Paul W. Pretzel

the articles in this issue make clear, crisis intervention methods A S (and the insights upon which they are based) are invaluable resources for the counseling pastor. Our "man" this month, appropriately is one of the significant contributors to this vital new thrust in pastoral care. As the first theologically4rained staff member of the Suicide Prevention Center in Los Angeles, he has demonstrated an innovative style in furthering the depth understanding of the suicidal crisis and in training clergymen in crisis counseling, with a focus on suicide prevention. Paul Pretzel is one of the new breed of specialists in pastoral psychology with the bilingual skills to communicate in the worids of both theology and of psychotherapy. There are no crises in which these cross discipline skills are more vital than in that of suicidal behavior--a crisis which revolves around existential-philosophical-theological issues. Paul's participation in the interaction of a stimulating, research-oriented staff has offered him a continuing opportunity to use his abundant gifts as a teacher, clinician, and productive conceptualizer. It is an asset to the growth of our field that he is on the forefront of developments in crisis counseling and suicidology. Paul began life in Chicago in 1931. He was educated at Ripon College (A.B.), Garrett TheoIhe MAN logical Seminary (B.D.), and the School of Theology at Claremont (Th.D., Pastoral Coum Of t h e seling). He is an ordained member of the Rock River Conference of the Methodist Church. During and following seminary, he pastored ~1~ 0 N T H chm-ches in Wisconsin and Illinois. Before seminary, he served in the United States Marine (Continued on page 65) 4

|'ASTORAL I'SYCItOLOOY]APR1L 1970

lives are exposed, and all our needs are known. Be at work in our lives. Wipe out all our old secrets and wrong desires, so that we may perfectly love you and truly worship you, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (p. 87) Someone will surely point out that this "mod" version is inferior linguistically, liturgically, and theologically to the original because translation into the vernacular secularizes and subjectivizes the experience of the Holy and compromises the awareness of the Otherness or Transcendence of God. The language is modern but sterile; it creates no experience of the reality to which it refers. The search for relevance in worship needs to be carried on at a level deeper than the contemporaneous or idiomatic. Someone needs to define the meaning of the term "relevance" itself. Some of the impressionistic-expressionistic new forms seem to imply that "relevance" means "related to my subjective experience," including mainly my disordered experience, rather than "related to God's objective design." Vernacular versions of Das Heilige are not usually successful in evoking any genuine experiences of The Holy. In worship the medium is not the message, and if one does not know the message he ought not to deceive himself by tampering with the medium. A creative reform of the liturgy, for which there is unquestionably a need, requires more expertness than is manifested b y many of the experimenters who provide the most spectacular forms of ad hoc, do-it-yourself programs. A first requirement for the reformer would be a discernible and defensible theological undergirding of the proposed acts and elements; otherwise, how could one know what he should be celebrating? A second requirement would be a comprehensive knowledge of linguistics (including psycholinguistics) which

would provide a sensitivity to the nuances of meaning associated with words; otherwise, the reformer might think he had done something when he had changed the "thou's" to "you's" or substituted basic English for Elizabethan. A third requirement would be a well-grounded psychological understanding of man, his motivations and the meaning of his expressive movements, together with some appreciation of which expressions are the celebration of health and wholeness and which are fragmentary and idolatrous structurings of his fractured, estranged existence. The distressing fact about so much contemporary liturgical experimentation is that it gives scant assurance of being informed at any one of these levels. If one were to ask the experimenter, "What is it that you think you are celebrating?" the question would bring many an enterprise to a halt. --EARL H. FURGESON

Pro]essor o] Preaching and Pastoral Theology Wesley Theological Seminary Washington, D.C. M A N OF THE M O N T H

(Continued/rom page 4) Corps in Japan. Paul and his wife have three children. It was my happy privilege to know the Pretzels during Paul's doctoral years at Claremont. As a part of his training he had internships at both the Pasadena Area Pastoral Counseling Center and the Suicide Prevention Center in Los Angeles. His dissertation research, done at the latter agency, was an in-depth exploration of the psychodynamics of religion in the lives of a number of suicidal persons. Having demonstrated his capacities 65

as a trainee in suicide prevention and research, Paul was invited to join the interprofessional staff of S.P.C. At pres. ent he is Co-Director of Clinical Services and Director of Clergy Training Workshops. In addition, he is an assistant professor in the psychology department at California State College, Los Angeles. He also holds several consultative relationships. At the S.P.C. he has helped to guide research in various facets of the church, religion and suicide, by doctoral students in psychology of religion and pastoral counseling. The breadth and richness of Paul's own research interests are suggested by these sample titles from his list of papers (published and in press): "The Philosophical and Ethical Considera. tions of Suicide Prevention," "Suicide as a Failure of Trust," "Training Ministers in Suicide Prevention," "The Psychological Autopsy," "Should Suicide Always Be Discouraged? .... The Clergyman's Role in Crisis Intervention," and "The Clinical Non-Professional Volunteer." Paul Pretzel's professional affiliations include the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and the American Psychological Association. He is a fellow of the American Association of Suicidology. In connection with the psychological autopsies in which he participates (which attempt to ascertain whether a death resulted from suicide or an accident), he has credentials which must be somewhat unique among pastoral counselors--Deputy Coroner (of Los Angeles County)! One of his current projects is developing and leading workshops for the Los Angeles School District on adolescents in crisis. Paul and one of his colleagues at S.P.C. are using video tapes, lectures, and small group discussion to train teachers and school counselors in dealing with such teenage crises as drug 60

abuse, psychoses, runaways, and suicide. From this experience, he has produced an insightful statement (with a fascinating title): "Whales and Polar Bears, A Comparison of the Value Systems of the 'Straight' Counselor and the Drug Using Adolescent." The paper, which is illustrative of the freshness and realism of his approach, begins with an observation by Freud that an encounter between a whale and a polar bear is doomed to frustration. Each animal, equipped to cope with its own environment, cannot relate meaningfully to the other. A similar frustration is experienced by school counselors, teachers~ parents (and clergymen) who try to engage adolescents across the generation gap. Pretzel writes: "The appropriate goals in counseling students involved in drug use are usually modest. The counselor should acknowledge the existence of the 'value gap' and work, not at conversion, but at establishing openness and mutual res p e c t . . . The whale and the polar bear are each equipped to cope with their own environmental conditions and each can best survive together by respecting the other's development and differences." All of us in the pastoral psychology field can look forward with anticipation to Paul Pretzel's continuing contribu. tions to the literature and practice of crisis counseling, particularly with persons in what Melville called the "damp and drizzly Novembers of the soul." The spiritual Novembers are very damp and very drizzly for millions of people in our day. It is fortunate indeed that a man like Paul Pretzel is applying his gifts in this area. HOWARD J. CLI~EBELL, Jrc

Pro/essor o/ Pastoral Counseling School of Theology Claremont, Cali/orn~ PASTOR&I, PSYCHOLOt;YJAPRIL [970