The Contemplative Counselor: A Way of Being
Overview
Rolf R. Nolasco Jr. extends the discourse on pastoral counseling beyond theories and techniques to include a focal description of a life lived in active contemplation. The contemplative approach to life, care, and counseling demands a daily call to surrender the underlying attitude of meritocracy that heavily emphasizes good works to produce successful results in counseling. At a fundamental level, the contemplative counselor exhibits an unwavering reliance on the grace of God, which transforms all that is descriptive of the counseling encounter. Here, being precedes becoming, and the act of counseling emanates from the deep and quiet center characterized by silence and solitude of the heart. Such counseling targets holistically body, mind, and spirit as a way of facilitating an experience of well being and transformation.
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Find more resources for the trenches of ministry in the Augsburg Fortress Pastoral Care Collection (8 vols.).
- Focuses on a holistic view of counseling
- Offers advice for helping others through difficult times
- Explores the relationship between spiritual and mental health for effective counseling and therapy
Top Highlights
“Hypnotized by the popularity of self-help mentality, we slowly turn away from or pay mere lip service to the spirituality of self-denial, obedience, and surrender—a spirituality that, as we shall see, is nourished by contemplative prayer and mindfulness practices.” (Page 6)
“Consequently, instead of opening to the healing presence of the Creator, we end up bowing before the known god—Self.” (Page 6)
“Central to the life of contemplation is the experience of the integration of body (through mindful breathing and awareness of bodily sensations), mind (through awareness of thoughts and emotions), and spirit (through prayer, lectio divina or holy reading, and other spiritual practices). This integration requires cultivation and must be ongoing and woven into the fabric of the daily rhythms of life.” (Page 10)
Rolf R. Nolasco Jr. is associate professor, Department of Counseling Psychology at Providence Theological Seminary, Calgary, Alberta.