Conclusion
In this article I have not attempted to make any practical suggestions for the counselor. The possible choices for the individuals in these situations vary greatly; rather I hope I have been of some help to those counselors interested in gaining a better understanding of some of the theory and change dynamics behind the conflicts of their clients. As a concluding note I should point out that many of the dynamics analyzed inThe Greening of America (e.g., levels of consciousness and the difficulty of changing except through personal experience of certain values),40 and inFuture Shock (e.g., the pain of constant, radical, and fast change)41 can certainly be applied to the changes going on in the church and in religious communities and the structure of the priesthood.
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Donald A. Price, m. ed., with a diploma in liturgical studies, St. André, Bruges, Belgium, has been Residence Hall Director at Wisconsin State University, Stevens Point, for the past two years. He has spent several years as a teacher and chaplain in a high school, in adult education, parish work, and counseling nuns. Having been ordained a Benedictine priest in 1965, he left the active ministry in 1969 and married a former nun in 1971. He is beginning his work toward a Ph.D. in marriage and family counseling at Florida State University, Tallahassee.
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Price, D.A. Difficulties of permanent commitment in religious life today. J Relig Health 11, 357–369 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01574221
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01574221