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“I’m More Than Just a ‘Pastor’s Kid’!”: Externalizing Labels given to Children of Pastors Through Biblio–Narrative Therapy

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Abstract

Many children of pastors, also called “pastor’s kids”, have difficulty finding a support system during their identity formation. When handling the pressures of being a child of a pastor, they can internalize various labels given to them and believe these labels, including “pastor’s kid”, are fixed. This article introduces a method for clinicians to integrate Narrative and biblio–therapy for adolescent and teenage clients who are children of clergy. After discussing Narrative therapy and the importance of identity formation away from specific labels, this paper addresses how using books along with narrative therapy can be beneficial for adolescent clients. A case example is included for demonstrating the method.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marriage and Family Therapy, Fuller Theological Seminary-Arizona, Phoenix, USA

    Preshous Benjamin, Judy Taylor, Brie Turns & Candi White

Authors
  1. Preshous Benjamin
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  2. Judy Taylor
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  3. Brie Turns
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  4. Candi White
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Correspondence to Brie Turns.

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Appendix A: List of Books for Consideration

Appendix A: List of Books for Consideration

Identity problems are not issues found only in children of pastors; however, this is the focus on this research due to the lack of resources for this group of people. Biblical stories have a sense of familiarity within this group and as such it is the purpose of this paper to present these as options. The following characters are just a few of those available, there are many other biblical characters that can be utilized as well as including stories with family structures.

Daniel

Peer pressure

Criticism

Bullied

Ability to separate

Joseph

Bullying

Isolation

Sexual temptation

Ability to separate

Esther

High expectations

High standards

Greater purpose

Ability to separate

Moses

Insecurity

Defiant

Weak

Coward

David

Little brother

Less than

Depressed

Bullied

Warrior

Adulterer

Books in Season

A Wrinkle in Time

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Big Nate

Judy Blume

Wings of Fire

Hunger Games

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Benjamin, P., Taylor, J., Turns, B. et al. “I’m More Than Just a ‘Pastor’s Kid’!”: Externalizing Labels given to Children of Pastors Through Biblio–Narrative Therapy. Contemp Fam Ther 45, 85–92 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-021-09591-9

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