Counselling: A Destructive Reaction

I was reminded today of one of the hazards of counselling. I was discussing the "unspoken rule" in Churches that counselees should not be involved in a minister's duties or interests. When one counsels people, their greatest weakness or deepest shame may be exposed. This is typically safe with the minister, the counsellor -- however, the counselee may react in anger against the counsellor. As an example, The National Center for Biotechnology Information refers to this (see Chapter 4) as "threats or acts of violence against the counsellor". Thankfully this is rare, but it can be a serious problem. When people's greatest weakness or deepest shame is exposed, this may unleash powerful forces -- a destructive reaction against the counsellor. This may be all the more dangerous in a Church, which is a community, as opposed to a practice. OBSERVATION: There is a similar thing, called transference -- where a counselee transfers perceptions he or she has of people (say, their father) to the counsellor.