← Pastoral Listening, Grief and Referral
MINISTRY TRAINING · MODULE 9 · UNIT 3 OF 4
Counseling Boundaries and Referrals
Study passage: Proverbs 15:22. Read the whole surrounding chapter before relying on this unit.
Teaching and interpretation
Pastoral counseling is not automatically psychotherapy. A minister should not diagnose a disorder, direct someone to stop medication, or promise that religious practices will substitute for clinical care. Build an updated local referral list and learn when specialist help is urgent. Privacy expectations matter: explain confidentiality limits and mandatory reporting before a sensitive disclosure.
Pastoral case to discuss
A visitor says they plan to stop a prescribed medicine because a sermon promised healing. What can the pastor say without practicing medicine?
Describe the relevant facts and what you would still need to know. Do not present assumptions as the person's motives, diagnose a disorder or make unverified claims about Scripture.
Required practical exercise
Draft a local referral protocol for licensed care, immediate crisis support and follow-up without recording unnecessary private details.
Support your answers with passages in context and distinguish biblical teaching, historical interpretation, modern professional standards and personal judgment. Keep real people's details confidential.
Study more deeply
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