Abstract
The writer discusses two phenomena the pastoral counselor encounters in work with families and individuals: family survival myths and individual survival myths or fatal statements. Family survival myths are inefficient defense mechanisms, directed at the support of the parental relationship and the maintenance of the family balance. Fatal statements are expressions inherited from the family of origin. They function as myths and are intended to help one survive. From his perspective the pastor can, through a process of metacommunication, open the possibility to discuss the myth and so help people to free themselves from an unhealthy and life inhibiting bondage.
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References
Paul Watzlawick,Pragmatics of human communication, Palo Alto, 1967, p. 53
S. Luthman and M. Kirchenbaum,The dynamic family, Palo Alto, 1974
Ibid., p. 158
Ibid., p. 158
Ibid., p. 158
Ibid., p. 161
Ibid., p. 167
cfr. Catharina J.M. Halkes,De horizon van het pastorale gesprek, Haarlem 1977, p. 43
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Blom, M.B. Pastoral work, metacommunication and myth. Pastoral Psychol 29, 254–261 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01771345
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01771345