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Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling

References

McMinn, M. (1996). Psychology, theology, and spirituality in Christian counseling. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

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1. Praying for clients outside of sessions. As counselors, we are committed to the health of our clients. Therefore, we have a spiritual obligation to pray faithfully for our clients. This type of prayer is the least risky for a counselor to use.
2. Silently praying for clients during sessions. The counselor needs to use this type of prayer with care. McMinn (1996) recommends using it during pauses in the session in order for the counselor to ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit. The counselor should keep it brief and set other limits so as to not interfere with the counselors listening ability. Having a counselor engaged in silent in-session prayer at the same time the client asking the counselor a question could damage the client-therapist relationship.
3. Devotional meditation outside of sessions. This type of prayer can be as effective in reducing anxiety or anger issues in a client. However, whereas in Eastern religions, the use of imagery and meditation is used to empty one’s mind, this type of meditation is used to fill one’s mind with positive thoughts from the Holy Spirit as the guide.
4. Devotional meditation during sessions. This type of prayer is considered effective as part of cognitive behavior therapy when a counselor is trying to help a client modify faulty core beliefs.
5. In-session prayer training. Clients learn the various types of prayer during the counseling session and complete homework assignments at home to strengthen their spiritual life.
6. Occasional in-session prayer. This type of prayer may be beneficial for those clients facing acute stress or grief, such as for people coping with the loss of a loved one. However, praying with a client who is known to have a mental disorder, such as schizophrenia could be destructive to the patient and to the therapeutic relationship.
7. Routine in-session prayer. This type of prayer is what Jesus condemned as it is praying for social effect. Most prayer should a private relationship with God. Routine in-session prayer runs the risk of becoming a ritual as with praying before meals is a ritual and social effect.

References

McMinn, M. R. (1996). Psychology, theology, and spirituality: In christian counseling. Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

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Confronting sin is usually not advised if there is not a good level of trust between the counselor and the client. McMinn (1996) identified four situations in which counselors can use to confront sin: silence, pondering, questioning, and direct censure. Direct censure is the most risky as it has the potential of damaging the therapeutic relationship. As McMinn (1996) has stated, sometimes silence is golden.  Not saying anything causes the client to think through what they just said.  The use of silence is best to show an impartial stand towards a client without having to play judge and jury. As counselors, we are not in the position to play judge and jury. Our goal in counseling is to help a client become more psychologically healthy by bringing them closer to God.

In confrontation it is important to remember the purpose and goal.  The purpose of counseling and specifically of confrontation is to bring healing, redemption, and reconciliation (Brewer, n.d.).  With this in mind the counselor’s aim should be to fully examine their own motives and reasons behind confronting a client.  The best interest of the client at that particular period in time should be the guiding determinant as to what form to use and whether confrontation is appropriate.  Guiding a client toward healing and restoring their relationships between God, self, and others should drive this technique (Brewer, n.d.).

Brewer (n.d.) indicated that many times the word confrontation is immediately linked to what he calls direct censure.   Direct censure involves the common idea of verbally bringing out sin into the open and entails significant risk in the counseling office if the client is not prepared or ready for this specific approach.  Brewer (n.d.) states that the meaning of confrontation in counseling involves many different approaches such as silence, pondering, questioning, visualization of end outcome, and prayer.  These techniques can all be used as a way to encourage the client to work through sinful behavior or questionable situations.

Reference

Brewer, G. (n.d.). [Confrontation and confession in Christian counseling]. Liberty University.

McMinn, M. R. (1996). Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

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References

McMinn, M. R. (1996). Psychology, theology, and spirituality: In christian counseling. Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

• Prayer and the Holy Spirit in Counseling

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A counselor who is a Christian has the initial challenge to develop a powerful, personal prayer life.  Such a spiritual and prayer life, or lack thereof, will directly impact the understanding, approach, and use of prayer in counseling.  McMinn (1996) states that the use of prayer in session is not what should be in question, but what forms of prayer with which clients and under what circumstances.  It is important to remember that seeking to help a client find and build a healthy sense of self, need, and healing relationships means that a counselor cannot use prayer as a coercive means to control or as a mask that the client can use to cover deeper issues (McMinn, 1996).  Therefore, it is imperative for a client to be open and willing to take part in prayer and not be forced into participation.

Brewer (n.d.) indicates that possible negative impacts of prayer could be the development of dependency on the counselor rather than God, self-consciousness, putting on a mask, and breach of boundaries.  To caution against these negative outcomes a counselor can use prayer for clients outside of the session, silent prayer in session, meditation outside of session, and imagery in session, to name a few (Brewer, n.d.).  What are important are the comfort level of the client and the appropriate use of prayer suited specifically for the circumstances.

References

Brewer, G. (n.d.). [Prayer and Christian Counseling]. Liberty University.

Brewer, G. (n.d.). [Prayer for Psychological and Spiritual Health]. Liberty University.

McMinn, M.R. (1996). Psychology, theology, and spirituality in Chrisitan counseling. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House.

• Prayer in Counseling Continued

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This is an ongoing research study as part of the Liberty University graduate psychology program.

References

Roy, N. J. (2009). Family Relationships and the Impact on Adolescent Substance Abuse. Liberty University. Available [Online]: http://www.galtmilemedia.com/docs/family-relationships-adolescent-substance-abuse.pdf

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According to McMinn (1996) a strong sense of self is a combination of spiritual growth and mental health that should not be compartmentalized or separated.  The individual’s ability to move toward a healthy and accurate self-awareness is opposite of self-absorption: “To be healthy, we need to move beyond a preoccupation with self” (McMinn, 1996, p. 46).  This means knowing and having an accurate picture of the self in order for growth and maturity to take place.  This should not be confused with selfishness but is instead a process from which to leave unhealty habits and thought processes behind.

A healthy sense of self is recognition of neediness, brokenness, and pain in order to cultivate community, reciprocity in relationships, and healing.  Self-awareness comes from pain and discomfort; producing insight and healing (McMinn, 1996).  From a Christian perspective, I believe that acknowledgment of human sinfulness and fallibility can lead to humble reflection and nuture the ability to change, grow, and thrive.  This type of self-awareness keeps an individual moving forward instead of falling into despair.  I agree with McMinn’s (1996) view that an accurate sense of self, need, and healing relationships all interact together and lead to a holistic picture of spiritual and psychological health.

Reference

McMinn, M.R. (1996). Psychology, theology, and spirituality in Christian counseling. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House.

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Painful experiences that are a part of life give humanity a longing for healing, for “often it is the dark forest that makes us speak about the open field” (Nouwen, 1975, p. 19).  The counselor is a guide for hurting people to help them come out of painful experiences and find healing.   However, to rememdy the pain to quickly can short circuit the process and may cause dependency.  The client who comes into counseling in despair gives the counselor the opportunity to promote solitude in the counseling session and to “speak about the fertile tree while witnessing the dying of the seed” (Nouwen, 1975, p. 53).  The beauty of true life and transformation is that it comes out of death.  It is the complete message of the gospel.  Nouwen (1975) speaks of creating emptiness in a client in order for them to truly understand themselves, which drives them toward true living.  It would not be wise to state directly to the client that pain must come first in an insensitive manner.  Using professionalism and descretion over blunt verbiage would be best, but the message is still the same.

Reference

Nouwen, H.J.M. (1975). Reaching out: The three movements of the spiritual life. New York: Doubleday.

• Is Motivational Interviewing an Approache to be Used with Clients?

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Nevertheless, this statement cannot be taken niavely or without recognition that the conflict between the Academy and the Church is apparent when one sees a distinction between allegiance to God and allegiance to man (Entwistle, 2004).  For this reason, I agree with Entwistle (2004) that “secular” knowledge, meaning knowledge obtained from observation and methods outside of reading the Bible, is still knowledge of God’s truth and must be viewed from a larger, Biblical framework.

My personal religious background and my education were influencial in my perspective.  I attended public and Christian schools and colleges.  Specifically, in my Christian educational experiences there was much concern and care taken to teach a Biblical worldview while also teaching secular knowledge through a Biblical lens.  This type of education allowed for integration of God’s “Two Books”: the Bible and the creative order (Brewer, n.d.)

References

Brewer, G. (n.d.). [Lecture 2: Defining integration: Key concepts]. Liberty University.

Entwistle, D.N. (2004). Integrative approaches to psychology and christianity: An introduction to worldview issues, philosophical foundations, and models of integration. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock.


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