St. Peter's
Seminary

Theological Studies 5572A
Pastoral Counselling III 

TUESDAY 9:30 -11:20 AM
ST. PETER'S SEMINARY, DEACON ROOM

INSTRUCTOR:  Josephine Herriott, GTCL, MTC 

 

 A. COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course applies the skills leaned in Pastoral Counselling 1 and 11 to specific Pastoral situations, especially situations of crisis. Factors that impact on Pastoral Care and Counselling in a parish setting are specifically addressed.

B. GOAL OF THE COURSE

The purpose of this counselling course is to give you the opportunity to learn about appropriate intervention with persons in crisis.  This learning will come from the course instructor, your peers, and from members of the community who have expertise in counselling.  It is a privilege and a sacred trust to touch the lives of those whose spirits are wounded.  To be a sensitive and compassionate presence to another means understanding their situation and being knowledgeable about one's own abilities, and woundedness, as well as collaborating with the resources within the local community.

It is hoped that this course will provide you with the opportunity to identify and enhance your own gifts, and to acknowledge and accept your own limitations, so that you will feel comfortable in referring persons in crisis to those who have the ability and experience to help.

 C. SCHEDULE OF CLASS PRESENTATIONS:

SCHEDULE FOR PRESENTATIONS 2011
Sept. 13	Introduction to the Course What is a crisis?	Jo Herriott
Sept. 20	Fundamentals of Pastoral Counselling	Jo Herriott
Sept. 27	Crisis Case Studies Role Play	Jo Herriott
Oct. 4	Marital Crisis and Conflict	Dr. Laura Beres
Oct. 11	Teen Suicide Book Reports due	Dr. Tom Bonifero
Oct. 18	Domestic Abuse and Violence - Women's Community House	Bonnie Baker
Oct. 25	Role Play	Jo Herriott
Nov. 1	Mental Health	Trix Van Egmond
Nov. 8	Homosexuality	Jo Herriott
Nov. 15	Bereavement Ministry Pastoral Resources Paper Due	Jo Herriott
Nov. 22	Conflict Resolution	Jo Herriott
Nov. 29	Theological Reflection Integration Strengths and Limitations due	Jo Herriott
Dec. 6	Burn-out, Boundaries Counter-Transference Closure	Jo Herriott

 

D. COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

An essential of this course is Class Participation.

You will be involved in dialoguing with our guest presenters, and in role-plays.  each student will be involved in a rotation of turns for acting as the Presenter of prayer at the beginning of class.  The prayer is to be planned with the topic of the class in mind.

A Book Report of 3 pages is due by October 11th, 2011.

The textbook is "Strategic Pastoral Counselling" by Davis Benner.  ISBN 10:0-8010-2631-8.

List of Pastoral Resources of the agencies and professionals in your home town. This paper is due by November 8th 2011

A Reflection Paper on "My beliefs, my strengths, and my limitations as a Pastoral Counsellor" is due by November 22nd 2011
This paper is five pages long. In your writing, please draw from your experiences in your Pastoral Year and also bring in knowledge that you have gained throughout this course that will help you to be a more effective Pastoral Counsellor

Theological Reflection

During the penultimate class of the semester, you will give an oral Theological Reflection, referring to scriptural passages to which your reflection makes association.

GRADING:

The grade for this course will be determined as follows:

Book Report	25%
List of Pastoral Referrals	10%
Reflection Paper	35%
Class Participation	20%
Self assessment	10%

Pastoral Theology 5572A
Pastoral Counselling 111

Book Report Outline

1. Textbook
Strategic Pastoral Counselling by David Benner  ISBN 10:0-8010-2631-8

2. Content of the Book Report
a) Your report should be a critical reflection on the subject matter of the book, not simply a summary of the book.
b) E.g. What in particular from this book will help you in your ministry?
Was there anything in the book that you wished you had known about before, maybe before an event in your family or in your Pastoral year?  
Make a general reflection on how you view the author’s perspective from a Catholic perpective.

3. Length:
Your paper should be three pages, typed and double spaced. Please use a title page to identify the book and author.

4. Due Date - Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

Pastoral Counselling III 5572A

Reflection Paper

The Reflection Paper on the theme “My Beliefs, My Strengths, and My Limitations as a Pastoral Counsellor” will include responses to the following questions;

1. What are your own personal beliefs regarding Crisis Counselling in light of your theological studies at the Seminary and your pastoral experience. How does the Gospel tie in with your work as counsellor?

2. What has been your experience thus far in Counselling? What did you discover about the work of counselling, and what did you discover about yourself?

3. As you look forward to the prospect of many people coming to you for counselling over the coming years in your parish ministry, what are some of your anxieties? What limitations do you recognize in yourself as you prepare for this ministry?

4. What are the key insights that you gained from this course, that will help you in your ministry as Crisis Counsellor?

5. What are your personal strengths, what is it about yourself that will be most helpful to persons in crisis?

This Reflection paper will be 5 pages in length.
The paper will be submitted by class time on Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011. 

E. UNIVERSITY REGULATIONS:

Students are responsible for knowing the University’s academic policies and regulations and any particularities of their own course of study. These can all be found at the University’s website (http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/scholoff.pdf). Ignorance of these policies is not an excuse for any violation thereof. The following policies are particularly important to note:

Submission of Assignments: It is the responsibility of the student to organize his or her work so that the assignments are completed on time. A penalty of 10% of the value of the assignment will be deducted for each day it is overdue without permission.

Plagarism: Students must write their essays and assignments in their own words. Whenever students take an idea or a passage from another author, they must acknowledge their debt by quotation marks and/or footnotes.  Plagarism is a major academic offence; See Scholastic Offence Policy in the Western Academic Calendar.

Plagarism Checking; The University of Western Ontario uses software for Plagarism checking. Students may be required to submit their written work in electronic form for plagarism checking.