Art as Mirror, Transformation, and Resonance in Spiritual and Pastoral Care

In spiritual and pastoral care, esthetic counseling incorporates artistic and sensory expressions as interventions that can evoke resonant responses. Drawing on Martin Walton's framework and insights from Dutch chaplaincy, this article explores the way art operates through its mirror function, enabling clients to confront inner experiences, and its transformative function, which reconfigures personal narratives. Esthetic counseling is predicated on a reception-esthetic hermeneutic: the spiritual caregiver does not predetermine the meaning of art, but the meaning emerges organically via individual interpretation. This approach preserves the polyvalent character of artistic expressions, fostering co-creative and resonant encounters. By employing both, the mirror and transformative functions, chaplains and pastors may enrich their work with esthetic interventions. This strategy seems particularly effective in secular and pluralistic late modernity. The approach incorporates artworks into spiritual and pastoral care, thereby unlocking the art's resonant potential (Hartmut Rosa) while preserving its autonomy.