9780310213468

Solution-Focused Pastoral Counseling introduces a fresh, effective, and time-saving approach that will benefit pastors overtaxed by counseling demands. Dr. Charles A. Kollar shows that counseling need not be long-term to produce dramatic results. In most cases, the solution lies with the counselees themselves. Pastors, apart from therapists, are well equipped to help the counselees discover it and put it in motion speedily and productively. Solution-Focused Pastoral Counseling shifts the emphasis from the problem to the strengths, vision, and practical solutions that lie within the individual. Stressing that God is already active in the counselee, Dr. Kollar first lays the theological and theoretical groundwork for short-term counseling. Then he shows how to apply theory to practical, short-term sessions that help people get back on track in their marriage, family living, and other aspects of life. Kollar recognizes that there is a time to refer to a Christian specialist, but he warns against today's ready-referral mindset. What is generally needed, he believes, is neither professional help nor long-term counseling, but a new paradigm based on Christian identity. Like "new wineskins," Christians are fashioned not for the old wine of problem-oriented therapy, but the new wine of God's life-changing grace.

Preface

7

(2)

Introduction

9

(2)

Acknowledgments

11

(4)

PART 1 Theory

15

(90)

1. Individual Paradigms: A Question of Focus

15

(4)

2. Christian Faith: A Story of Change

19

(6)

3. Deficiency Language: The World of Mental Health

25

(14)

4. Hidden Presuppositions: Old Wineskins

39

(8)

5. Meaning Is Perception: The Constructs That Bind Us

47

(6)

6. Identity Formation: The Unfolding of God's Grace

53

(14)

7. Guiding Assumptions: A Way of Thinking

67

(28)

8. Personal Integrity: Ethical Guidelines

95

(10)

PART 2 Practice

105

(111)

9. The Counseling Interview: Suggesting a Framework for Change

105

(4)

10. Attentive Listening: A Search for Clues

109

(10)

11. Track Options: Highlighting Change As Meaningful

119

(22)

12. Vision Clarification: A Description of Life Without the Problem

141

(18)

13. Supportive Feedback: Promoting and Supporting Change

159

(20)

14. Second and Later Sessions: Consolidating Change

179

(10)

15. Bringing It All Together: A Case Example

189

(16)

16. Questions and Answers: Some Final Considerations

205

(11)

References

216

(3)

Index

219

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CHAPTER ONE
Individual Paradigms: A Question of Focus
The mind is a lot like an umbrella—it works best when it is open. - Anonymous
If we do not change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed. - Ancient Chinese Proverb
Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it is the only one you have. - Emile Chartier

I have often wondered what it is that prevents us from seeing and acting on new ideas. It is important to understand this because it is probably the same thing that hinders a counselee from seeing new options, possibilities, and solutions. Something blinds our vision when we are in the midst of a crisis or problem-saturated life situation. We assume that the future is only an extension of the past. Yet when it comes to problems, one assumption is clear: If you keep doing what you have always been doing, you will keep getting what you have always been getting.
We all have self-imposed rules and regulations that establish our personal boundaries. We learn how to be successful within these boundaries. These perimeters are our individual paradigms. They filter all incoming information, filtering out whatever does not fit. Jesus commented on humanity’s inability to see beyond its paradigms when He taught about the kingdom of God. What He said was unlike anything His listeners had ever heard before. It did not fit their rules and regulations. To many of them it was as if they were entirely deaf. Of such Jesus said, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 4:23).
Because of our fixed paradigms we often miss out on discovering future possibilities. Unexpected information is ignored or twisted to fit old notions. Sometimes it seems invisible. We are blind to creative solutions. Our paradigms have the power to keep us from hearing and seeing what could happen. This results in personal limitations, a kind of intellectual myopia.
My son Nathan recently did a school report on Galileo. I think I learned as much as he did through his presentation. I was reminded of the religious and civic leaders that Galileo had to contend with. They were unable to see or hear his observations regarding the earth’s orbiting the sun. These observations simply did not fit their personal paradigms. Everyone “knew” that the sun revolved around the earth! Although seeing, they did not see. Hearing, they did not hear. Of course history has revealed their shortsightedness. We would never be as blind and deaf as they, or would we? We would, and we often are—usually without knowing it.
Consider the devastating lesson the Swiss watch manufacturers learned. Just thirty years ago Swiss watches were the standard of excellence throughout the world. Nearly 80 percent of all watches sold were made by Swiss watchmakers. Today fewer then 10 percent are made by the Swiss. Thousands of expert craftsmen lost their jobs. How did this happen?
In one sense they were blinded by the incredible achievement and all the successes of their old paradigm. Even a prosperous past can blind us to future possibilities. It was a Swiss technician who created the quartz watch. He had managed to reach beyond the paradigm that watches must have gears and springs. His superiors, however, still blinded by their paradigm, declared, “Who ever heard of such a thing! Watches must have gears and springs!” They were so sure of their convictions that they did not bother to protect their ownership of the technician’s design. Some years later the quartz watch was displayed at a world’s fair. Representatives from two young companies were very much interested in it. One representative was from Seiko and the other from Texas Instruments. The rest is history.
As counselors within the local church, have we fallen into a similar trap regarding counseling? It must be done a certain way or it just is not counseling. One thing we are all convinced of is that we need to understand and deal with the problem. It has been said that to define a problem is to begin to solve it. We must explore the problem and perhaps discover how the counselee is thinking, feeling, or behaving. There must be a reason. Why is it happening? What is maintaining it?
Whether the counselor uses psychological theories and methods or the approach of admonishing from the authority of Scripture, either way the paradigm is centered squarely on the problem. This is what I call a problem-focused paradigm. This is the very reason the counselee has come for counseling. He is so focused on his problem that it is affecting him negatively. So what do we do as counselors? We usually focus squarely on the problem! We are going to help him get to the root of his problem no matter how hard it is or how long it takes! Is there a better way? Perhaps it just takes a little imagination to discover a better way.

Excerpted from Solution Focused Pastor Counseling: An Effective short-term Approach for Getting People Back on Track by Charles Allen Kollar, Charles A. Kollar
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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Solution Focused Pastor Counseling : An Effective short-term Approach for Getting People Back on Track

Solution Focused Pastor Counseling : An Effective short-term Approach for Getting People Back on Track

0310213460

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