ABSTRACT
The reason therapists are expected to receive therapy themselves is that the pastoral relationship must be characterised by a great deal of self-awareness. That means perhaps the majority of the work the pastor does in a pastoral encounter is done before the chair in the corner of the room is occupied, indeed, before the visitor enters the room or the appointment is even made. In the pastoral encounter the shortage of time is a blessing because it focuses the mind. The metaphor of resume-building dominates so much of university existence. An important moment in the pastoral visitation is to seek to ensure the conversation ends on an empowering note, by inviting the visitor to craft some kind of plan of action based around this new insight that has emerged through the dialogue. The penultimate activity in the visit might be the one most associated with the role of pastor.
