Mark McMinn (1996) describes four types of prayer that may be used in the field of Christian counseling. Counselors may silently pray for clients during pauses in conversations, counselors may also pray for clients outside of sessions. I believe these two forms of prayer are always beneficial and should be implemented by the Christian counselor. The final two types of prayer that McMinn (1996) describes are when counselors orally pray with clients during a session and when counselors encourage clients to pray outside of sessions. I believe these forms of prayer may be, but are not always appropriate. When prayer is unwanted or causes the client to become uncomfortable it actually becomes counter effective and may be detrimental to the process of helping and healing. We as counselors should be open to yet cautious when using prayer in counseling settings.
References
McMinn, M. R. (1996). Psychology, theology, and spirituality: In christian counseling. Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
