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If you’re like most pastors, you find counseling a sweet and sour experience. You’ve known the joy of unraveling a problem, of saving a marriage, of guiding a young life, of becoming bonded with your people. Yet you’ve also known the weariness and frustration of insoluble and complex and unremitting difficulties, of midnight emergencies, of failures, divorces, fights, and problems, problems, problems. All this makes for extremes. “I try to limit my counseling load to the bare minimum,” says one pastor. “Counseling,” says another, “is the most satisfying part of my ministry.” Wherever you fall on the spectrum, counseling veterans Archibald D. Hart, Gary L. Gulbranson, and Jim Smith can help. Mastering Pastoral Counseling is not a theory book. It is a problem solver that takes practical issues straight on: sexual temptation in the counseling setting, crisis management, making use of spiritual resources, confidentiality. This book looks at counseling from your perspective as a pastor, not from the professional counselor’ view. You face unique challenges as a pastoral counselor. In Mastering Pastoral Counseling you’ll discover invaluable resources for reducing your frustration and increasing your effectiveness.
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