Systems Theory
Systems theory takes into account how an individual fits into the larger group, and in this case that would be the group of a church congregation. Systems theory is particularly interested in how anxiety is held, experienced, and then lived out among the members of that group. This anxiety typically originates from a person’s family of origin and what was learned and experienced in that environment. Therefore, systems theory relates to the church in that it is used to understand the way people interact with each other and particularly how people respond to stress or conflict.
I believe systems theory is a great tool for pastoral counseling. Using this understanding of how people fit into their family, the stresses they developed under, the coping mechanisms, the stories people default to in their mind, the idea of how “threat” is involved with people’s reaction, and so forth… is all very helpful. One could use this in the more intimate setting of an official pastoral counseling meeting. This could take the form of helping the counselee understand how they are reacting in the system and how their anxiety plays into this, or how someone else is acting in the system (though most commonly, both would be necessary). This could also be used in more informal counseling settings that often arise. For example, when the congregant comes to the pastor in the hall to talk about a conflict with another congregant, then understanding how this person is responding to what they perceive as threat helps massively in knowing how then to respond or counsel. This, however, could only be used successfully (or most beneficially) by knowing your congregation well.
On the point of knowing people well, this would connect the more specific help of pastoral counseling with the wider view of pastoral care (assuming one sees pastoral counseling as a piece of pastoral care). Pastoral care would involve becoming acquainted with the relational, historical, and personal details of each person and subgroup of the larger group. Systems theory would require first the work of getting to know people. I would say, systems theory could not then be effectively applied by a new pastor.
Systems theory takes into account how an individual fits into the larger group, and in this case that would be the group of a church congregation. Systems theory is particularly interested in how anxiety is held, experienced, and then lived out among the members of that group. This anxiety typically originates from a person’s family of origin and what was learned and experienced in that environment. Therefore, systems theory relates to the church in that it is used to understand the way people interact with each other and particularly how people respond to stress or conflict.
I believe systems theory is a great tool for pastoral counseling. Using this understanding of how people fit into their family, the stresses they developed under, the coping mechanisms, the stories people default to in their mind, the idea of how “threat” is involved with people’s reaction, and so forth… is all very helpful. One could use this in the more intimate setting of an official pastoral counseling meeting. This could take the form of helping the counselee understand how they are reacting in the system and how their anxiety plays into this, or how someone else is acting in the system (though most commonly, both would be necessary). This could also be used in more informal counseling settings that often arise. For example, when the congregant comes to the pastor in the hall to talk about a conflict with another congregant, then understanding how this person is responding to what they perceive as threat helps massively in knowing how then to respond or counsel. This, however, could only be used successfully (or most beneficially) by knowing your congregation well.
On the point of knowing people well, this would connect the more specific help of pastoral counseling with the wider view of pastoral care (assuming one sees pastoral counseling as a piece of pastoral care). Pastoral care would involve becoming acquainted with the relational, historical, and personal details of each person and subgroup of the larger group. Systems theory would require first the work of getting to know people. I would say, systems theory could not then be effectively applied by a new pastor.