationship with God, or even self-hatred, guilt, despair, and self-annihilation a psychotic reaction marked by loss of contact with reality might involve abnormal self-importance, grandiosity, fear, or stubbornly mistaken perceptions of reality a problem with alcoholism might involve immoral behavior, irresponsible conduct, denial of the loss of control over liquor consumption, or abject guilt, shame, and self-hatred personality disorders may bring on profound disturbances in social relationships, self-centered anger, impulsiveness, dishonesty, impurity, or distrust of others people with anxiety disorders can lose their trust in God, develop obsessive fears and tensions, and become unable to turn things over to God's divine care In Mental Illness and Psychiatric Treatment: A Guide for Pastoral Counselors, you'll find the information you need to make effective judgments and assessments about the people seeking your help. The book provides you with fascinating case studies that highlight symptoms and illness patterns as well as treatment options and techniques for coordinating pastoral counseling with the mental health team. You'll learn to recognize the spiritual symptoms of diseasenegative, inappropriate, of self-defeating attitudes or behaviorsand to deal specifically with these manifestations of illness through pastoral intervention and counseling.

An enlightening guide to bringing spirituality into the helping professions! This unique handbook will help you make the journey that will turn spirituality into the touchstone of your practice. For too long, spirituality has been a skeleton in the closet of many practitioners, but now there is a growing movement to integrate the vital beliefs of clients into the healing process. Spirituality in Pastoral Counseling and the Community Helping Professions addresses the core values of the movement, providing you with a step-by-step process you can follow to increase empathy and healing while building on the foundation of spirituality. Each chapter includes penetrating reflection questions to help you better understand your own spiritual perspective and a list of suggested resources to help you learn more. Spirituality in Pastoral Counseling and the Community Helping Professions investigates: the best tools for spiritual assessment how ethnic background influences spirituality the language of the sacred in daily life how people can develop greater empathy integrating spirituality into community the importance of ritual As author Dr. Charles J. Topper says: Spirituality is the integrating core element of human experience. Reading this book, both clients and care providers will learn to explore their own vibrant spirituality, a powerful innate source of strength and healing. Spirituality in Pastoral Counseling and the Community Helping Professions aims to make spirituality more accessible to everyone. Spirituality in Pastoral Counseling and the Community Helping Professions shows how you can take an active approach to integrating spirituality into your profession, helping the people around you see not just their problems but the connections between every facet of their lives. Complete with figures, assessment scales and surveys, and a thoughtful bibliography that points the way to further reading, this book is an important resource for professional growth and spiritual renewal.

Make parish nursing an alternative to shrinking healthcare resources!
Because of shrinking healthcare resources, both human and monetary, parish nurses in the future will be called upon to deal with rising numbers of elderly and the end-of-life issues that accompany aging. Parish Nursing: A Handbook for the New Millennium is a guide to designing programs that can complement a congregation's ministry priorities for senior adults, identifying strengths to reinforce and weaknesses to avoid. Stories from the fields of service capture the sweat equity and history of the re-emergence of nursing in churches.
Parish Nursing: A Handbook for the New Millennium is a practical planning guide for parish nurses and congregational committee members with limited experience in program development. Suitable for use with multiple faith traditions, the book demonstrates how to take responsibility for health ministries without leaning on direction from local hospitals. Parish Nursing presents multiple practice models, intervention strategies, and methods of program evaluation responsive to boundaries and traditions of various communities of faith.
Parish Nursing includes: conceptual frameworks program design options outlines from field-tested training modules program evaluation options and challenges and much more! In 2001, there were 35 million people over the age of 65 living in the United States--a number that's expected to double in the next 10 years. The American Academy of Family Physicians estimates that nearly 20 percent of family doctors are no longer accepting new Medicare patients. Parish Nursing: A Handbook for the New Millennium is an essential resource for nurses, pastors, andchurch leaders starting a parish nurse ministry to deal with the growing number of "forgotten" elderly persons.

In this extraordinary collection, the voices of women's experience ring out loud and true! The power of narrative in therapy for women is undeniable. Used well, other women's narratives can help us to understand and rewrite our own. Here, women bare their souls, reflecting on self-enhancement and growth, on discrediting negative family scripts, on seeing through demeaning cultural messages, on living in the modern world, on their wildness, wisdom, spirituality, and a great deal more! Each chapter includes questions for reflection to help readers incorporate these narratives into their own lives. From the author: "This book began with the women's groups I facilitate. Some themes arose many times: I feel bad about myself; I can't speak up at times; I don't feel like I have any rights; I feel stupid; I feel like I am bad. But as therapy progressed, new narratives were expressed: I do have a voice; I am knowledgeable; I like being who I am; and I can work through this conflict. "As a writer and therapist, I have taken a stance about ideas that are presented in sessions with clients and that exist in their culture. This book elaborates on those ideas and offers readers an opportunity to think about them in their own lives. Women can rewrite their lives as they become aware of their stories." Some of the narratives that you'll find in Integrating Spirit and Psyche: Using Women's Narratives in Psychotherapy explore: women as second-class citizens putting the self in context women's spirituality in its many forms anger as it relates to gender societal pressure on women to bear terrible burdens in silence ways that various cultures have demeaned women-infanticide, foot binding, genital mutilation, dowry deaths, etc. societal messages that encourage feelings of helplessness, shame, anger, and inhibition in women ways to resolve conflicts, take credit where it's due, and express ourselves mind-body connections women to look to for inspiration--Virginia Woolf, Marie Curie, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Margaret Thatcher, and many more aging and wisdom women's spiritual practices--meditation, T'ai Chi, Chakra Awareness, practices from the Judeo-Christian traditions, and more!

Help your clients achieve victory over chronic pain and lead more fulfilling lives This insightful and informative book will help you deliver better pain management services to the people you care for. Incorporating biomedical, surgical, psychological, social, and spiritual perspectives, it provides vital, up-to-date information about how to reduce physical pain and explores techniques for improving people's ability to cope with it. Helpful tables provide easy access to information on medications for pain and managing side effects. Chronic Pain: Biomedical and Spiritual Approaches is filled with resources for the person in pain and for the health or religious professionals working to help them. It gives you very specific suggestions on how to manage chronic pain, including detailed information about medications, alternative therapies, psychological treatments, and spiritual strategies for pain management. The book is completed by two thoughtful appendixes: one examining pain medications and ways to manage their side effects and the other providing scriptural passages that can comfort those in pain. In addition to his experiences treating patients with chronic pain, the author suffers from chronic pain and disability himself. In this very personal book, he explores ways to help people coping with: low back pain fibromyalgia rheumatologic pain headaches the pain of multiple sclerosis other types of chronic unrelenting pain Chronic Pain: Biomedical and Spiritual Approaches can help people in pain and their families by showing them how to lead satisfying, joy-filled lives--whether their pain goes away or not. It is an essential reference book for everyone who works with pain sufferers as well as patients and their families

Learn the fundamental distinctions with this thoughtful study of Christ-ordained marriage This unique volume reconciles a Biblical interpretation of marriage with the reality of domestic violence. Designed to raise awareness of abuse issues within the born-again community, Family Abuse and the Bible: The Scriptural Perspective works to promote the genuine sanctity of marriage and headship of the husband by examining the ways this God-given position can be subverted by Satan. It combines close Biblical exegesis with psychological insight into the effects of verbal, sexual, physical, and spiritual abuse. Family Abuse and the Bible offers new hope to conservative Christian women in abusive relationships. It demonstrates that abuse is not the will of God and that submission to violence is actually giving in to demonic forces. The tools in this book can ultimately free them from the horror of an abuse they may feel is ordained by God, while leaving them with an intact source of strength in their faith. Secular therapists and counselors will find Family Abuse and the Bible an essential resource that can help them remain sensitive to the needs of abused Christian women. This book explains conservative Christian beliefs about marriage, while providing powerful Biblical justifications that will reach Christian clients when secular ideas fail. Family Abuse and the Bible offers a clear-sighted Scriptural interpretation of domestic violence issues, including: the link between drugs and demonic possession the ways abusers twist the Scriptures to justify their ungodly actions the cycle of violence the role of repentance and forgiveness the difference between Biblical headship and abuse This book is an essential tool for pastors, Christian counselors, and family therapists who work with Christian clients and also for husbands and wives who want the Lord's will for their marriage.

Learn the fundamental distinctions with this thoughtful study of Christ-ordained marriage This unique volume reconciles a Biblical interpretation of marriage with the reality of domestic violence. Designed to raise awareness of abuse issues within the born-again community, Family Abuse and the Bible: The Scriptural Perspective works to promote the genuine sanctity of marriage and headship of the husband by examining the ways this God-given position can be subverted by Satan. It combines close Biblical exegesis with psychological insight into the effects of verbal, sexual, physical, and spiritual abuse. Family Abuse and the Bible offers new hope to conservative Christian women in abusive relationships. It demonstrates that abuse is not the will of God and that submission to violence is actually giving in to demonic forces. The tools in this book can ultimately free them from the horror of an abuse they may feel is ordained by God, while leaving them with an intact source of strength in their faith. Secular therapists and counselors will find Family Abuse and the Bible an essential resource that can help them remain sensitive to the needs of abused Christian women. This book explains conservative Christian beliefs about marriage, while providing powerful Biblical justifications that will reach Christian clients when secular ideas fail. Family Abuse and the Bible offers a clear-sighted Scriptural interpretation of domestic violence issues, including: the link between drugs and demonic possession the ways abusers twist the Scriptures to justify their ungodly actions the cycle of violence the role of repentance and forgiveness the difference between Biblical headship and abuse This book is an essential tool for pastors, Christian counselors, and family therapists who work with Christian clients and also for husbands and wives who want the Lord's will for their marriage.

Discover the spiritual community's position on bioethics issues!Bioethics from a Faith Perspective: Ethics in Health Care for the Twenty-First Century offers a meaningful, rational, faith-oriented framework for deciding how to deal with important biomedical health care issues. Organ donation, managed care, the Human Genome Project, and medical technology that keeps people alive beyond their "natural" life span are some of the topics it illuminates through case analysis and resolution. Since almost all textbooks in bioethics omit the religious dimension of life (even though the field was inspired and stimulated by religious scholars at Princeton and Yale), this is an indispensable volume.While most people state their moral positions from the background of their religious traditions, many have not had the opportunity to study the relation between their faith perspectives and the difficult issues that arise in the pursuit of health care. This book shows the relevance, significance, and guidance that a faith perspective can offer for dealing with bioethical issues.This unique and thoughtful book: shows you how to distinguish and describe the relation between technical and ethical aspects of health-related issues provides you with a framework of moral principles, theories, values, and faith viewpoints teaches you the defining characteristics of a moral professional-client relationship related to faith helps you to discern when medical ethics and faith commitments are therapeutic and when they are not gives examples describing a moral problem, a faith perspective, and a justified position on that problem Since bioethics has been an amazing story of growth from the 1950s to the present day and is still expanding, there will be changes. Bioethics from a Faith Perspective stimulates that expansion by including the religious dimension. It is the perfect supplement to the existing literature on the subject.

Discover the spiritual community's position on bioethics issues!Bioethics from a Faith Perspective: Ethics in Health Care for the Twenty-First Century offers a meaningful, rational, faith-oriented framework for deciding how to deal with important biomedical health care issues. Organ donation, managed care, the Human Genome Project, and medical technology that keeps people alive beyond their "natural" life span are some of the topics it illuminates through case analysis and resolution. Since almost all textbooks in bioethics omit the religious dimension of life (even though the field was inspired and stimulated by religious scholars at Princeton and Yale), this is an indispensable volume.While most people state their moral positions from the background of their religious traditions, many have not had the opportunity to study the relation between their faith perspectives and the difficult issues that arise in the pursuit of health care. This book shows the relevance, significance, and guidance that a faith perspective can offer for dealing with bioethical issues.This unique and thoughtful book: shows you how to distinguish and describe the relation between technical and ethical aspects of health-related issues provides you with a framework of moral principles, theories, values, and faith viewpoints teaches you the defining characteristics of a moral professional-client relationship related to faith helps you to discern when medical ethics and faith commitments are therapeutic and when they are not gives examples describing a moral problem, a faith perspective, and a justified position on that problem Since bioethics has been an amazing story of growth from the 1950s to the present day and is still expanding, there will be changes. Bioethics from a Faith Perspective stimulates that expansion by including the religious dimension. It is the perfect supplement to the existing literature on the subject.

Understand and make use of the connections between health and religion to improve your practice Research points to a clear link between people's religious beliefs and practices and their health. These developments have ushered in a new era in health care, in which meaning and purpose stand alongside biology as vital factors in health outcomes. Now the gap is closing between medicine and religion, as evidenced by the more than 60 US medical school courses now being given in spirituality, religion, and medicine, including courses at major teaching centers such as Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Brown, Case-Western, and others.Faith, Spirituality, and Medicine: Toward the Making of the Healing Practitioner promotes the integration of spirituality into medical care by exploring the connection between patient health and traditional religious beliefs and practices. This useful guide emphasizes basic, easily understood principles that will help health professionals apply current research findings linking religion, spirituality, and health. Faith, Spirituality, and Medicine does not advocate any particular set of beliefs or evangelize as it helps you integrate spiritual care into the care of patients by showing you how to: take a patient's spiritual history correlate religious beliefs with health beliefs address the individual spiritual needs of your patients choose a course of treatment that is in agreement with the religious belief of the patient incorporate appropriate clergy into treatment plansFaith, Spirituality, and Medicine describes a biopsychosocial-spiritual model that emphasizes the need to view patients not simply as biological creatures, but as physical, psychological, social, and spiritual beings if they are to be effectively treated and healed as whole persons.

Learn how theology and psychology can work together to provide effective therapy Shared Grace provides a framework within which mental health professionals and clergy can work together to provide people in need with appropriate psychological services and spiritual interventions. Breaking down the walls between psychology and religion, this guide offers you proven and tried methods and models from the authors'collaborative work. Comprehensive and intelligent, this vital book will help therapists incorporate a spiritual dimension to their sessions and give patients successful and effective services.Shared Grace is also a book about the healing power of love. It is the very personal, intense account of the authors' work to help a woman who suffered from dissociative identity disorder heal from the effects of her childhood abuse. Through this poignant story, you'll find that adding a spiritual dimension into psychotherapy brings increased richness and depth to the therapeutic process. Step-by-step practical suggestions for collaboration between therapist and clergy are included. Issues brought to light in Shared Grace include: transforming damaged and dysfunctional images of God the establishment of support systems within the religious community the use of guided imagery the creation of healthy rituals and ceremoniesShared Grace will help therapists and clergy alike and enable each to obtain the support, education, and training to make interdisciplinary collaboration successful.

Learn how theology and psychology can work together to provide effective therapy!Shared Grace provides a framework within which mental health professionals and clergy can work together to provide people in need with appropriate psychological services and spiritual interventions. Breaking down the walls between psychology and religion, this guide offers you proven and tried methods and models from the authors'collaborative work. Comprehensive and intelligent, this vital book will help therapists incorporate a spiritual dimension to their sessions and give patients successful and effective services.Shared Grace is also a book about the healing power of love. It is the very personal, intense account of the authors' work to help a woman who suffered from dissociative identity disorder heal from the effects of her childhood abuse. Through this poignant story, you'll find that adding a spiritual dimension into psychotherapy brings increased richness and depth to the therapeutic process. Step-by-step practical suggestions for collaboration between therapist and clergy are included. Issues brought to light in Shared Grace include: transforming damaged and dysfunctional images of God the establishment of support systems within the religious community the use of guided imagery the creation of healthy rituals and ceremoniesShared Grace will help therapists and clergy alike and enable each to obtain the support, education, and training to make interdisciplinary collaboration successful.

Discover how negative experiences such as loneliness, depression, and anxiety can be opportunities for personal growth Ways of the Desert: Becoming Holy Through Difficult Times analyzes the similarities and differences between spiritual and psychological experiences. This book shows religious professionals and others interested in spiritual development how suffering can foster growth. You will explore the so-called "negative" desert experiences--depression, anxiety, loneliness, guilt, and anger--and learn how they can be opportunities for spiritual growth. This book explains why opposites are necessary and related parts of healthy and holy development, and that, especially in a spiritual life, the positive and negative are related. Ways of the Desert will take you on a journey through the "deserts" and "promised lands" of adolescence, adulthood, and the elderly years. In most Western cultures the acceptance of opposites as a necessary and related part of healthy and holy growth is not common, and its rejection can engender spiritual stagnation. Ways of the Desert offers suggestions on creating lifelong spirituality including: understanding the need for both "clock" time for functional order and "sacred" time to redeem us from the boredom of our daily challenges understanding the languages of the desert, or the messages that are primarily nonverbal, ambiguous, or ambivalent using effective communication when expressing feelings such as shame, frustration, anger, or anguish examining the similarities and differences between psychological and spiritual activity comparing psychological twelve-step help programs to spiritual growth journeysThis extraordinary book works to help you make sense of your life when you feel lost, trapped, depressed, or lonely. You will attain spiritual guidance to assist you on your journey through life and help you understand that the deserts of negative experiences that we sometimes wander into can be illuminating opportunities for spiritual progress. Ways of the Desert will guide you through difficult and challenging times and help you achieve spiritual satisfaction and happiness in life.

Explore a new way of pastoral care that enables caregivers to develop relationships and provide meaningful pastoral care to the children and youth they encounter The Pastoral Care of Children focuses on the need for pastoral caregivers, clergy and chaplains to develop relationships with youths and gives you suggestions to overcome the anxiety associated with caring for an acutely ill child through unique, playful, and child-centered approaches. Many pastoral caregivers have high anxiety when children are ill or hurt, are unsure how to have a substantive conversation with a nine-year old, or their fears of what could be said keep them from hearing what children have to say. The effective approaches in The Pastoral Care of Children are illustrated to assist you with serving the spiritual needs of children. You will explore actual pastoral care experiences that will help you gain confidence in handling situations such as a teenager 's desire to be baptized out of fear of death when neither he nor his parents believe in Christ. Intelligent and heartfelt, this valuable book gives you a complete theological exploration of ministering to children who may ask you "Why me?," "Why do people have to die?" and "What happens to children if they die before they are baptized?" The Pastoral Care of Children helps you answer these questions with meaningful responses that are genuine and grounded with yourself, and reflect the parents'beliefs. Some of the help you will discover in The Pastoral Care of Children includes: understanding the similarities and differences of caring for children in comparison to adults, such as different vocabularies but similar emotions, and realizing that children are very perceptiveusing play as a tool, for example referring to a puppet 's experience in reference to the child to eliminate the child 's self-consciousness and help him or her open upconfronting pastoral issues in acute care settings, such as fear, guilty feelings, and anger, from parents, family and the childhelping children recover from mental health issues such as depression, eating disorders, and identity and self-esteem issues by using cognitive therapyconducting prayer and rituals with children such as baptism, naming ceremonies, anointings, and funerals to assist the child and family through this spiritual rite of passage Complete with child and family focused approaches for dealing with the questions surrounding death, The Pastoral Care of Children also provides you with several cited scriptures, and a list of questions you may be asked by a child who is facing death. You will learn from actual circumstances pastoral caregivers have encountered and discover how to approach topics, and answer questions on God and death. The Pastoral Care of Children, an extremely resourceful book that will assist you in overcoming anxiety and help you deliver thoughtful and uplifting pastoral care to children and youth.

Examining the black church's response to AIDS, Somebody's Knocking at Your Door: AIDS and the African-American Church analyzes sexual ethics and homophobia in the black church to provide pastors, social workers, and health professionals with intervention strategies for parishioners or members of the community who have AIDS. By discussing the church's historic and successful activism and its relationship to the community, along with AIDS statistics, relevant theologies, and other AIDS ministries, this book suggests the benefits of increased church involvement versus other agencies or organizations. Somebody's Knocking at Your Door will help you develop prevention education and pastoral care programs that will alert individuals to the risks of AIDS and will offer people with AIDS the comfort and assistance they need in coping with the disease.Through the voices of leading clergy, AIDS advocates, and people living with AIDS (PLWAs), this book calls on the African-American church to become more involved in helping communities deal with the disease. Somebody's Knocking at Your Door offers you ideas on how to improve the lives of individuals with AIDS through the church, including: welcoming PLWAs into the church through announcements by local media, church newsletters, and Sunday bulletins offering AIDS support groups at the church or loaning office space, equipment, or clerical assistance to AIDS organizations recognizing the power of intercessory prayer for PLWAs caring for PLWAs by delivering meals to their homes, preparing meals at the church, and developing a transportation network that will take parishioners to doctor appointments, church, or on recreational outings preparing meals, running errands, housekeeping, handling paperwork, negotiating legal issues, and offering friendship-- possible components of volunteer "buddy programs" for homebound PLWAs training pastors, clergy, and Sunday school teachers to educate ministries on AIDS in the African- American community, sexual intimacy, intravenous drug use and needle sharing, monogamy, community resources, and condom useSince some clergy still believe that AIDS is a "gay" disease, Somebody's Knocking at Your Door discusses the issue of homosexuality within the church. By analyzing passages from the Bible, the authors refute the belief that homosexuals were neglected by God and undeserving of care and love. This belief, according to the authors, inhibits some churches and individuals from discussing HIV/AIDS because of fear they would also be acknowledging homosexuality. Highlighting AIDS ministries throughout the United States, Somebody's Knocking at Your Door encourages the African-American church to confront the issue of AIDS and understand that the disease can affect anyone. This book will give you the necessary strategies for starting and implementing AIDS ministries and intervention programs that will educate and support your community.

Examining the black church's response to AIDS, Somebody's Knocking at Your Door: AIDS and the African-American Church analyzes sexual ethics and homophobia in the black church to provide pastors, social workers, and health professionals with intervention strategies for parishioners or members of the community who have AIDS. By discussing the church's historic and successful activism and its relationship to the community, along with AIDS statistics, relevant theologies, and other AIDS ministries, this book suggests the benefits of increased church involvement versus other agencies or organizations. Somebody's Knocking at Your Door will help you develop prevention education and pastoral care programs that will alert individuals to the risks of AIDS and will offer people with AIDS the comfort and assistance they need in coping with the disease.Through the voices of leading clergy, AIDS advocates, and people living with AIDS (PLWAs), this book calls on the African-American church to become more involved in helping communities deal with the disease. Somebody's Knocking at Your Door offers you ideas on how to improve the lives of individuals with AIDS through the church, including: welcoming PLWAs into the church through announcements by local media, church newsletters, and Sunday bulletins offering AIDS support groups at the church or loaning office space, equipment, or clerical assistance to AIDS organizations recognizing the power of intercessory prayer for PLWAs caring for PLWAs by delivering meals to their homes, preparing meals at the church, and developing a transportation network that will take parishioners to doctor appointments, church, or on recreational outings preparing meals, running errands, housekeeping, handling paperwork, negotiating legal issues, and offering friendship-- possible components of volunteer "buddy programs" for homebound PLWAs training pastors, clergy, and Sunday school teachers to educate ministries on AIDS in the African- American community, sexual intimacy, intravenous drug use and needle sharing, monogamy, community resources, and condom useSince some clergy still believe that AIDS is a "gay" disease, Somebody's Knocking at Your Door discusses the issue of homosexuality within the church. By analyzing passages from the Bible, the authors refute the belief that homosexuals were neglected by God and undeserving of care and love. This belief, according to the authors, inhibits some churches and individuals from discussing HIV/AIDS because of fear they would also be acknowledging homosexuality. Highlighting AIDS ministries throughout the United States, Somebody's Knocking at Your Door encourages the African-American church to confront the issue of AIDS and understand that the disease can affect anyone. This book will give you the necessary strategies for starting and implementing AIDS ministries and intervention programs that will educate and support your community.

Describing the difficulties of balancing a career and family life, The Pastor's Family: The Challenges of Family Life and Pastoral Responsibilities is a personal narrative that discusses the all-too-familiar practice of neglecting your family for your job. Pastors will learn the importance of balancing time and attention between their families and religious careers by exploring the problems caused by one pastor's prolonged absence from home. Containing research and first-hand experiences, The Pastor's Family calls for a change in ministry policies that will enable pastors to devote as much time to their families as they do to their congregations.Containing stories and anecdotes from the author, his wife, and his two children, this book offers suggestions on how to improve the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of a pastor's family. The information and insight provided by The Pastor's Family will also help pastors'wives realize that they are not alone in their demanding roles and will help church policymakers discover the need to improve relations between the congregation and the pastor's family. With the hope that the universal problems of pastors'families will be revealed, the author shares with you methods that have helped bring him and his family closer together, including: understanding the expectations of the stereotypical "superpastor" and learning how to set boundaries between family life and career realizing that a pastor's family is subject to the same problems and challenges other families face and helping your family deal with this pressure learning the various definitions of codependency and how this can attribute to the neglect of your family discussing the history of abuse of pastors'families through the Bible and famous religious figures recognizing the discrimination of a pastor's wife and her sufferings, such as coping with her husband's various psychological challenges and being expected to always help her husband with his career discovering how conflicts can provoke communication, release emotions, identify and clarify problems, and permit individualization understanding why people feel a loss of power or personal rejection when their requests are not grantedEmphasizing the practice of setting boundaries, The Pastor's Family examines ways to promote assertiveness through self-talk and self-differentiation that will help you defeat codependent behavior. This will teach you that it is all right to say "no"-- that it is all right to do things for yourself. From The Pastor's Family, you will learn how to correct the ideology that makes many pastors feel they must honor every parishioner request, despite the effect it will have on his family. Through stories of hardship and personal revelations, this book will help you realize the need for church policy reforms that will allow pastors to be looked upon as humans who have familiesbesides their parishioners.

Describing the difficulties of balancing a career and family life, The Pastor's Family: The Challenges of Family Life and Pastoral Responsibilities is a personal narrative that discusses the all-too-familiar practice of neglecting your family for your job. Pastors will learn the importance of balancing time and attention between their families and religious careers by exploring the problems caused by one pastor's prolonged absence from home. Containing research and first-hand experiences, The Pastor's Family calls for a change in ministry policies that will enable pastors to devote as much time to their families as they do to their congregations.Containing stories and anecdotes from the author, his wife, and his two children, this book offers suggestions on how to improve the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of a pastor's family. The information and insight provided by The Pastor's Family will also help pastors'wives realize that they are not alone in their demanding roles and will help church policymakers discover the need to improve relations between the congregation and the pastor's family. With the hope that the universal problems of pastors'families will be revealed, the author shares with you methods that have helped bring him and his family closer together, including: understanding the expectations of the stereotypical "superpastor" and learning how to set boundaries between family life and career realizing that a pastor's family is subject to the same problems and challenges other families face and helping your family deal with this pressure learning the various definitions of codependency and how this can attribute to the neglect of your family discussing the history of abuse of pastors'families through the Bible and famous religious figures recognizing the discrimination of a pastor's wife and her sufferings, such as coping with her husband's various psychological challenges and being expected to always help her husband with his career discovering how conflicts can provoke communication, release emotions, identify and clarify problems, and permit individualization understanding why people feel a loss of power or personal rejection when their requests are not grantedEmphasizing the practice of setting boundaries, The Pastor's Family examines ways to promote assertiveness through self-talk and self-differentiation that will help you defeat codependent behavior. This will teach you that it is all right to say "no"-- that it is all right to do things for yourself. From The Pastor's Family, you will learn how to correct the ideology that makes many pastors feel they must honor every parishioner request, despite the effect it will have on his family. Through stories of hardship and personal revelations, this book will help you realize the need for church policy reforms that will allow pastors to be looked upon as humans who have familiesbesides their parishioners.

What is depression, and what are its many and varied types? Who becomes depressed, and how can it be recognized? How can depression be measured, and what are its suicidal potentialities? What are the therapeutic interventions the pastor can use in helping people who are undergoing the pain of depression? The Pastoral Care of Depression: A Guidebook answers these questions and many more. With a focus on the pastor as an instrument of healing in cooperation with families, physicians, and other mental health professionals, this book will help you understand some of the current research and procedures used in helping people suffering from depression. As the frontline mental health workers in many communities, pastors need confidence, competence, and skill in handling people with emotional problems. As Author Binford W. Gilbert explains, "Depression is among the most treatable of major illnesses. It enters the realm of the spiritual and demands the best of the pastoral leader to guide, assist, and enhance the struggle for peace and soundness of mind and body." The Pastoral Care of Depression helps caregivers by overcoming the simplistic myths about depressive disorders and probing the real issues. This book covers: a thorough description of clinical depression predisposing factors that may lead to depression the need for a multidisciplinary approach, and the role of the pastor on the treatment team the importance of church and family involvement diagnosis--the ability to distinguish between normal grief, ordinary blues, situational depression, and clinical depression ministers'own emotional, physical, mental, and relational health the pastor's privileged role that gives him/her unique abilities and opportunitiesA valuable resource for pastors, chaplains, counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians, family members, and teachers of pastoral care, The Pastoral Care of Depression is meant to inspire action-oriented counseling; to establish cooperative relationships between ministers, families, and the medical community; to carry out responsible and innovative creative therapeutic interventions; and to treat the whole human being.

What is depression, and what are its many and varied types? Who becomes depressed, and how can it be recognized? How can depression be measured, and what are its suicidal potentialities? What are the therapeutic interventions the pastor can use in helping people who are undergoing the pain of depression? The Pastoral Care of Depression: A Guidebook answers these questions and many more. With a focus on the pastor as an instrument of healing in cooperation with families, physicians, and other mental health professionals, this book will help you understand some of the current research and procedures used in helping people suffering from depression. As the frontline mental health workers in many communities, pastors need confidence, competence, and skill in handling people with emotional problems. As Author Binford W. Gilbert explains, "Depression is among the most treatable of major illnesses. It enters the realm of the spiritual and demands the best of the pastoral leader to guide, assist, and enhance the struggle for peace and soundness of mind and body." The Pastoral Care of Depression helps caregivers by overcoming the simplistic myths about depressive disorders and probing the real issues. This book covers: a thorough description of clinical depression predisposing factors that may lead to depression the need for a multidisciplinary approach, and the role of the pastor on the treatment team the importance of church and family involvement diagnosis--the ability to distinguish between normal grief, ordinary blues, situational depression, and clinical depression ministers'own emotional, physical, mental, and relational health the pastor's privileged role that gives him/her unique abilities and opportunitiesA valuable resource for pastors, chaplains, counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, physicians, family members, and teachers of pastoral care, The Pastoral Care of Depression is meant to inspire action-oriented counseling; to establish cooperative relationships between ministers, families, and the medical community; to carry out responsible and innovative creative therapeutic interventions; and to treat the whole human being.