ABSTRACT
The claim of the clergy to represent the world's oldest profession is only contested by the practitioners of one other occupation, and they can hardly claim that counselling has ever been a central part of their activity. For the clergy on the other hand, what is today called 'counselling' has always been accepted and practiced as a central element in the 'cure of souls'. Furthermore, the traditional involvement of the church and many clergy in education has meant that great attention has been paid to education and much experience gained in the particular opportunities and problems of pastoral work in academic situations. The counselling relationship is therefore always a meeting of people, not a situation in which one party manipulates the other, even for his own good, without both parties being affected. Pastors need to be pastored, and counsellors need to be counselled - surely this would be a better and more modest terminology than the current talk of supervision.
