seeing in a mirror dimly

Well, here’s the second half of a cracking couplet of interviews with our guest counselor, Helen Blake.

In this interview we continue our discussion of bullying to focus in on what reasons people might develop bullying tendencies.  One of the ways that Helen suggests for ironing out bullying tendencies in us is to develop both vulnerability and self-awareness. These are both excellent insights, and I’d really encourage you to mine the gems from this discussion.  Lastly, Helen gives us some tips and pointers on how to change. What a really great discussion – Steve and I’ve learnt so much!  Can I seriously encourage you – whether you’ve thought about bullying or not – to listen to this interview.  It might save you a lot of heartache down the line!

Thanks also to the many people who’ve  emailed or spoken to me about this series.  I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of appreciation many people have had to get this sort of conversation happening.  The series isn’t over yet – but I’d even now be encouraging others around you (and theological college faculty!) to work out how to integrate this into your life!

Enjoy!
 

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Well, this is our third week in the series on Pastoral Care, Counselling and Psychology.  It was so great that we split it into two halves!

Steve and I headed out to visit the lovely Helen Blake, a counselor who teaches at St. Mark’s National Theological Centre in Canberra.  I’ve had the privilege of being a St. Anne’s Church, Strathfield with Helen and Garth and have found them to be keen, sharp, and warm friends in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Helen has recently done some work on the topic of shame, so we took off from that point and delved into a number of issues with respect to bullying within the church and interpersonal contexts.  This was an absolutely fascinating discussion on the symptoms of bullying, and how we might be helped in dealing with it.  Steve and I found that our eyes were opened to some really important things to consider in our lives and ministry, and hope you’ll be blessed similarly also!

Listen:
 

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As part 2 of our series of Pastoral Care, Counselling and Psychology we had a fantastic interview with Jenny Brown of the Family Systems Institute.  Not only did we discover that Jenny has great taste in coffee (she drinks Campos!) but we discovered that Family Systems Theory sheds a whole lot of light on our own actions and reactions to things.

Jenny speaks to us about what Family Systems thinking is, what things might cause our anxieties, how our family upbringing influences the way we handle tensions now, and we think about how this might impact Church and family life today. We also thought about what emotional maturity looks like.

Steve and I really enjoyed this interview with Jenny – and we trust you will too! Again, I feel very much like a beginner when it comes to pastoral care and counseling, but am very thankful for the wisdom of others such as Jenny.

In addition to this great interview, Jenny has kindly pointed us to a number of helpful resources on Family Systems:

• One Family’s Story: An easy to understand overview of Family Systems theory.
• Resources applied to Family and Church: click here.
• An excellent book for Church leadership (I’ve used this myself – it’s good!): “The Leader’s Journey: Accepting the Call to Personal and Congregational Transformation.“
• Another good book: “Creating a Healthier Church (Creative Pastoral Care and Counseling)“
• Systems in Ministry Resources – From Jenny and the Family Systems Institute.  CDs and DVDs to purchase: Healthy Relating in Marriage, Family ties that Bind, Parenting and Systems ideas, Systems and Pastoral Care Dilemmas. Call the FSI: (02) 9904 5600, or you can find email details at: www.thefsi.com.au

Listen:
 

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As an appendix to the latest Pilgrim’s Podcast on Pastoral Care, Jan Corbett-Jones has very kindly provided some resources which are fantastic (just right-click the links and “Save As..”):

1) Six Functions of Pastoral Care. This short document details the background of the 6 different functions which Jan mentions on the Podcast. It also has a nice and neat explanation of each.
2) A Hurting Heart Has No Ears. This document outlines how to listen, how to empathise, the power of words, and the importance of body language.
3) A Reading List.   This list of books is the reading list which Jan, Allen and Morris Key use in their training of Moore college students.

I hope you find them really helpful in caring for people to God’s glory. Thanks again Jan!

This week the Pilgrim’s Podcast began it’s first ever series: Christianity, Pastoral Care, Counselling and a touch of Psychology! This promises to be an exciting series where we delve a little into how to care for people.

This week we had the privilege of interviewing Rev. Allen Cook and Mrs. Jan Corbett-Jones.  Allen worked in parish ministry for many years, then as a Chaplain at Westmead Hospital and currently serves with the Anglican Retirement Villages.  Jan, a mother and grandmother, now works with Anglicare with pastoral care at the RPA.  Both Allen and Jan teach pastoral care as part of the Diploma course at Moore Theological College.

In this great interview we look at the difference between Pastoral Care and Counselling, Why Pastoral Care is so important, what to say and what not to say to those who you are caring for, and how to think about Evangelism, Scripture and Prayer in the context of Pastoral Care.  Also, both Jan and Allen share how we can educate those at our church (either large groups or small groups) in Pastoral Care.

As a sneak preview of the interview, these are the 6 functions of Pastoral Care which Jan explains:

• Guiding
• Healing
• Nurturing
• Reconciliation
• Sustaining
• Liberating

Allen and Jan may pass on some further information about Pastoral Care – if so, I’ll post up any PDFs or information they provide.  Also, Jan and Allen would love to hear from you if you would like to know more about Pastoral Care.  For Jan, please email me via the Contact Page and I’ll put you in touch with her and for Allen, please email Allen.Cook@arv.org.au.  Once I’ve got their best contact details, I’ll post their contact information up soon!

PS – Apologies at the mobile phone signals! Allen and Jan are in demand!

Update:
Jan has given me some resources which are now available on Pastoral Care.  Download them here.
Also, for those interested in studying Pastoral Care, the 400 hour course which Jan and Allen run is worth 9 credit points with the Australian College of Theology and 18 credit points with the Sydney College of Divinity.

Listen:
 

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Well, Steve and I are really excited about what’s coming up on the Pilgrim’s Podcast.  Starting this Sunday, we’re doing a short series on Pastoral Care, Counselling and Psychology.  Basically, the lineup will look something like:

Christianity and Pastoral Care: With Allen Cook (ex-Chaplain Westmead Hospital, currently Anglican Retirement Villages) and Jan Corbett-Jones (Anglicare).
Family Systems, Church and Home: Jenny Brown (Family Systems Institute)
Christian Counselling: Helen Blake (Counselling @ St. Mark’s Theological College)
Christianity and Psychotherapy (Dr. Carlos Raimundo, creator of the “Play of Life”)
Pastoral Care and Ministry (TBA)

It should be a cracker of a series.  Steve and I want to look at a whole bunch of topics such as: caring for each other at church, what to say/not to say, how manipulation works, signs of spiritual bullying, sexual abuse, and when to seek the experts, and more.

We’ve got a great line-up of guests who are all very experienced and well thought-through in their fields.  If you’d like a particular question to be asked of any of our guests, please email me (via the Contact Page) and we would be more than happy to (anonymously if you like) ask your question.

Steve and I will be praying that these Podcasts will be a great blessing to you.