Naming the Pain and Guiding the Care takes seriously the need for a humane and common sense way of talking about human suffering. This book bridges the language of counseling professionals with the ordinary experience of people trying to help one another. Psychiatrists, psychologists, pastoral counselors, social workers, and licensed professional counselors will find that this book integrates diagnostic categories with the resources of religion and theology. Students in general psychology classes and graduate students focused on gaining professional competence will find this book a helpful adjunct to introductory volumes and specialist volumes on diagnosis, religious counseling, and the use of spiritual resources. Individuals who have an interest in learning more about the topics of guilt, betrayal, and dread will find new ways of understanding these wounds on the human heart and life.

This book draws on extensive clinical experience to create a useful model for religious diagnosis. Clinicians and clergy will find the book useful in their care of troubled people. Contents: Foreword; Preface; Acknowledgments; Introduction: Patterns of Religious Diagnosis; Ethical Guilt: The Feeling of Blame: Being Punished, Feeling Guilty, Seeking Redress; Idolatry: The Feeling of Betrayal: Being Violated, Feeling Terror or Rage, Recovering the Hope of Ultimacy; Dread: The Feeling of Defilement: Being Abandoned, Feeling Dread, Rediscovering Joy; Summary: Diagnosis, Piety and Theology, Diagnosis and the Transcendent Function; Epilogue; Endnotes; Bibliography; Index.