International Council on Pastoral Care and Counseling
The International Council on Pastoral Care and Counseling (ICPCC) is a network for and by pastoral psychologists .
history
In 1979 the International Council on Pastoral Care and Counseling (ICPCC) was founded in Edinburgh . Teachers, researchers and practitioners of psychological counseling in religious institutions met to improve their academic qualifications. The history of origin in Europe goes back to the 1950s. Here psychoanalysis was seen as an impetus for further development in the field of pastoral care within practical theological science. Pastoral psychologists met in various places in Eastern and Western Europe. Their conferences led to approaches in dealing with the history of Europe during the Second World War . The interreligious encounter between Christians and Jews also played an important role.
In the US, the method was Clinical Pastoral Education (German: Clinical Pastoral Education ) established already in the 1930s. The theologian Anton T. Boisen missed insight into psychological relationships in the practice of religions in the USA. CPE therefore provides training in psychology for theology students. It was introduced by Boisen and some colleagues as a discipline of practical theological study in universities. In courses lasting several weeks, the students lay a foundation for the practice of psychologically reflective spiritual accompaniment.
CPE programs spread globally in the 1950s and 1960s. International congresses have been held every four years around the world since 1979, for example in Rotorua , New Zealand , Accra , Ghana , San Francisco , USA and Bangalore , India . Current issues relating to the social situation in a region gave rise to broadening horizons in the design of spiritual psychological counseling. Indigenous holistic healing processes , practices of indigenous religions and their significance for Western medicine and psychotherapy were discussed. ICPCC congresses have enjoyed a wide range of regional and thematic variations over the years. Social differences between the first and third world were and are perceived and discussed.
Today the ICPCC network integrates its work into the interreligious dialogue . Intercultural and interreligious encounters are combined with forms of coaching and systemic advice . Joint projects with Buddhists take place. Jewish pastoral psychologists are members of the ICPCC. Participants from the global Muslim community are present at congresses.
Program and goals
At the early ICPCC congresses, the CPE's program had a high priority. Today every psychotherapeutic or counseling training that the participants relate to spiritual work is represented.
The aims of the work and meetings of the ICPCC were set in 1979. They will be corrected in detail as necessary. The currently valid version:
- Promote the practice of Pastoral Care and Counseling worldwide.
- To provide training and information to enable pastoral care and counseling to be carried out in a wide variety of cultural situations.
- To help ensure that counselors remain a source of inspiration for one another and that they can benefit from their diverse cultural backgrounds.
- To preserve the special dimension of spirituality in the theory and practice of Pastoral Care and Counseling.
- Develop new and relevant theories. The interdisciplinary discourse is important for this.
- To organize conferences and meetings in different parts of the world.
- Set up training centers in different parts of the world.
- To network with other consulting organizations.
Encounters within the framework of different religions have not yet been formally included in the goals. This should be done with the next revision in Malaysia. This goes hand in hand with the fact that the term pastoral is not known in most religions , because it stands for a certain professional understanding of full-time employees working in religions, which is not present in all religions. There is a worldwide effort to speak of Spiritual Care and Counseling .
Regional networks
Access to regional networks can be established via the ICPCC homepage. Not all groups have a homepage.
- Regional networks exist in Africa, the Asia-Pacific region (Australia and New Zealand) and Europe. Its members meet every four years for conferences, each two years apart from the ICPCC congresses:
- Africa: AAPSC - African Association for Pastoral Studies and Counseling.
- Asia-Pacific: APCPCC - Asian-Pacific Conference on Pastoral Care and Counseling.
- Europe: ECPCC - European Council on Pastoral Care and Counseling.
- Australia and New Zealand also have a joint association: ANZACPE - Australian and New Zealand Association of Clinical Pastoral Education.
- American and Canadian associations for pastoral care and counseling are partly members of the ICPCC. There is no American or Canadian general association.
literature
- Daniel Louw, Takaaki David Ito, Ulrike Elsdörfer (eds.): Encounter in Pastoral Care and Spiritual Healing , Münster 2012, ISBN 978-3-643-90166-8
- Ulrike Elsdörfer: Interreligious Encounter on cura animarum , Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-643-90312-9
- Ulrike Elsdörfer, Takaaki David Ito (Ed.): Compassion for one another in the Global Village. Social and cultural approaches to care and counseling , Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-643-90723-3