Religious and Spiritual Impact in Psychic Process:Implications for Pastoral Psychotherapy BY Rev. Dr. Joseph George Introduction by Robert Powell, MD, PhD The 8th Asia Pacific Congress on Pastoral Care and Counseling , held 7-11 August in Hong Kong, had a specific theme and a lofty objective: "Spiritual Formation of the Human Heart" – Tested Models of Caring and Counseling." Thus the following manuscript by the Rev. Dr. Joseph George, of Bangalore, India, tries to address both issues – personality formation and a tested model – at the same time, which is not an easy task. While many will enjoy his clear outline of how we got to Winnicottian "object relations theory" -- which handles religious rituals quite well – we might as well telegraph Dr. George's conclusion: "The use of religious rituals in pastoral psychotherapy sessions helps the counsellees: * to recollect their past experience* to narrate their present experience* to re-narrate their sense of