pastor or counselor?

Today we spent the morning in group, going over some verbatims and also meeting with a psychologist at Metro who is the supervisor of the mental health counselors. She gave us a list of all the groups available to the women who have mental health issues. Based on their mental health level and symptoms, they are encouraged to attend different groups that will help address those issues specifically and hopefully get them in a better place for when they get out of prison.

After lunch I had my weekly individual meeting with my supervisor. We talked about how things have been going for me and what issues or questions I might have. After that, I headed straight for D Building to see if the woman who has been in there for so long had finally been moved. She was still there, however, and I wasn’t sure what mood she would be in because of it. She was actually in a pretty good mood despite the fact that she was still there, and she was hoping to be moved soon.

After visiting with some of the other women in my D Building range, I decided I had enough time for one range in F Building before the 4pm count. This morning one of the women I see on a regular basis stopped me on the walk and asked me to check in with one of her range mates who had recently discovered her husband was filing for divorce. I though it was really nice of this woman to seek me out because she cared about her friend so much, and I told her I’d try to find her friend in the afternoon. When I got onto the range (D), I saw one woman sitting at a table with her back to me, so I went in there, planning on asking her if she could help me find who I was looking for. It turned out that woman was the one I was looking for, so that was fortunate. She had me read the last letter her husband sent her, which was back in March, breaking the news to her. It basically said he had fallen out of love with her and was going to draw some divorce papers. What a sad way to find out such horrible news. She had no idea this was coming, and being stuck in prison must be really frustrating for her since she’s stuck here and can’t do anything. She did say she’s been writing him letters, and that she hopes he’s reading them. I wasn’t sure what to tell her, but I did advise her to continue writing to him in hopes that they might be able to at least have a conversation about his divorce plans.

In group this morning, we talked a little about being a chaplain versus being a counselor, and what the differences are, and how to distinguish them. There certainly seems to be a lot of grey area between the two, but I know I’m certainly not qualified to be a counselor. Pastoral care is so similar in many ways, though, it does make me think more about the similarities and differences and making that distinction. With some of the things I’ve heard through conversations with these women, there are times when I don’t know that I’m qualified to offer advice. Does that make any sense? But I guess with pastoral care there is always going to be a bit of counseling involved, or so I’m told. It’s something to think about, anyway.