In a secular society, the need for counseling increases due to individual uncertainty, and the field of counseling services is expanding. Is pastoral care a part of this counseling field or a completely separate area? To better understand how the pastoral caregiver finds their place in modernity, theological and sociological theories of secularization, as well as contemporary analyses of society and the church in modern and postmodern contexts and their impacts on the individual, were first described. Subsequently, the field of counseling was addressed in detail, along with pastoral care and pastoral conversations. This leads to various connections with different therapies and societal areas. Following a developed research design, pastoral caregivers were interviewed about their self-understanding, additional qualifications, and their pastoral practice. These interviews were evaluated in two stages, core statements were formed, and compared to counseling for similarities. From this, a conclusion was drawn regarding the ways in which pastoral care is its own area and in which ways it has taken on characteristics of counseling.