Overview

Studies in neuroscience demonstrate that a focus on mindfulness meditation and contemplative spiritual practice has the capacity to increase our non-anxious awareness and significantly lower our stress. Not only is this finding of immediate importance for pastoral counselors and psychotherapists, it will even necessitate a paradigm shift in the way that pastoral and spiritual practitioners approach the general care of souls. The starting point for such a paradigm shift is an acknowledgement of the built-in negativity bias of the brain, and how certain beliefs and theological views may inadvertently reinforce the bias to the detriment of individuals and faith communities. Once necessary for human survival, the ingrained bias can often be excessive for today’s world, resulting in negatively disproportionate assessments of life events and human relationships. To balance the neural predisposition toward negativity and anxious awareness, it is necessary for pastoral and spiritual caregivers, and those in their care, to cultivate a regular contemplative-meditational practice. The Power of Neuroplasticity for Pastoral and Spiritual Care focuses on the groundbreaking finding of contemporary neuroscience—that the brain is built for change across the entire lifespan. It is designed to make the research accessible to and relevant for those engaged in the work of pastoral and spiritual care in order to help clients and congregants effect lasting and transformative changes in the mind and brain. Through the regular practice of contemplative prayer and meditation, we can literally calm the stress region of the brain in order to live less anxiously and experience more fully the peace and joy of the present moment. The introduction of mindfulness- and acceptance-based counseling approaches will provide pastoral and spiritual practitioners with an important therapeutic framework to situate their work, from which they can make more informed and effective interventions geared toward using the mind to change the brain.

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Reviews

In The Power of Neuroplasticity for Pastoral and Spiritual Care, not only Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount...but also religious and spiritual practices such as prayer and meditation are given multidimensional meaning and greater importance. The book is a welcome addition to pastoral and practical theology and theology's engagement with the sciences. It informs practical living, ways of caring, and clinical practice and invites a new approach to theological hermeneutics. Persons who are anxious or fearful, persons interested in religious and spiritual practices, and pastoral caregivers or professional counselors will find The Power of Neuroplasticity for Pastoral and Spiritual Care a stimulating, informative, and challenging conversation partner. Pastoral Psychology This is a fascinating and ambitious book that shows how contemporary neuroscience has valuable implications for the practice of pastoral and spiritual care. Bingaman has an ideal combination of intellectual breadth, clinical experience, and theological sensitivity. He presents a host of religiously and spiritually grounded methods as reliable agents of neuroplasticity, and makes a compelling case that people who put real time and effort into these practices will actually transform the way their brains work. -- Kelly Bulkeley, Graduate Theological Union The Power of Neuroplasticity for Pastoral and Spiritual Care is an accessible, immensely practical text that firmly grounds pastoral and spiritual care within the unfolding discoveries of contemporary neuroscience. Dr. Bingaman engages Christian theology, psychotherapeutic practice, and pastoral care, arguing persuasively that our evolved neural structures dispose us to fear and that mindfulness-based practices offer a powerful antidote for those caught up in persistent anxiety. The text will be a welcome resource for practitioners and care receivers alike, including those who are skeptical of neuroscience's applicability and those already convinced. -- David A. Hogue, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

This is a fascinating and ambitious book that shows how contemporary neuroscience has valuable implications for the practice of pastoral and spiritual care. Bingaman has an ideal combination of intellectual breadth, clinical experience, and theological sensitivity. He presents a host of religiously and spiritually grounded methods as reliable agents of neuroplasticity, and makes a compelling case that people who put real time and effort into these practices will actually transform the way their brains work. -- Kelly Bulkeley, Graduate Theological Union The Power of Neuroplasticity for Pastoral and Spiritual Care is an accessible, immensely practical text that firmly grounds pastoral and spiritual care within the unfolding discoveries of contemporary neuroscience. Dr. Bingaman engages Christian theology, psychotherapeutic practice, and pastoral care, arguing persuasively that our evolved neural structures dispose us to fear and that mindfulness-based practices offer a powerful antidote for those caught up in persistent anxiety. The text will be a welcome resource for practitioners and care receivers alike, including those who are skeptical of neuroscience's applicability and those already convinced. -- David A. Hogue, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

Author Information

Kirk A. Bingaman is associate professor of pastoral care and counseling at Fordham University. He is a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) in New York and a fellow with the American Association of Pastoral Counselors (AAPC).

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