Pastoral Care and Counseling in Sexual Diversity

Book excerpt: Learn to reach out to these hidden Christians! Offering a wide variety of points of view from the welcoming to the traditional, Pastoral Care and Counseling in Sexual Diversity addresses one of the crucial issues facing the church in these shifting times. Pastors of all Christian churches, whatever their denomination or theology, are likely to be faced with pastoral care or counseling of someone who is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered. This valuable compendium examines various ways you can meet the spiritual and psychological needs of these members of your congregation. Pastoral Care and Counseling in Sexual Diversity addresses the basic problems of sexual diversity, including definitions of sexual orientations and issues of human development. It offers wise guidance for offering pastoral care and counseling, and it provides tested solutions for the problems counselors face in dealing with these individuals. Pastoral Care and Counseling in Sexual Diversity offers thought-provoking points of view on a wide range of issues, including: changes in attitudes toward homosexuality among mental health professionals the limits of confidentiality sexual diversity in the black church a developmental model for effective treatment of male homosexuality pastoral care and the formation of sexual identity Biblical perspectives on homosexuality counseling lesbians AIDS ministries and grief counseling Pastoral Care and Counseling in Sexual Diversity is an essential resource for pastors, pastoral counselors, and therapists dealing with these vexing issues facing the Christian church in the new millennium.