Finding the Inner Voice. Multifaith Pastoral Counselling and Lifestyle Counselling

What is pastoral Counselling?

Pastoral Counselling is the provision of counselling techniques in a faith and spiritual context. 

Clients usually seek pastoral counselling because of either a desire to find a more spiritually meaningful solution to issues, or because the issue itself is their faith.

What faiths are assisted?

We all have our own personal faith structure, and this of course applies to both practitioners. However the assistance provided is multi-faith. ALL faiths are equally respected and supported without fear of conversion or discrimination.

Already a wide range of faiths have been supported, including Christian, Pagan, Muslim, Buddhist and "New Age".

Multi-faith assistance is given under the guidance of the spirit of the Church of Seven Planes. Both practitioners are ordained by the Church of Seven Planes.

As a Conversations with God registered resource, the books of N D Walsh are frequently used as reference material to help and heal spiritual issues.

Who provides assistance?

There is the choice between Professor Paul Morgan-Ayres who is the senior partner, and Dr Denise Morgan-Ayres who is also qualified and certified.

Professor Paul Morgan-Ayres is subject to the professional code of conduct and ethics of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health. He is a Fellow of the Counselling & Psychotherapy Society and holds a a number of Diploma. He has an NVQ in Training & Development to TDLB Standards in the Industrial context of Complementary Health Education. He has a diploma in Stress counselling and (psycho) analysis from the Association of Stress Management. For further qualifications and biography see HERE. Paul is the Arch-Bishop for UK & Ireland for the Church of Seven Planes.

Dr Denise Morgan-Ayres is subject to the professional code of conduct and ethics of the Professional Board of counselling. She is a certified counsellor with the Professional Board of Hypnotherapy, and has a Diploma in counselling which included professional training in Counselling and Psychotherapy. She also has diplomas in Counselling & Psychotherapy.. For further qualifications and biography see HERE. She is an ordained minister with the Church of Seven Planes.

Both therapists adhere to professional codes of conduct and ethics, and Prof Paul Morgan-Ayres is an accredited Psychotherapist & Counselling supervisor and NVQ Assessor in the relevant industrial context.

Unfortunately, due to long term ill health, Dr Denise Morgan-Ayres is still unable to take clients. Professor Paul Morgan-Ayres is covering until further notice.

Are all Pastoral Counsellors equally qualified?

Unfortunately the industry is self-regulating! Some therapists are hardly qualified at all! Pastoral counselling tends to attract people who are either very religious and promote one particular faith, or who have no understanding of varied religious issues but are trained in basic counselling. it is best to avoid very religious people who have no formal counselling training, and counsellors who are qualified, but have no committment to non-discriminatory faith issues.

 In short look for:
Codes of Conduct and Ethics.
Qualifications or registrations of non-independent industry bodies (e.g. Royal Societies)
NVQ Qualifications.
Committment to Non-discrimination.
Ordination or membership of a faith body.

Beware of:
Therapists trained only by distance learning (although in part is OK).
Entertainers dabbling in therapy
Foreign Degrees that are not ethically described!
ONE-faith counsellors
Untrained "counsellors" working for churches

Emotional Lifestyle Consultancy©

This is a unique new development in the field of therapy, and represents the putting together of expertise gained from 1988 to 2003 by Paul.

This is a unique blend of life coaching, psychoanalysis and pastoral counselling that seeks to have a far more profound effect on the individual than any of these one therapies alone.

Psychotherapy and pastoral counselling on their own are long term therapies, that tend to abandon short term needs, in favour of long term knowledge of patterns and behaviour, thus empowering the individual. Psychotherapy does this in a neutral sense, pastoral counselling seeks to put the information in a spiritual context.

Life Coaching sacrifices the long term driving individuality of the person in favour of getting results as soon as possible. It walks away from the realisation that life often gives us what we "need", not what we "want". Thus it seeks to create a life of goal setting and achievement, without really asking why in any great depth. It pays lip service to underlying desires, but its entire structure as a modality creates the opposite.

Emotional Lifestyle consultancy uses multi-faith pastoral techniques in a way that respects all faiths equally. There is not even any requirement to be religious. As long as you can feel something special in a piece of beautiful music, painting or country scene for example, you can experience the spiritual. It combines seeking meaning in the person's life, and thus direction, with short and medium term survival and development goals. Therefore it neither abandons the present, nor the future.

Different skills and modalities of therapy are used at each stage- the following is just an example:

Survival stage   è Survive & Enquire è      Survive & identify  è Survive & Plan è

An example might be:
Need to eat & survive          requires   Motivational interviewing   
RESOURCES NEEDED
Survive & Seek direction     requires    Psychotherapy / Analysis 
RESOURCES NEEDED   
Time of choice & realisation requires    Coaching & Spiritual Coaching,
RESOURCES NEEDED         
Choose & Define path          requires     Counselling  (Remedial for Change Pain)
RESOURCES NEEDED
Reflection & Pattern Change requires    Coaching & Spiritual Coaching

The major challenges are Effecting change in "Real-Life" (not just the clinic setting) and effecting the right change for the "deeper" person.

Because of the deeper nature of the change process with this therapy, there needs to be the realisation that change can only come alongside challenge, and indeed because of it. Challenge and perceived adversity is not character "building", it is character "revealing". Therefore the process requires careful monitoring of perceptions and learning experiences relating to challenges that occur. In other words you actively welcome challenge, since it is part of the change and discovery process and leads to true self-realisation.

Therefore what might have been considered Crisis causing Trauma, now becomes experience creating enlightenment.

This is only a TINY snapshot of what lifestyle consultancy is about. It is a long term commitment by the client. In return the changes in perspective and the potential for increased self-realisation and happiness are huge profound. It is already in use, and is particularly effective with those clients who have found therapy less than completely fulfilling in the past.
 

What Lifestyle Consultancy Generally Helps:

Personal Development. Life guidance and change. Discovering who you are. Ensuring you are following your heart. Balancing the practical with your spiritual. Being true to yourself. Defeating negative perception.

Particularly useful for clients who have had no, or partial success in therapy before. Requires a true and committed desire to discover over time.

Seminars, training courses and therapist training days are being planned for both this course and the "Stress Pack" in Cardiff, Bristol, Birmingham, London, Reading, Solihull and Glastonbury.

Practitioner:
Paul - this is the new project to follow on from the award winning "Stress Pack". Life the "Stress Pack" it is development from and in use with clients already.

Qualification:

Paul: The creator and Author of the therapy. However it is a blend of counselling, psychotherapy, coaching, hypnotherapy change processes and training. Paul is well qualified in all those areas.