A pastoral theology of the self that focuses on relationality

Abstract

This dissertation explores changing models for self within a postmodern context. The project specifically sets forth five areas of human knowledge: personal/clinical experience, social constructionism, self psychology, contemporary psychoanalysis, and Trinitarian Theology for the purpose of developing a constructive pastoral theology of the self that focuses on relationality. The works of Kenneth Gergen, Harlene Anderson, Heinz Kohut, Stephen Mitchell, Catherine LaCugna, and Elizabeth Johnson are discussed as pastoral theological resources for understanding the self within a relational context. While each source of knowledge defines the term relationality in various ways, there is enough commonality between the definitions to make the project a constructive critical conversation about the human self. The project suggests that the human self cannot be understood apart from its relational connections, offering an alternative voice to views of the self shaped within the context of Western individualism. The primary audience for this dissertation includes pastoral care and counseling specialists interested in exploring contemporary models of personality theory and theology for the purpose of expanding their knowledge of the field of pastoral theology and making appropriate application to their ministries. This project also contributes to theological anthropology, specifically describing the relational nature of the self as imago Dei .