the importance of good training
counselling
    communication [see communication & Gender]
    active listening
    counsellor: personal qualities
    counsellor: self awareness
    exploration skills
    understanding skills
        empathy
        acceptance
    action skills
        setting & respecting limits / boundries
    confidentiality
    supervision
    referrals
marriage and family
    marital counselling
    human sexuality
    counselling the separated spouse
    counselling divorcees
    family interaction
        family theories & systems
    family support systems
grief and bereavement
    attitudes towards death
    stages of dying [see Death, Dying & Grief]
    stages of grief
    rites and customs
    a child's view of death
    grief & mourning for the adolescent
    facing loss
    abnormal grief
    bereavement counselling
    long term support for the bereaved
crisis counselling
    spiritual crisis
    family crisis
        illness
            life threatening
            long-term / cronic
        death in the family
            from illness
            accidental
            suicide
        divorce issues
        financial issues
    drug & alcohol abuse
    sexual abuse
        state reporting requirements
    physical abuse
    psychological abuse
    anxiety & panic
    stress
    self esteem
    depression
    suicide 
    sexual identity
    mental illness
when to call in the professionals
 
American Association of Pastoral Counselors
    http://www.aapc.org/ - Warning! web site has been hacked
    definitions:
        pastoral counselor - a minister who practices pastoral counseling at an advanced level which
            integrates religious resources with insights from the behavioral sciences
        pastoral counseling - a process in which a pastoral counselor utilizes insights and principles
            derived from the disciplines of theology and the behavioral sciences in working with
            individuals, couples, families,groups and social systems toward the achievement of
            wholeness and health
PSYCHOLOGY.org
    How To Become a pastoral counsellor - web site