Critical Caring A Feminist Model for Pastoral Psychology

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Valerie DeMarinis persuasively argues that the use of religious beliefs, symbols, and rituals--as well as other resources of the community of faith--is crucial to the therapeutic encounter in pastoral psychotherapy. Balancing "careful judgment" and "appropriate concern," DeMarinis constructs a feminist methodology of critical caring. Synthesizing her theoretical model from the fields of pastoral theology, feminist hermeneutics, and the psychology of religion, DeMarinis then demonstrates its clinical application using four case studies of women in different phases of the life cycle.