A History of Pastoral Care in America: From Salvation to Self-Realization

Here, for the first time, the development of pastoral care as a discipline has been documented. Dr. Holifield details the shift in emphasis from saving souls to supporting individuals in self-realization, and in the process raises thought-provoking questions about the preoccupation with psychological methodology evident in modern society and clergy. "Every pastor wittingly or unwittingly adopts some 'theory' of pastoral counseling, whether it be derived from the seventeenth century or from the twentieth," says Dr. Holifield. From colonial America's intellectual approach to today's therapeutic "self" culture, he explores those theories. Theological, social, economic, and psychological threads are interwoven with fascinating conversational examples to show how Protestantism helped to form--and was influenced by--changing social orders. Broad in scope, scholarly in detail, yet immensely readable, this is an important book for clinical pastoral educators, students, professionals--everyone interested in church and social history.

• The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context
• Helpful Truth in Past Places: The Puritan Practice of Biblical Counseling
• Pastoral Care & Counseling: Redefining the Paradigms
• Injustice and the Care of Souls: Taking Oppression Seriously in Pastoral Care
• The Heart of Addiction: A Biblical Perspective
• Diseasing America P
• In Living Color: An Intercultural Approach to Pastoral Care and Counseling (Practical Theology)
• Pastor: Revised Edition: The Theology and Practice of Ordained Ministry
• Feelings and Faith: Cultivating Godly Emotions in the Christian Life
• Competent to Counsel