The Art of Jew­ish Pas­toral Coun­sel­ingpro­vides a clear, prac­ti­cal guide to work­ing with con­gre­gants in a range of set­tings and illus­trates the skills and core prin­ci­ples need­ed for effec­tive pas­toral coun­sel­ing. The mate­r­i­al is drawn from Jew­ish life and rab­binic pas­toral coun­sel­ing, but the fun­da­men­tal prin­ci­ples in these pages apply to all faith tra­di­tions and to a wide vari­ety of coun­selling relationships.

Draw­ing on rela­tion­al psy­cho­dy­nam­ic ideas but writ­ing in a very acces­si­ble style, Fried­man and Yehu­da cov­er when, how and why coun­sel­ing may be sought, how to set up ses­sions, con­duct the work in those ses­sions and deal with dif­fi­cult sit­u­a­tions, main­tain con­fi­den­tial­i­ty, con­duct group­work and approach trau­mat­ic and emo­tive sub­jects. They guide the read­er through the foun­da­tion­al prin­ci­ples and top­ics of pas­toral coun­sel­ing and illus­trate the jour­ney with acces­si­ble and live­ly vignettes. By using real life exam­ples accom­pa­nied by guid­ed ques­tions, the authors help read­ers to learn prac­ti­cal tech­niques as well as gain greater self-aware­ness of their own strengths and vulnerabilities.

With a host of exam­ples from pas­toral and clin­i­cal expe­ri­ence, this book will be invalu­able to any­one offer­ing coun­selling to both the Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ty and those of oth­er faiths. The Art of Jew­ish Pas­toral Coun­sel­ing will appeal to psy­cho­an­a­lysts, par­tic­u­lar­ly those work­ing with Jew­ish clients, coun­selors, psy­chother­a­pists, psy­cho­an­a­lysts and rab­bis offer­ing pas­toral coun­sel­ing, as well as cler­gy of oth­er faiths such as min­is­ters, priests, imams and lay chaplains.

Vis­it­ing Scribes: Michelle Fried­man and Rachel Yehuda

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