Clinical Pastoral Psychotherapy

Think of it as a very broad approach to counseling

I had to think long and hard about whether to identify as a pastoral counselor, knowing that there are subtle (or not-so-subtle) associations that are connected, consciously or unconsciously, with ‘that approach.’

Pastoral counseling is such a broad term that any fixed characterization of it would be misleading – that’s why I call it an ‘approach.’ Sadly, some use the approach in ways that I find alienating and narrow.

Therapy with spiritual nuance

In my practice, being a clinical pastoral psychotherapist differs from pastoral counseling. Being a clinical pastoral psychotherapist means something very close to psychodynamic psychotherapy (think Donald Winnicott and Carl Jung) with a finely tuned ear for spiritual issues (think Jung again, or someone with similarly broad theological associations). I have found clinicians who are also very broad in their spiritual worldview.

Knowing there is something ‘bigger’

I see people who identify as atheists, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Catholics, and Protestants. All of them are aware that there is a larger Reality, something bigger than the real problem they’re facing.

We listen together to what that larger Reality is for them and how they are engaging with it as part of their self-understanding. I learn about Reality from every one of my clients.

Really, really–we are far more than our minds and bodies.

You will do well to find a therapist who can listen and respond to the heights and depths, the ordinary and the extraordinary, about you.

I listen and look for signs of emotional, physical, social, spiritual, sexual, relational, and intellectual health and development. Being a pastoral therapist to me simply means that I’m listening from the deepest places inside of me to the deepest places inside of you. I take the health and well-being of your body, mind, and spirit very seriously. At a quantum level, we are energy, we are light, we are love.

It may be that we never speak directly about spiritual issues.

I would never dream of ‘beating you over the head with a Bible’ – or a Torah, or a Koran (people like me have had bad experiences in abusive churches, so I get the concern). Spirituality may never move beyond a quiet undercurrent to our conversations.

If you come from a particular spiritual tradition, I will meet you there and speak your language. If you’re moving – or running! – away from a particular tradition, I’ll meet you there, too. I believe in the Mystery that flows beneath the forms of all religion, the Mystery that draws all of us – deep calls to deep.

I will welcome you, whatever you may believe, or doubt, or feel.

So, why would you want to see a clinical pastoral psychotherapist like me?

Because I see, hear, and respond to a great deal more of you than a therapist who is not trained or interested in those aspects of our lived experience.

Everything is connected: leaving the spiritual out is like… taking blue out of the rainbow, or a major third out of a chord, or salt and spices out of the kitchen.

Sure, you can make paintings, music, and food without those; but what a tragic loss that would be. You, my friend, definitely deserve all the color, all the music, all the flavors that fit you!

I will help you find the wisdom within, which you can access with help.