Customer Reviews

Pastoral Care: An Essential Guide (Essential Guide (Abingdon Press))

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very practical book for pastors..no wasted words or "gush". We are using it in the 4th year of the United Church of Christ Lay Academy for our study in Pastoral Care.

There are other and better texts that profile the history of Pastoral Care, e.g. Charles Gerkin's "An Introduction to Pastoral Care." There are other and better introductory texts for ministers, student ministers, chaplains, and CPE students, e.g. Gerald Niklas' "The Making of a Pastoral Person" or Sharyl B. Peterson's "The Indispensable Guide to Pastoral Care." In my opinion, Patton's use of the shepherd and sheep imagery, and his focus on going after the lost sheep, are not as helpful as he imagines. One of his psychological models, Carl Rogers, referenced on pages 37 and 43, stresses the traditional clinical stance. It may esteem self-awareness and a one-to-one encounter, but it lacks an appreciation for and understanding of rapport building, relationships skills, and a contemporary and communal context for both care giver and recipient. Read Peterson's text if you want something more contemporary on how to improve one's basic listening and counseling skills in these areas; and she does so more clearly and briefly. Patton does encourage leading and guiding, but even in the one-on-one encounters he does not seem to understand and appreciate, for example, Jung's well-known lines of communication between the care giver and recipient (conscious to conscious, unconscious to unconscious, conscious to unconscious and so on). Patton does not address how a care giver's understanding and matching and pacing the other's emotional states can help build rapport, especially if the persons involved do not have a prior relationship. Patton's third chapter would have been a good place to address, for example, human anxiety, but he only scratches the surface in understanding its origins and other-than-conscious dynamics and elements. This is not what we need to be teaching ministers and students of ministry. His clinical examples are very poor and should not be used to teach or inform others about ministry and/or the clinical method. They are basic and poorly presented and may give the wrong impression of state-of-the-art pastoral interactions. I have been doing ministry and supervision for almost 30 years as an CPE supervisor and as a hospital chaplain. I taught and practiced what John writes about for many years. It's not what I teach or practice today.

This book is an excellent introduction for those embarking on Clinical Pastoral Education. It is written from a Christian perspective, but is sufficiently ecumenical to be useful to those of other religions.

This is a one of a kind pastoral care book which is focused on what someone needs to know beginning their practice as well as for those who need to review. I have used it with Clinical Pastoral Education students who give it high marks as well as with a Church lay pastoral group. Worth considering for a personal library and professional review.

John Patton, a noted pastoral care provider, wrote a clear, frank, and opinionated book, Pastoral Care: An Essential Guide. I found the first part of the book about chaplaincy to be very helpful; along the lines of a "how to do it" book. I began reading the second part about counseling but stopped, because the section was of no interest to me. Either way, the book is worth having in one's personal library.

I am a pastor working in a health care setting and as such, pastoral care is my main function. I found the information to be a review for me and believe it would be very helpful to those seeking to find out about pastoral care in that context. The book could have been more expansive in the areas af pastoral care in the parish setting where you deal with the issues of divorce, abuseive behaviors for both selves and others and family and other personal issues.

If note taking and underlining are an indication of a good book, then this one is great. It is highlighted, underlined, notes written in margins and on the front and back pages, and in other notebooks by me.
It did start out a little dry for me, but then like a roller coaster cresting the top and the thrill began the book blossomed with a lot of great insight and practical application.
The points made give insight into the mind of those need pastoral care.
It is not an easy read in the context it forces the reader to read a few pages, then stop, ponder and digest the material.
It gives very practical Do's and Don'ts that a pastoral care giver would be wise to follow - some are very salient, that if you are doing them - stop - you are caring for yourself and not your charge.
I was quite surprised, delightfully so, upon the emphasis of generational concepts of the family and how ones historical family (grandparents and parents) concept interacts with the present and future situation and perceptions of the patient.

Great book on pastoral care. Patton presents concepts in ways that are easy to understand and apply to ministry. What Patton has to say is valuable to anybody who works with people during difficult transitional periods of life or who are facing challenges with interpersonal relationships.

I needed this book for a class and it came within a few days in very good condition.