Future Priests of the Third Millennium

A little insight into the life of seminarians from various dioceses preparing for ministry as Roman Catholic priests, including daily activities, personal interests, special events, the spiritual life, news from the seminary, and almost whatever comes to our minds!



Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Referral

As deacons, our classes adopt a decidedly practical flavor. As such, one of the classes in which we are currently enrolled is Pastoral Counseling. We were recently given the assignment to develop a list of professionals to whom we could refer people in the following situations:

1) A physician for someone new to the parish

2) An attorney to draw up a will and health care directive for an elderly parishioner

3) A psychologist/psychiatrist for a depressed parishioner

4) A marriage counselor for a parishioner I barely know.

It is necessary, of course, that whoever these referrals are, they would operate compatibly with the teachings of the Church. Any ideas?

4 comments:

Jinglebob said...

Nope!

Tuff list!

Good luck.

Cookie said...

For the first three - I'd contact the local Catholic hospital for referrals. Private practice doctors are your best bet, as are lawyers on retainer with the hospital. And most hospitals have at least one psychologist on staff, and if they're too busy... well, that's what professional networks are for - referrals!

As far as marriage counselors go - honestly, that's what the yellow pages are for. My experience with a marriage counselor wasn't perfect because I don't think she really understood the Catholic point of view.

Good luck!

Adoro said...

You could check out:

www.omsoul.org

They have NFP-only doctors and I believe they also link to Catholic counselors of different sorts. So try that resource.

Good luck!

Oh...by the way...can you refer me to.. oh, um...never mind.

:-)

Adoro said...

Oh, I think that you need to do some "extra credit" work and see if you can find a list of good solid Spiritual Directors. More people are going to ask you for THAT than anything else!

(Can't even find one for vocational discernment!)

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