earticle

영어

This study seeks to reinterpret the commonly accepted concept of care from a psychodynamic perspective and to explore effective strategies for its application in pastoral care. Traditionally, care has been viewed as a dualistic structure characterized by the subject’s unilateral sacrifice and the object’s passive reception. However, this study redefines care as an existential process marked by mutuality and positive reciprocity, functioning as a tool that benefits both the caregiver and the care recipient. Care is not merely a product of altruistic actions by the subject and egoistic demands of the object; rather, it serves as a channel for self-reflection and internal integration for the caregiver, while simultaneously offering autonomy and self-realization opportunities for the care recipient. This reframed understanding distances care from pathological dependency and burnout, emphasizing its role in promoting mutual restoration and solidarity. In order for care to be recognized as “care for all,” it must become a shared journey of discovering meaning in life for both the caregiver and the recipient. This requires a structure in which the caregiver not only fosters the recipient’s psychological and spiritual growth, but also attains personal maturation through the caregiving process. Sustainable care, therefore, involves the mutual satisfaction of narcissistic needs and the rediscovery of existential meaning. To construct this theoretical framework, the study engages Viktor E. Frankl’s logotherapy and Erich Fromm’s concept of productive love, proposing that care should be understood as a dynamic process aimed at self-transcendence and the resolution of inner conflicts, rather than as a passive act of protection. Furthermore, the psychodynamic examination of care enhances its practical applicability in pastoral ministry. The study highlights pastoral counseling as a means of emotional integration and self-reflection, prayer as a tool for verbalizing repressed desires and discovering transcendental meaning, and diakonia as the embodiment of other-centered love that enables the healthy expression of self-love. Ultimately, this research aims to provide a renewed understanding of pastoral care—not as a religious duty but as a dynamic relational process within the faith community. It envisions a model of care that cultivates sustainable cycles of mutual support. It is hoped that pastors who engage with this study will adopt a new perspective on care, one that enables both congregants and ministers themselves to participate in a journey of meaning-making and productive love, thus discovering contextually appropriate and enduring practices of pastoral caregiving.