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CHRISTIAN COUNSELING.
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Examines a theoretical orientation toward counseling that is consistent with a commitment to Christian belief.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Examines a theoretical orientation toward counseling that is consistend with a commitment to Christian belief. How to produce a model of psychotherapy that includes spirituality. Concerns inherent in human nature. Elements of Christian thought (concern for the other, redemption, etc.) that are consistent with standard psychoanalytic practice.
Paper Introduction:
The purpose of this research is to examine a theoretical orientation toward counseling that is consistent with a commitment to Christian belief. The plan of the research will be to set forth a general foundation for psychological counseling and then to discuss ways in which it is possible to derive a model of psychotherapy that includes spirituality.
How individuals perceive their place in the world and their ability to deal with the wash of experience, as well as their status vis-à-vis other individuals, is of special concern to any psychotherapist. Such perceptions have relevance to religious experience because rationalization of the connection between self and other so frequently places the individual in the position of having to sort out his or her concept of God's role in human experience. Frequently how the individual deals with what
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The other-direction ofChristianity is symbolized by the life-example of Jesus and the coreChristian doctrine, the Redemption. Faith and psychology share the attribute of ambiguity, or more exactlyresistance to absolutely agreed-upon ideas about what is right and wrongabout the universe and the human experience within it. 156). WhatTillich finds, of course, is a role in human life for the experience offaith, but according to its exponents existential therapy has a role infacilitating the client's discovery of courage within himself. 3 vols. How individuals perceive their place in the world and their ability todeal with the wash of experience, as well as their status vis-à-vis otherindividuals, is of special concern to any psychotherapist. What this all comes down to is that Christianprinciples are not only consistent with existential therapy and person-centered therapy but can be integrated with those therapy modes from both atheoretical and practitioner standpoint. . For example, Corey (2 ) explains thatRollo May, a founding proponent of existential therapy, was most influencedby German philosopher Paul Tillich, who was also (and principally) aProtestant theologian. Tillich's masterwork Systematic Theology explores the content andpsychology of spirituality by way of a rational (i.e., semanticallyconsistent, logical) method that he terms correlation. New York: CharlesScribner's Sons. Shaking of the foundations. Stamford, Conn.: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. Human nature, whether secular or spiritual, entails concerns about theindividual's place in the scheme of existence. 16.16). Simplearticulation may be in itself helpful to a therapist who desires tofacilitate clients' insights into the truth of their situation, while alsoequipping them with the independence and integrative skills that willenable them to cope with the world in all its contradictions andpotentialities. But psychological theoryalso deals with how the self perceives its place in the universe and in thecommunity of mankind. References Corey, G. That doctrine, which is grounded in thestory that Jesus was crucified and died to atone for the sins of mankindand enable all mankind to have salvation in heaven, can be interpreted asthe highest and best expression of faith in the consequences to humandestiny of embracing (and thereby conquering and resolving) the ultimatehuman anxiety, death. . Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Thus psychological theory that makes spiritualityrelevant to therapeutic practice requires explanation and justification.Fortunately for such an enterprise, religious thought appears to havealready influenced secular theory. 199-2 ). Tillich, P. But some human beings find, as Corey quotes Tillich, the"courage to be" in the face of such paradox, by "liv[ing] from the inside"rather than according to externally imposed or derived guidelines. Tillich, P. 6 ff). 5.2 ). (1948). Still less is itlikely that any single answer about how to fix what is wrong with humanexperience. [and]man's existential predicament [doubt, uncertainty, meaninglessness] in allits characteristics" (Tillich, 1957, pp. 17 ) that are fundamentalto human life. Very well: existential therapy asserts the possibility ofpsychological health through active engagement with the abyss, and person-centered therapy posits a relationship between therapist and client thatallows the client to feel a significant comfort level about therapy processas a foundation for increased levels of comfort and independence even aftertherapy has concluded. Consider (as Tillich does, in some detail) Paul's remarkthat "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Rom. It would seem, too, that a therapist who hasencountered paradox in the former can appreciate and, ideally, articulatesimilar encounters with respect to human experience and behavior. Person-centered therapy, too, aims less to fix what is wrongwith people than to help them cope with the paradox of the human condition,"that humans are existentially both alone and related" (Corey, 2 , p.176). Theseattributes of person-centered therapy are plainly other-directed, for inthat discipline the therapist, like the Christian, is meant to function interms of the needs of the other. At the core of person-centered therapy, for example, is Rogers's viewthat the therapist must become engaged in a "congruent," or authentic andevolving relationship with the client and assume an attitude toward theclient of unconditional positive regard (Corey, 2 , pp. This is not to say that religion has a corner on explaining thetension between self and other or indeed between self and self; however,spiritual experience may be as relevant as "secular" psychologicalexperience to the health and well-being of the individual organism. Tillich, P. If the Christian therapist begins with thepremise that therapy is meant to help others, the person-centereddiscipline provides methods and techniques for providing that help. Frequently how the individual deals with what could becalled the problem of God, or connects with (or does not) God informsindividual experience of the physical world and/or the common experience ofhuman-ness. To put it another way, following Paul's injunction to the Romans,Tillich asserts an immediate real-world relevance for the experience ofgrace and what is associated with mystical, transcendent, blissfulexperience as something that may occur even though (or exactly when) "wewalk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life" (Tillich,1948, p. Spiritual experience in theChristian formulation is significant insofar as it finds connection betweenself and God, self and cosmos, self and other. It is difficult to see a meaningful distinction,except in terminology, between the spiritual tension inherent in theestrangement between man and man, man and God on one side, and on the otherthe psychological tension inherent in existential anxiety and the challengeto "create an identity in a world that lacks intrinsic meaning" and theassertion of person-centered psychotherapy that all human beings have "apotential that we can actualize . Paradox, it seems, can be found in matters of faith, as well as inmatters of philosophy. By extension, grace isreintegration and embrace, an expression of the impulse toward the creativeprinciple, or very life. Systematic theology: Volume one: Reason andrevelation, being and God. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. That is, when Jesus takes the cup and becomes thesacrifice, he becomes fully human and (paradoxically), such an uncommonhuman that it becomes natural to contemplate him as the messiah, "theChrist, the son of the living God" (Matt. . Although Tillichacknowledges that faith and theology are not strictly rational andtherefore cannot be "solved," he adds that theology must aim for clarity,relevancy, and consistency in any discussion of faith (Tillich, 1951, p.58). (1951). . (2 ). These concerns echo attributes of existential therapy, which is meantto address--even if it cannot fix once and for all--the "isolation,alienation, and meaninglessness" (Corey, 2 , p. But afurther Christian connection can be discerned if one interprets theRedemption as the unexampled enaction of the courage to be fully human(instead of divine). ForTillich, sin is estrangement, an "existential self-destruction . The purpose of this research is to examine a theoretical orientationtoward counseling that is consistent with a commitment to Christian belief.The plan of the research will be to set forth a general foundation forpsychological counseling and then to discuss ways in which it is possibleto derive a model of psychotherapy that includes spirituality. At the center of Christian thought is concern for the other that iscompletely consistent with such standard practices as observing strictconfidentiality of client disclosures and putting clients' needs beforethose of the therapist in the counseling situation. through which we can find meaning"(Corey, 2 , pp. 3 vols. But in Christian thought, a kind of benevolent paradox can bediscerned in the very preoccupation with what is wrong or meaningless inhuman experience. 2 5-2 7), whilealso having the expertise to "grasp the client's private world," reflectingit back to him/her in ways that may foster constructive change. Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy.6th ed. In existential thought, the paradox of the human condition is thatlife is both meaningless and the meaning of life of ultimate concern tohuman beings. This line of thought is relevant to creating a modelof psychotherapy that includes spirituality because it can be reformulatedin terms of and integrated with established theories of psychotherapeutictreatment. Systematic theology: Volume two: Existence and theChrist. (1957). Such perceptionshave relevance to religious experience because rationalization of theconnection between self and other so frequently places the individual inthe position of having to sort out his or her concept of God's role inhuman experience.
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