What is Pastoral Counseling?

Pastoral counseling, or pastoral psychotherapy, is the integration of psychotherapeutic theories and techniques with theological and spiritual understanding. Our clinicians have received standard psychotherapeutic training on theories of the mind, psychopathology, counseling ethics, marriage and family therapy, etc. They have also received robust theological education in systematic theology, biblical hermeneutics, intercultural studies, and more. Several of our clinicians have even gone on to receive advanced training in EMDR and psychodynamic theory.

How is Pastoral Counseling different?

On one hand, pastoral counseling is not any different than counseling you might receive from a clinical social worker or a clinical psychologist. Our clinicians are licensed by the state of Kentucky and are required to meet certain standards of care. Additionally, research has shown that the most powerful indicator of therapeutic success is the therapeutic relationship itself. It might appear overly simplistic but when two people agree to meet at a set time and a set place with one person committing to empathetic listening and the other committing to sharing honestly, psychotherapy happens and clients heal.

On the other hand, pastoral counseling offers a unique perspective by integrating psychology and theology. Questions of spirituality emerge often in therapy, and they are frequently accompanied by complex emotions like grief, pain, suffering, and loss. It is in times of pain that we tend to ask big questions about the value of our lives, the goodness of God, and the purpose of our faith communities. Our pastoral counselors offer neither easy answers to those questions nor do they brush them aside. Rather, they are trained to sit in the complexity of these questions and aid in their understanding. Many who have experienced religious trauma or hurt from faith communities can find empathy and new understanding from a pastoral counselor.