Klaipėdos universitetas

Humanity benefits from the achievements of modern technology, but man cannot avoid pain, long-term suffering, and spiritual problems. In modern society, as in all eras, man still raises fundamental questions of being: What is the meaning of life? What is spirituality? How to solve spiritual problems? Therefore, spiritual counselling or assistance is receiving more and more attention. Its needs and benefits are undoubtedly noticeable, because spiritual assistance tries to respond to the spiritual needs of people today, and to be a landmark in spreading spiritual well-being. Although spiritual counselling in Lithuania is still searching for explicit boundaries of function and definition, it is becoming quite clear that it is not the same as psychological counselling. Of course, spiritual counselling is not so far from psychological counselling, as they both have some features in common. However, the priority of a spiritual counsellor is existential questions and the search for answers to queries about the meaning of life, suffering, death, love, etc. Spiritual counselling tries to approach a person through the prism of faith. A unique element in spiritual counselling is not the methods used by the counsellors, but their personality, their world-view, faith, values, and attitude towards other people. Therefore, in order to substantiate the identity and importance of spiritual counselling, this article aims to reveal the essence and meaning of spiritual counselling.

In today’s productivity-oriented culture, topics related to death, illness, and loss are avoided. However, sooner or later people fall ill, die and various losses accompany everyone’s life. These experiences come together with spiritual pain, grief, tension, anxiety, fear and anger. If not addressed properly, these feelings cause physical and mental illnesses, loss of one’s identity, psychological trauma and interfere with fulfilling relationships. Spiritual health is the most important indicator of human health and the quality of life. It is also vital to the overall health of a person and is related to the essence of a human being and to what is valued and truly cherished by a particular person. This article reveals the changes in the state of a person in the presence of a disease from a psychological and theological perspective by analysing scientific literature, interpreting and systematizing information.