Soul Care Summit: Caring for the Whole Person — Part 2

Pastoral Counseling and Clinical Counseling: Why Churches Need Both

At FOR.NYC's Soul Care Summit, ministry and mental health leaders explored an important question for churches: What happens when pastoral care and clinical mental health care intersect?

The two should not be viewed as competing approaches.

Our founder, Scott Abbott, LMHC, explained that there isn't always a simple dividing line between what belongs in pastoral counseling and what belongs in clinical counseling. Pastoral relationships can offer something uniquely valuable: many relational touch points in the church community, including spiritual understanding and familiarity with the dynamics among others in the parishioner's life.

At the same time, there can be circumstances where a person needs a different kind of space—one where they can speak freely and without fear of how their disclosure might affect their role within their church or denomination. Scott shared that clients have opened up to him saying, “I can say everything here. I can be completely honest.  I couldn't say it this way to my pastor, but I can say it here, and it's important to be able to say it unfiltered.”

For pastors themselves, this distinction can be especially significant. A ministry leader may need someone outside of their denomination or immediate ministry structure with whom they can speak honestly and confidentially.

Healthy soul care can involve both.

This is where the “both and” approach becomes especially important. A trusted friend, pastor, or lay counselor can offer relationship, wisdom, spiritual guidance, and community. A licensed mental health counselor brings an additional set of clinical tools and specialized training. When someone is processing trauma, working through addiction, or facing deeply entrenched patterns, a clinician may be able to use therapeutic modalities and interventions that fall outside the typical toolbox of a pastoral or lay counselor.

Pastoral relationships and licensed clinical counseling can work alongside one another, each providing something the other cannot fully replace.

Scott described Abbott Mental Health Counseling as approaching clinical care through a biopsychosocial-spiritual framework. Rather than separating spiritual life from mental and emotional health, the goal is to consider the whole person.

Why Pastors May Hesitate to Ask for Help

If ministry leaders understand the importance of mental health support, why can it still be so difficult to seek help?

Charles identified several factors, including fear of vulnerability.

Pastors may wonder: If I tell people what I'm really experiencing, will they see me differently? Will they still trust me? Will they think differently about my leadership?

There is also the reality that ministry rarely stops. One responsibility follows another. If leaders don't intentionally create space for their own care, eventually the need for that space may become unavoidable.

Charles emphasized the importance of developing healthy relationships and friendships where ministry leaders can speak honestly and be supported.

Ministry Leaders Are More Than Their Ministry Roles

Pastoral ministry is uniquely demanding. A pastor may simultaneously be a theologian, teacher, lay counselor, administrator, manager, community leader, and caregiver.

With so many roles competing for attention, it can become easy to confuse one's identity with one's responsibilities.

But a pastor is a whole person before they are a ministry role.

Soul care asks ministry leaders to consider not only what they are accomplishing externally, but also what is happening internally.

Are there places where they are lonely?

Are there emotions they haven't had space to process?

Are they exhausted?

Do they have friendships where they can be fully known?

Do they have someone who can speak honestly into their lives?

And perhaps most importantly: Are they receiving care as intentionally as they are giving it?

Continue the Soul Care Summit Series

Part 3: [Gen Z, Social Media, and Mental Health: Helping Young People Navigate a World of Emotional Overload]

The conversation eventually turned toward the next generation and the unique emotional environment young people are navigating today—including social media, emotional exposure, psychological literacy, and the need for wise guides.