Graham, Larry Kent. “Prophetic Pastoral Caretaking: A Psychosystemic Approach to Symptomatology.” Journal of Psychology and Christianity 8, no.1 (1989): 49-60.

Abstract

Pastoral caretaking has become increasingly isolated from many of its prophetic and communal roots, and from the formative experience of the oppressed in our culture. Our healing interactions derive from and contribute to unacknowledged social and cultural realities. This article proposes a more social-cultural and systemic model of pastoral caretaking. In such a model, symptoms are interpreted as crises in the creation-covenantal matrix. Symptoms are seen as a combination of structural impairment, vitiated creativity, power imbalances, destructive values, and transactional impasses. Learning to discern more clearly these realities behind the symptoms will allow the caretaker to discover best where comfort, healing and transformation might take place.