Pastoral Care in Unjust Times

Catalog description

Anti-oppressive pastoral counseling must include the weaving together of culturally-aware counseling skills with an understanding of the oppressions, injustices, biases, discriminations, and micro aggressions that plague the lives and spirits of marginalized and otherized people. This 3-credit intensive course will combine anti-oppressive theory with multicultural, person-centered and family-centered pastoral counseling skills. We will use readings, documentary films, and brief lectures to "set the stage" for students' practice in counseling enactments and role-play exercises. The contexts will include working with incarcerated people, residents in nursing homes, people living with mental disorders, addiction issues, LGBT people, disability/accessibility, and housing/houselessness. No prerequisites other than a willingness to engage with troubling material. Advanced reading required. Doctoral upgrade possible. [Faculty Consent required; 18 max enrollment; Auditors excluded]