A SPIRITUAL/PASTORAL COUNSELING SESSION:
- Always explores ways that spiritual resources can guide a person in healing or addressing life issues
- Never involves proselytizing. Can include prayer. Always psychologically grounded.
- Always supports the client’s own values and belief system whether that is Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, earth-centered traditions, New Age practices, religious humanism or a spiritual, but non-religious perspective.
- Sometimes focuses on other issues, and incorporates spirituality to aid in treatment and healing.
- Is always safe, affirming and non-judgmental. Sometimes focuses on spiritual themes and issues in a person’s life.
- Is incorporated into the treatment plan if a client chooses
Our Approach:
- Culturally sensitive for people of various racial and cultural groups.
- Spiritually sensitive for people from a wide variety of religious and spiritual traditions.
Affirming of diverse gender identifies and sexual orientation.
Pastoral Counseling Session Topics:
- Issues of life meaning
- Living up to personal values
- Living up to community values
- Spiritual distress
- Religious or spiritual wounds
- Spiritual dimensions of current life struggles
- Clergy Struggles
- Church or congregation conflict
- Pre-Marital Counseling
- Spiritual Direction
- Clergy couple issues
Lynn Acquafondata offers Pastoral Counseling for people who wish to include their religious and spiritual values in the therapy process.
A deeply spiritual person herself, Lynn, guides people in living a meaningful life that grows out of their own deepest values. She helps those who request pastoral counseling to examine and connect to their spiritual values.
The majority of her pastoral counseling clients are either Christian or spiritual, but not religious. However Lynn has experience, education and appreciation for a variety of religious traditions including Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, earth-centered traditions, atheism, religious humanism and New Age approaches.
In her previous career she served as a hospice and hospital chaplain to families from a wide range of religious and spiritual traditions. She is an ordained clergyperson who holds a Doctor of Ministry degree and has completed three units of Clinical Pastoral Education.
Her own spiritual journey includes weekly church attendance, prayer, meditation, Chi Kung, dance meditation, music and walking the Labyrinth.