Pastoral Care and the Stresses of Modern Life

Life can change so rapidly. We wake up each day and never know what to expect. In the past, our parents and their generation led rather settled lives. They stayed in the same career all their lives, mothers stayed home and didn’t need to juggle family life with a professional working life. Divorce and remarriage were relatively rare and many of the life style diseases so common today were unheard of. Today, the situation is very different and it’s not unusual to find ourselves needing pastoral care to help deal with the everyday life stresses.

When a Cup of Tea with a Friend Doesn’t Help

Sometimes, all it takes to cope with the stressful period is the support of a trusted friend; a cup of tea together and a quiet chat or a gym workout may be all that is needed. Other times, when faced with a major life changing problem, professional crisis intervention may be required. At such times, we turn to counselors, or to spiritual mentors or social workers to advise and guide us to making the correct decisions and choices.

Supply Doesn’t Equal Demand

Businesses and training institutions are increasingly recognizing that productivity is reduced when their employees or students are facing stress in their lives. Many are now offering free counseling services to any person employed by them or registered for their services. Those providing professional services are finding that supply of counselors is not meeting the demand for their services and there is a shortage of trained counselors in many western countries.

Training Diversity to Meet the Shortfall

With such a diverse range of needs for support and counseling services, counselors are trained to provide a range of options to assist their clients make life decisions and cope with the stresses of life, whether they are facing a major life crisis or a chronic stress situation that may last for many years. Jobs for counselors highlight the range of support roles they may be required to provide.

Crisis Intervention is not Psychiatry

Crisis intervention and counseling is a pastoral care role that can provide support to anyone in crisis, whatever the cause. If life is becoming overwhelming , knowing there is someone who can offer support, advice, empathy and assistance maybe all that is required to face the challenge, make informed choices and move on with life.,

Social Workers and Case Management: The Key to Crisis Intervention

Every day around the world, people are in crisis. They face problems and situations that they cannot deal with alone and the caring advocacy of the social workers that help them may be the difference between their ability to deal with the crisis or to “drown” under the weight of it.

A Day in the Life of a Social Worker

The Social Worker’s day is typically filled with crisis intervention. The diversity of the needs of the patients assigned to them requires research, strategic planning and provision of individualized support to each client. In addition, the nature of their work requires confidentiality and emotional separation to enable them to carry out their case management in a professional manner.

Team Work as Intervention Strategy

Working closely with a client and his or her family, the social worker must also work as a member of a team to provide the best outcomes for the client. Depending on the type of work engaged in, and the type and extent of support required, the types of teams the worker is part of may change considerably from client to client.

Communication is the Key to Successful Intervention

Case management requires the development of excellent communication skills to enable all members of the team, and the client to feel that progress is being made and that the client’s most pressing needs are being successfully addressed. Social work can be a difficult and sometimes stressful profession, but ongoing education can provide skills in areas that would otherwise be potentially draining. Courses in communication, technology, team work and strategic planning are among the many options that can help provide all health care workers with advanced skills to assist them in their work.

Best Practice Interventions

When an individual is faced with a crisis, they may in certain circumstances need someone to make decisions for them. This is particularly true of children requiring protective services intervention. Their age and vulnerability mean that often they are incapable of making important life decisions.

But older individuals must be empowered to make their own decisions and this is the role of social workers working with adult clients. They offer an essential service in the provision of advocacy and information, ensuring that their client is in a position to be able to make informed life choices.

If you feel that the field of social workers might be a career for you, why not check into one of the online training courses that are offered. You won’t just learn a new skill, but will become a part of a movement that is all about helping others.