Brief Biography

The Rev. Jaco J. Hamman, Ph.D. is Director of the Theology and Practice Program at Vanderbilt Divinity School and Associate Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture. He received his theological training at The University of Port Elizabeth (BA in Theology and Psychology), at Stellenbosch University's Faculty of Theology (South Africa; B.Th; M.Th) and at Princeton Theological Seminary (PhD). At Princeton Seminary he completed a dissertation on the Biblical figure Job’s emotional, spiritual, and relational experiences. Dr. Hamman was a hospital chaplain prior to pursuing doctoral studies. Before coming to Vanderbilt Divinity School, Dr. Hamman spent three years in New York City working as a pastoral psychotherapist, group therapist, and marriage and family therapist at the Blanton-Peale Graduate Institute and eleven years as Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Western Theological Seminary. He has a special interest in the confluence of theology and psychology in the lives of individuals, families, and groups. Dr. Hamman has lectured internationally and has written numerous articles. He published When steeples cry: Leading congregations through loss and change in 2005, Becoming a pastor: Forming self and soul for ministry in 2007, and A play-full life: Slowing down and seeking peace in 2011 (All from The Pilgrim Press). Dr. Hamman is an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America and is a Fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. He is married to Michelle, a business owner. Together they parent two daughters.

The places I call my Alma Mater

• Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ, USA
  (Ph.D. Dissertation Title: The Restoration of Job: A Study Based on D.W. Winnicott's Theory of Object Usage and its Significance for Pastoral Theology)
• Blanton-Peale Graduate Institute, New York, NY, USA
  (Certificates in Pastoral Psychotherapy, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Group Psychotherapy)
• Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
  (M.Div; Th.M in Clinical Pastoral Care (Cum Laude )
• The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
  (B.A. Majors in Theology & Psychology)

I am a member of the following professional organizations:

• The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
• The American Association of Pastoral Counselors (Fellow)
• The American Academy of Religion
• The Association for Practical Theology
• The National Institute for Play

Curriculum Vitae

TEACHING AND ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE

• Theological Education: Director of the Theology and Practice Program at Vanderbilt Divinity School and Associate Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. August 2012- .
• Theological Education: Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling, Western Theological Seminary, Holland, MI. July 2001-2011.
• Papers read, presentations, and consultations: Numerous presentations and paper read at to professional organizations (Society for Pastoral theology and American Association for Pastoral Counselors); Consulting with church leadership (ordained and lay leaders); denominational officials, specialized ministries (hospital chaplaincy, interim ministry, prison ministry, disabilities ministries,), special interest groups (men’s spirituality, interpersonal and/or domestic violence, the medical profession, professional caregivers), higher education institutions (seminaries and universities); In the United States, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand; June 1996-present. List available upon request.
• 1996-present. List available on request.
• Assistant to the English Editor of The International Journal of Practical Theology (Dr. Richard Osmer), Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ, 1997-2000. Responsible for assembling and editing this twice-yearly journal.
• Teaching Assistant: "Pastoral Care to Men," co-taught class with Dr. Donald Capps, Responsible for teaching every third lecture, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ, Spring 1997.
• Teaching Assistant: "Introduction to Pastoral Care," Led preceptorials for Dr. Donald Capps where verbata of pastoral encounters were discussed, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ, Fall 1996.

EDUCATION

• Ph.D., Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ, May 2000. Dissertation title: "The Restoration of Job. A Study Based on D.W. Winnicott's Theory of Object Usage and its Significance for Pastoral Theology."
• Certificates in Pastoral Psychotherapy, Marriage and Family Therapy and Group Psychotherapy, Blanton-Peale Graduate Institute, Training Institute for the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, New York, NY, July 1998-May 2001.
• M.Th. Clinical Pastoral Care (cum laude), Stellenbosch University Seminary School, South Africa, 1993.
• B.Th., Stellenbosch University Seminary School, South Africa, 1991.
• B.A., University of Port Elizabeth (Majors: Theology and Psychology), South Africa, 1988.

PUBLICATIONS AND SCHOLARLY CONTRIBUTIONS
Books and Book Chapters

• A play-full life: Slowing down and seeking peace (The Pilgrim Press: Cleveland, 2011).
• Becoming a pastor: Forming self and soul for ministry (The Pilgrim Press: Cleveland, 2007).
• When steeples cry: Leading congregations through loss and change (The Pilgrim Press: Cleveland, 2005).
  

• “Playing.” In The Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology. Edited by Bonnie Miller-McLemore(Blackwell Wiley Press: Cambridge, MA, 2011).
• “Don’t and can’t get up: Serious depression.” In The Church Leader's Counseling Resource Book: A Guide to Mental Health and Social Problems. Edited by Cynthia Franklin & Rowena Fong (Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2011).
• “Self-care and community.” In Welcome to Field Education! Edited by Matthew Floding (Alban Press: Washington, 2010).

Articles and reviews

• “Reviting forgiveness as a pastoral theological problem Revisiting forgiveness as a pastoral-theological problem”, In Pastoral Psychology, (Online First, February 2012).
• "Women in ministry and the psychodynamics of sadness”, In Pastoral Psychology, Volume 59, Nos. 9 (October 2010).
• “Cura vitae: Restoring lives and the search to be real”, In Sacred Spaces, e-Journal of the American Association of Pastoral Counseling, Volume 1, Issue 1 (August 2010).
• “Calvinism,” “Donald Woods Winnicott,” “Masochism,” and “Protestantism.” In Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Edited byDavid A. Leeming, Kathryn Madden and Stanton Marlan (Springer: New York, 2010).
• “Seeing things differently and not being looked at”, In Pastoral Psychology, Volume 58,
  Nos. 5-6 (December 2009).
• Review of Open-hearted ministry: Play as key to pastoral leadership by Michael Koppel. In Journal of Pastoral Theology, Volume 19, No. 1 (Summer 2009).
• “Pastoral implications” for Proper 18–Proper 21: Matt. 18:15-50, Matt. 18:21-35, Matt 20:1-16, Matt. 21:23-32. In Lectionary Homiletics, Volume XIX, No. 5 (August–September 2008).
• Review of Transforming spirituality: Integrating theology and psychology by F. LeRon Shults and Steven J. Sandage. In Interpretation (January 2008).
• Review of Fragile connections: Memoirs of mental illness for pastoral care professionals by Donald Capps. In The Journal of Pastoral Theology,Volume 16, No. 2 (Fall 2006).
• “Reclaiming caritas in a hyper-masculine world.”A response to Dr. Rivera-Pagán’s“Doing Pastoral Theology in a Post-Colonial Context: Some Reflections from the Caribbean.” In The Journal of Pastoral Theology, Volume 17, No. 2 (Fall 2007).
• Review of Lament: Reclaiming practices in pulpit, pew, and public square bySally A. Brown and Patrick D. Miller, Editors. In Interpretation (June 2006).
• “Remembering the dismembered: Teaching for transformation and restoration,” In The Journal of Pastoral Theology, Volume 16, No. 1 (Spring 2006).
•  “Being a chaplain: Call, conversation, and charity,” In The Reformed Review, Volume 57, No. 3 (Spring, 2004).
• “The church is a house in mourning,” In The Reformed Review, Volume 56, No. 1 (Autumn, 2002).
• "Paranoia." In Dictionary of Pastoral Studies. Edited by Wesley Carr (SPCK Press: London, 2002).
• “The search to be real. Why psychotherapists become psychotherapists,” In Journal of Religion and Health, Volume 40, No. 3 (Fall 2001).
• “The rod of discipline: Masochism, sadism, and the Judeo-Christian religion,” In Journal of Religion and Health, Volume 39, No. 4 (Winter 2000).
• "Developing a capacity for concern: The Million Man March as transitional object," In Koinonia, Volume 12, No. 1 (2000).
• "Towards a postmodern methodology for pastoral counseling," In Koinonia,Volume XI.1 (1999).
• Translated (Dutch into English) the section on practical theology in Abraham Kuyper's Encyclopaedie der Godgeleerdheid (Kampen: J.H. Kok Publishers, 1909, 2nd printing), Unpublished document. Practical Theology Department, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ (August 1998).
• "Religious metaphors and symbols in a psychiatric setting," with Daniël Louw. In Nederduits Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif (December 1997).
• Book note on The image of God: A theology for pastoral care and counseling by Leroy T. Howe, In Theology Today 53:4 (1997).
• Review of Doing theology in context: South African perspectives by John W. De Gruchy and Charles Villa-Vicencio. In Koinonia, Volume VII.2 (1995).

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE

• Pastoral psychotherapist, Marriage and family therapist, Group psychotherapist, United States, 1998-2012
• Pastoral psychotherapist, marriage and family therapist: Trinity Counseling Service, Princeton, NJ, June 2000-May 2001
• Advanced Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE): Residency program of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ, 1994-1995
• Advanced Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE): Residency program of Bridgeport Hospital, Bridgeport, CT, 1993-1994
• Hospital chaplain: Tygerberg Hospital & Stikland Psychiatric Hospital, Bellville, South Africa, 1991-1993

AWARDS

• Ann Ulanov Award, Awarded by Blanton-Peale Graduate Institute, New York, June 2001.
• Presidential Fellowship Award, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, 1995-1999.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

• Society for Pastoral Theology
• American Academy of Religion
• Association of Practical Theology
• American Association of Pastoral Counselors (Fellow)
• American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy

Ecclesiastical endorsement

• Ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Reformed Church in America

Links to my employer and my denomination

• I am the Director of the Theology and Practice Program at Vanderbilt Divinity School and Associate Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture, Vanderbilt University,
• I am an ordained minister in The Reformed Church in America (RCA)