Brief Biography

The Rev. Jaco J. Hamman, Ph.D. is Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Western Theological Seminary. 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 (Ph.D.). At Princeton Seminary he completed a dissertation on Job’s emotional, spiritual, and relational experiences. Dr. Hamman was a hospital chaplain prior to pursuing doctoral studies. Before coming to Western Seminary, 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. He has a special interest in the confluence of theology and psychology in the lives of individual, families, and groups. In particular, Dr. Hamman facilitates the formation and transformation of seminarians, pastors, and congregations. He has lectured internationally and has written numerous articles. He published When steeples cry: Leading congregations through loss and change in 2005 and Becoming a pastor: Forming self and soul for ministry in 2007 (Both are from The Pilgrim Press: Cleveland). He is currently working on A play-full life (Pilgrim Press: Forthcoming; Working title). Dr. Hamman is an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America and is a Fellow in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. He has a limited pastoral counseling practice in Holland, Michigan. Dr. Hamman is married to Michelle, a business owner. Together they parent two daughters, Jami and Michaela.

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

Private pastoral counseling practice

I have a limited pastoral psychotherapy and marriage and family therapy practice.

Church consultancy

My calling, education, and training as pastoral theologian and clinician equipped me to be a consultant to pastors, churches, and denominations. As a consultant I assist churches to be the Body of Christ: theologically, ethically, emotionally, and relationally. This work led to my book, When Steeples Cry: Leading Congregations Through Loss and Change (Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 2005).  

Curriculum Vitae

TEACHING AND ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE

• Theological Education: Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling, Western Theological Seminary, Holland, MI. July 2001-present.
• 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:

• A play-full life: 24/7/365 (The Pilgrim Press: Cleveland, November 2009).
• 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).

Articles and reviews:

• "Playing" in, Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology, Blackwell Wiley , Forthcoming.
• "Self-care and community" in, Welcome to Theological Education, Alban Press, Forthcoming.
• "Women in ministry and the psychodynamics of sadness”, Pastoral Psychology, Forthcoming.
• “Don’t and can’t get up: Serious depression: in, The church leader’s resource book for mental health and social problems (working title). Oxford University Press. Forthcoming.
• “Seeing things differently and not being looked at”, Pastoral Psychology, July, 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 (Vol. XIX, No. 5. August-September 2008).
• Review of: Transforming spirituality: Integrating theology and psychology by F. LeRon Shults and Steven J. Sandage. Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, 2006. In, Interpretation, (January 2008).
• Review of: Fragile connections: Memoirs of mental illness for pastoral care professionals by Donald Capps, St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2005. 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. (Vol. 16. No. 1. Spring, 2006).
• Review of: Lament: Reclaiming practices in pulpit, pew, and public square bySally A. Brown and Patrick D. Miller, Editors. Westminster John Knox: Louisville, 2005. 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 (Spring Issue, 2004, Volume 57, Number 3).
• “The church is a house in mourning,”In, The Reformed Review (Autumn Issue, 2002, Volume 56, Number 1).
• "Paranoia," In, Dictionary of Pastoral Studies (SPCK Press, London, 2002).
• “The search to be real. Why psychotherapists become psychotherapists,”In, Journal of Religion and Health (Fall 2001, Volume 40, Number 3).
• “The rod of discipline. Masochism, sadism, and the Judeo-Christian religion,”In, Journal of Religion and Health (Winter 2000, Volume 39, Number 4).
• "Developing a capacity for concern: The Million Man March as Transitional Object," In, Koinonia (Vol. XII.1, 2000).
• "Towards a postmodern methodology for pastoral counseling," In, Koinonia (Vol. 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, 1998.
• "Religious metaphors and symbols in a psychiatric setting," with Daniël Louw. In, Nederduits Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif (December 1997).
• Book note of Leroy T. Howe's The image of God: A theology for pastoral care and counseling, In, Theology Today 53:4 (1997).
• Review of John W. De Gruchy and Charles Villa-Vicencio's Doing theology in context: South African perspectives, In, Koinonia VII.2 (Fall 1995).

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE

• Pastoral psychotherapist, Marriage and family therapist, Group psychotherapist, United States, 1998-present.
• 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

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

• Board member for The Center for Women in Transition, Holland, MI.

Ecclesiastical endorsement

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

Links to my employer, my denomination, and my church

• I am the Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Western Theological Seminary
• I am an ordained pastor in The Reformed Church in America (RCA)
• I worship with my family at the early worship service of Hope Church in Holland, a RCA Ministry