Abstract
This article summarizes the method of pastoral assessment and theological reflection detailed in Shared Wisdom, with particular attention to pastoral counselors’ countertransference or intersubjective “use of the self” as a tool for empathic understanding of clients. A model of multiplicity of mind, subjectivity, and God is advanced in contrast to more traditional views. The article concludes with an appeal for messiness, complexity, and kenosis in both psychology and theology.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aron, L. (2000). Ethical considerations in the writing of case histories. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 10, 231–245.
Bhabha, H. (1990). The third space (Interview). In J. Rutherford (Ed.), Identity: Community, culture, difference (pp. 207–221). London: Lawrence and Wishart.
Bhabha, H. (1994). The location of culture. New York: Routledge.
Boisen, A. (1971). Exploration of the inner world: A study of mental disorder and religious experience. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press. (Original work published 1936).
Casement, P. (1985). Learning from the patient. New York: Guilford.
Clebsch, W., & Jaekle, C. (1995). Pastoral care in historical perspective. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.
Cooper, T., Ellis, T. B., Hewitt, M., & Jones, J. W. The psychodynamics of religious violence (2005, November). Panel of the Person, Culture, and Religion Group, American Academy of Religion annual meeting, Philadelphia.
Cooper-White, P. (2002). Higher powers and infernal regions: Models of mind in Freud's ‘Interpretation of dreams’ and contemporary psychoanalysis, and their implications for pastoral care. Pastoral Psychology, 50/5, 319–343. Paper originally presented to the Person, Culture, Religion Group, American Academy of Religion annual meeting, Boston, November, 2000.
Cooper-White, P. (2003). I do not do the good I want but the evil I do not want is what I do: The concept of the vertical split in Self Psychology in relation to Christian concepts of good and evil. Journal of Pastoral Theology, 13/1, 63–84. Paper originally presented to the Person, Culture and Religion Group, American Academy of Religion annual meeting, Denver, November, 2001.
Cooper-White, P. (in press). Many voices: Pastoral psychotherapy in relational and theolopical perspective. Minneapolis: Fortress Press (forthcoming fall, 2006).
Deleuze, G. (1994). Difference and repetition (P. Patton, Trans.). New York: Columbia University Press. (Original work published 1968).
Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1987). A thousand plateaus: Capitalism and schizophrenia. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Dillard, A. (1974). Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. New York: Harper's Magazine Press/Harper & Row.
Fletcher, W. (2005, June). The bishop and the hack: Dealing with ‘countertransference hate’ in a case of modern psychoanalytic consultancy. Presented to the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations symposium, Baltimore.
Gabbard, G. O. (2000). Disguise or consent: Problems and recommendations concerning the publication and presentation of clinical material. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 81, 1071–86 (available online at http://www.ijpa.org/gabbardnov00.htm).
Goldberg, A. (1997). Writing case histories. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 78, 435–438.
Goldberg, A., Kantrowitz, J., & Furlong, A. (2005, January). Psychoanalytic dialogues: In strictest confidence. New York: Panel at the American Psychoanalytic Association winter meeting, New York.
Halpern, J. (2003). Beyond wishful thinking: Facing the harm that psychotherapists can do by writing about their patients. Journal of Clinical Ethics, 14, 118–136.
Jennings, T. W. (1990). Pastoral theological methodology. In R. Hunter (Ed.), Dictionary of pastoral care and counseling (pp. 862–864.) Nashville: Abingdon.
Johnson, E. (1994). She who is. New York: Crossroad.
Kantrowitz, J. L. (2004a). Writing about patients: I. Ways of protecting confidentiality and analysts’ conflicts over choice of method and II. Patients’ reading about themselves and their analysts’ perceptions of its effect. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 52/1, 69–123.
Kantrowitz, J. L. (2004b). Writing about patients: III. Comparisons and attitudes of analysts residing in and outside of the United States. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 85, 3–22.
Kantrowitz, J. L. (2005). Writing about patients: IV. Patients’ reactions to reading about themselves. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 53/1, 83–129 (available online at http://www.apsa.org/japa/531/Kantrowitz-4-IV-pp.83-129.pdf).
Keller, C. (2003). Face of the deep: A theology of becoming. London and New York: Routledge.
Kernberg, O. (1965). Notes on countertransference. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 13, 38–56.
Lartey, E. (2003). In living color: An intercultural approach to pastoral care and counseling (2nd ed.) London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley.
McDargh, J. (1993). Concluding clinical postscript: On developing a psychotheological perspective. In M. Randour (Ed.), Exploring sacred landscapes (pp. 172–193). New York: Columbia University Press.
Miller-McLemore, B. (1996). The living human web: Theology at the turn of the century. In J. S. Moessner (Ed.), Through the eyes of women: Insights for pastoral care (pp. 9–26). Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Moltmann, J. (1993). The trinity and the kingdom. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Pizer, S. (2000). A gift in return: The clinical use of writing about a patient. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 10, 247–259;
Polkinghorne, J. (1997a, January). Lecture presented at Trinity Institute, Trinity Episcopal Church, New York.
Polkinghorne, J. (1997b). Quarks, chaos and Christianity. New York: Crossroad.
Tanner, K. (1997). Theories of culture: A new agenda for theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Taylor, M. K. (1989). Remembering Esperanza: A cultural-political theology for North America. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis.
Tillich, P. (1973). Systematic theology, Vol. 1 (Introduction), and Vol. 3. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Tracy, D. (1975). Blessed rage for order: The new pluralism in theology, New York: Seabury.
Watkins Ali, C. (1999). Survival and liberation: Pastoral theology in African American context. St. Louis: Chalice Press.
Winnicott, D. W. (1971). Transitional objects and transitional phenomena. In Playing and reality (pp. 1–25). New York: Basic Books. (Original work published 1951).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Pamela Cooper-White is Professor of Pastoral Theology at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, and recipient of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors’ 2005 National “Distinguished Achievement in Research and Writing” Award. She is the author of four books: Many Voices: Pastoral Psychotherapy and Theology in Relational Perspective (forthcoming, Fortress, 2006), Shared Wisdom: Use of the Self in Pastoral Care and Counseling (Fortress, 2004), The Cry of Tamar: Violence Against Women and the Church's Response (Fortress, 1995) which won the 1995 Top Ten Books award from the Academy of Parish Clergy, and Schoenberg and the God Idea (UMI Research Press, 1985). An Episcopal priest and pastoral psychotherapist, Cooper-White is certified as a clinical Fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, and serves as Co-Chair of the Person, Culture, and Religion Group of the American Academy of Religion.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cooper-White, P. Shared Wisdom: Use of the Self in Pastoral Care and Counseling (Person, Culture, and Religion Group, American Academy of Religion, November 18, 2005). Pastoral Psychol 55, 233–241 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-006-0036-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-006-0036-z