Analysis of Case Study One Basing on Carrie Doehring’s Model

Analysis of Case Study One Basing on Carrie Doehring’s Model.
Carrie Doehring is a pastoral care and counseling professor, at an institute of Theology called Iliff in Denver. She is a diplomat in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and a qualified psychologist in Colorado and Massachusetts (Doehring, 1993, pg. 3-12). She got ordained by the Presbyterian Religion, and worked in places such as Ontario and Boston in the congregational ministry, before becoming a teacher.
Doehring has got a belief that pastoral caregivers ought to view their department by trifocal lenses such as postmodern, modern and pre-modern attitudes to knowledge. According to her, an approach that is pre-modern relies on the divine who is discovered through traditions, customs, and texts that are religious. On the other hand, a modern lens applies methods that are empirical and rational, such as complex criticism of social science, medical knowledge as well as religious texts. However, she says, a postmodern attitude is apprehensive with the social identity and the unique history of a patient. This is inclusive of his or her age, social class, gender, sexual orientation and race.
Basing on our first case study, Grace is described as a young girl rooted in religion since her childhood. Being a very attentive participant of church activities, her pastor acknowledges her as a good example of a virtuous young Christian. Grace has got a cheerful personality, but she suddenly changes and appears to look angry and withdrawn, yet no one amongst her colleagues can identify what is wrong with the young girl.

With an expression of anger, distress, and fear on her face, she finally opens up to the head of youth ministries in the church and informs him that she is expectant.
According to Doehring’s model of pastoral care, it is wise and important to first listen carefully to the care seeker’s story and examine on how helpful the method to be applied in assisting them is, basing on their history. She goes on to argue that a clear examination of whether the pastoral confidentiality is needed in the situation is required. Additionally, in case the method to be used in solving the problem may bring about any kind of stress to the patient, then a proper way to deal with it should be founded. Again, she adds that both the family and community’s strengths and obligations need to be considered, as well as a clear theologian reflection. Finally, she advises that curative and justice strategies should be developed. Accessing Doehring’s ideas, it is quite clear that she does not appear to believe in the real existence God, and if she really does, then she views Him as just a feeling (Doehring, 1999, pg. 95-111). Therefore, applying her ideas and perceptions to solve our case study, the Church’s head in charge of youth ministries should try helping Grace out of her situation by first making a clear consideration of her personal history. Secondly, the leader should consider the ideas and suggestions of the girl concerning her situation. Here, Grace is afraid of what her parents who are staunch Christians will say about her, as well as the perception of the entire community on her current condition. Despite the fact that Doehring advice on the consideration of a theological concept in assisting a care seeker, she argues that it is not possible to know God directly (Doehring et al., 2009, pg. 55-73). It is evident from her arguments that it is very important to consider the client’s safety and assuring them of the trust that they require, considering their personal history. According to her, there should be less mourning, and the participants should reconnect with life’s ordinariness. Therefore applying Doehring’s philosophies, in an attempt to help Grace, the caregiver opts to offer advice that is favorable on the girl’s personal history. He should understand that the view of Grace’s family and community towards her is neat and spiritually upright so that in assisting her out of the situation he will look for a method that protects her history. This implies that the caregiver should build a confidential deal with the girl, however much wrong the decision that he may offer to her may seem. The fact that the boy responsible for Grace’s pregnancy is not ready to take his responsibilities on both Grace and the child calls for the person giving the advice to help the girl get rid of the pregnancy. This is mainly because Doehring does not advocate for fear of God in life, and more so in difficult situations (Doehring, 1993, pg. 23-31).The caregiver according to her should understand that Grace has got the fear of being judged as promiscuous by both her church mates, family members and community at large. The pastor in charge of the church that Grace attends has got a very good perception on the girl, and this is evident on how he refers to her as a role model to her fellow youths. Therefore, since the situation that Grace is in has not yet been exposed to other participants and colleagues, she should be assisted to prevent it reaching other people. The main idea behind Doehring is that one should consider what the world perceives as right and ignore what God expects human beings to do. Therefore, Grace’s case calls for those involved in helping her out to ensure that the girl is protected from public pressure and condemnation by her parents and the entire community, even if the solution to her problem is against the will of God, of which it surely is.
Reference List
Doehring, C., 1992. Developing models of feminist pastoral counseling. Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling, 46(1), pp.23-31.
Doehring, C., 1993. The absent God: When neglect follows sexual violence. Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling, 47(1), pp.3-12.
Doehring, C., 1999. A method of feminist pastoral theology. Feminist and womanist pastoral theology, pp.95-111.
Doehring, C., Clarke, A., Pargament, K.I., Hayes, A., Hammer, D., Nickolas, M. and Hughes, P., 2009. Perceiving sacredness in life: Correlates and predictors. Archive for the Psychology of Religion, 31(1), pp.55-73.