Overwhelming life experiences, such as physical and sexual abuse during childhood, have the potential to obliterate internal representations of a loving God. In this book the author explores the inter-relationship between severity of childhood traumatization and mental representations of God through a comprehensive review of psychodynamic literature and quantitative research methodology. The research findings of a study with forty seven women demonstrate the complexity of this subject and illustrate how the empirical truth of quantitative findings may or may not resonate with the metaphorical truth of psychodynamic models of traumatization. The author discusses the significance of these findings for clinicians and faith communities.

This book traces the journeys of seven victims of childhood sexual abuse who have experienced recovery through the activity of the Holy Spirit within the context of the local church. These recovered victims have been enabled to move beyond the devastation of abuse by others whom they trusted to a place of emotional and psychological stability, appropriate sexual intimacy with their spouses, and a growing level of spiritual maturity. While the Christian community has been slow to grasp the severity and extent of the problem or to provide the healing resources of the gospel, some victims have found recovery in local churches. The author has undertaken in-depth interviews to elicit and explore the narratives of their journeys from woundedness to well-being. These narratives are an important source of information on the activity of the Holy Spirit in healing. While the Spirit is an entity hidden to us, the author has explored the experiences of seven recovered victims to disclose meaning for the work of the Spirit in all areas of Christian ministry.

The Practice of Pastoral Care has become a popular seminary textbook for courses in pastoral care and a manual for clinical pastoral education. In it, Doehring encourages counselors to view their ministry through a trifocal lens that incorporates premodern, modern, and postmodern approaches to religious and psychological knowledge. Doehring describes the basic ingredients of a caregiving relationship, shows how to use the caregiver's life experience as a source of authority, and demonstrates how to develop the skill of listening and establishing the actual relationship. This new edition elaborates on and expands the author's previous work, adding an intercultural perspective that gives more attention to religious pluralism in the pastoral care setting. It offers a road map for using a step-by-step narrative, relational, embodied approach to spiritual care that respects the unique ways people live out their values and beliefs, especially in coping with stress, loss, and violence. Readers will be able to confidently and professionally offer pastoral care and counseling to members of their congregations or other places of ministry.

Omservations is the collection of observations, tales and practices of Hanuman Das, a spiritual teacher, yogi, husband, writer and general aficionado of life. Thoughtfully written with personal touch and loving dedication, these chapters come together with an embrace of Eastern philosphy, global theology and the experience of modern life.

There is a scarcity of professional literature and research that focuses on women's spiritual development and experiences and how they may differ from those of men. For women, the spiritual is often inner-focused, rather than transcendent; relational, rather than solitary; and interdependent, rather than autonomous. Dancing the Labyrinth integrates knowledge of women's psychological and spiritual development alongside stories of a diverse group of women to examine how spirituality changes over the adult life course; the catalysts for said changes (e.g., the natural aging process or traumatic events); and feminist spirituality, which highlights the importance of relationships (to self, others, and God). While the authors focus on spirituality, they examine the experiences of women who express their spirituality within both traditional and non-traditional paths. The text also includes several chapters that highlight specific clinical interventions professionals can use to implement spirituality into their practice with women. Written in an engaging and accessible style, this book serves as a helpful resource for mental health practitioners, pastoral counselors, spiritual directors, and lay audiences interested in better understanding of the nuances of women's spiritual development and experiences.

This book is a full scale disciplinary framework for pastoral psychotherapists/pastoral counselors at intermediate and advanced levels of clinical training and also for experienced pastoral counselors and psychotherapists in professional practice. It harvests the great potential of postmodern sensibilities to help, accompany, and support individuals, couples, and families in recognizing and healing especially painful psychic wounds, and/or longstanding patterns of self-defeating relationships to self and others. Pamela Cooper-White's widely praised work, which has always integrated cutting-edge notions from the social sciences into pastoral therapy, here takes a distinctive and promising turn toward the relational and the theological. Pastoral psychotherapy, she argues, needs to find its framework in a strongly relational idea of the person, God, and health. Illustrated throughout by four key case studies, Cooper-White shows in Part 1 how multiplicity and relationality provide a dynamic and exciting way of viewing human potential and pain. In Part 2 she unfolds the practical applications of this paradigm for a strongly empathic therapeutic relationship and process.

The Real Reality of Skid Row: A Practical Theology Perspective looks with an unblinking eye at the details of the lives of homeless people and uses the portraits that emerge as the perspective from which to think theologically about the challenges they face and calling the church hears to offer its witness to them. Rev. Jeffrey R. Thomas, PhD, drawing upon his time serving as a pastor of a congregation in Skid Row, Los Angeles, sketches out the contours of individuals' lives, analyzes the personal and societal factors that contribute to their circumstances, and suggests approaches for shaping the church's responses in both word and deed.

Gendering Christian Ethics brings together ethical reflections by a new generation of European and American researchers. Contributors are well versed in feminist theology and feminist theory; chapters build on foundations laid by pioneers who first raised questions of gender and Christianity. Christian ethics have a bearing on the conduct of Christian theology, church or institution, and on distinctive Christian ways of engaging with the wider world. Gendering Christian Ethics addresses these inner and outer dynamics.

In this volume, the authors attempt to speak freely about the potential in religions both for violence and peace. I am confident that many impulses from this work will also impact the direction of churches and other religious communities, such that religions, all together, will try to mobilize the members of their communities to actively contribute to world peace. In this way, religions will be perceived as part of the solution for world peace, enabling them to move beyond the stigma of their damaged reputations.