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Existential Loving: A method of Christotherapy

Christotherapists are different from any other therapists or counselors in their therapeutic aims. In Christotherapy, its therapeutic aims and foundation are based upon the great premise that Christ heals. The difference also makes its methodology and techniques of Christotherapist from others. Christotherapy suggests the two methodologies for pastoral counselors: one is an existential loving, the other is the spirit-feasting: The first one is a technique of loving the client as she/he is. The other is a process of possessing the inner peace and joy. This article focuses on the existential loving, and its process of existential discernment and existential clarification. The theological foundation of the existential loving as a way of counseling methodology is based upon the vangelical synergism, which focuses on the divine grace and human elements as well. In another words, it could be called as a holistic approach to transform human beings. Recently, the pastoral counseling tends to ignore the importance of the divine grace, which means the works of the Holy spirit. One of the reason is its using a lot of psychological theories including psychotherapy without any reservation. The existential loving of Christotherapy as a methodology of counseling will be an alternative idea not only to stress the importance of divine grace as an initiating power of the pastoral counseling, but also to overcome the present phenomenon of the pastoral counseling of Korean context.