My Personal Christian Counseling Theory {4,252 words}

Abstract

An effective counseling approach for a Christian therapist must take into account a number of psychological factors, such as structure and personality, motivation, personal development, individual differences, health, illness, and cure. This kind of counseling approach must also consider the relationships of the therapist and each of the clients to the Lord Jesus Christ. A healthy Christian will be able to live by Romans 8:28, and when the difficulties of life come, be able to trust all aspects of their difficulty to the Lord. However, the therapist should always avoid having the style of a preacher, as that would most likely be demeaning and lead to failure with the client. To be effective as a counselor, the therapist must first stop the hurting that is occurring inside the patient and then try to teach him or her about the Lord.

Introduction

An effective counseling approach for a Christian therapist must take into account a number of psychological factors, such as structure and personality, motivation, personal development, individual differences, health, illness, and cure. This approach to counseling must also consider the relationships of the therapist and each of the clients to the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, in this paper, theories about the above psychological factors will be discussed, along with a Christian perspective about each. After that, some integrated therapeutic techniques will be presented, followed by some closing remarks.

The Theory of Structure and Personality

John Ehrenreich wrote that personality is concerned with what people think, feel, and do, how they affect social situations, and how they are affected by social situations (Ehrenreich, 1997). Understanding the structure of personality helps one understand how and why people behave as they do, and for that reason, having an understanding of personality is an important part of psychotherapy and counseling.

Sigmund Freud saw the structure of personality as consisting of the id, the ego, and the superego. Carl Jung thought that personality existed across three levels of consciousness and that personality types could be described by an individual’s attitudes, judgments, and perceptions. Alfred Adler thought that personality pictured the individual as a whole, organized unit, that it was formed during the early years of the person’s life, and that it was characterized by the individual's struggle for superiority. Fritz Perls described personality in terms of people who set goals for themselves so that they can try to have whole, integrated lives. Albert Ellis thought that a person's life philosophy would cause them to believe certain things and that those beliefs would lead to troublesome emotions. Jay Adams, a well-known writer in the area of Christian counseling, associated personality with people who are fallen, sinful beings, lost in their sins, and unhappy because of their sins. Of all these men, only Adams comes close to dealing with the structure of personality in a way that is similar to the Bible.

In being consistent with Adams, John D. Carter and Bruce Narramore wrote that understanding the structure of personality begins with the realization that we are created in the image and likeness of God and that we are a part of the fallen human race (Carter & Narramore, 1979). Because man is born in the image of God, he has a great capacity for dealing with the different issues of this life. But because he is also born with a sin nature, inherited from Adam in the Garden of Eden, he must cope with the ongoing struggle between living in sin and living righteously. This struggle is often very difficult. Many times, it creates tremendous stress for the individual, and it can even be a cause of psychological problems.

Elmer Towns added to the ideas of man being born in the image of God and of having a sin nature by presenting some of the theories about man's composition (Towns, 1989). In his discussion of the dichotomy theory, Towns said that man is made up of a material component and an immaterial component. The material component is the body, and the immaterial component is the single entity of the soul and spirit. The immaterial component houses the emotional, spiritual, and intellectual functions, and this is the part of man that separates him from the animals. According to Towns, the dichotomy theory is the most widely accepted anthropological view of man among Christians, and it is also the most consistent with Scripture (Towns, 1989). A couple of other theological views concerning man's composition are monism and trichotomism, but they are not as readily supported by Scripture or Christendom.

The Theory of Motivation

People are motivated by their personal needs, by their past and present experiences, by their desire for certain future experiences, and by their conscious and unconscious thoughts and desires. In addition, because the Christian is indwelled by the Holy Spirit, he or she is also motivated by Him.

In 1935, Abraham Maslow identified his needs-based theory to explain why workers behave as they do on the job (Gordon, 1987). One of his observations was that they feel a need for belongingness and love in their work and nonwork situations. William Glasser, in his discussion about reality therapy, expanded on these two needs by including power, freedom, and fun (Sharf, 2000). He showed that people are driven to act or not act in certain ways because of their desire to meet their personal needs. According to Maslow, when a particular need is not met, the individual will continue to be motivated to meet it. When it finally is met, then the need will cease to be a motivator.

Gestalt therapy also places a lot of significance on an individual’s needs because a person can become more aware of themselves if they understand their needs (Jones & Butman, 1996). Transactional analysis focuses on needs, too, in that it points out that people are motivated toward their needs to be acknowledged, be stroked, and have their decisions affirmed (Kottler & Brown, 1992). In like manner, Christian Psychologist Larry Crabb indicated that people have the need to feel significant and secure. From these teachings, it is clear that meeting one’s needs is important and that failure to do so can be a cause of psychological problems for the individual.

People learn from their past experiences, and they act in certain ways based on their past and present experiences. The value of learning by experience and the ability to control behavior were demonstrated in separate experiments by two behavioralists, Ivan Pavlov and B. F. Skinner. Pavlov found that he could control behavior in dogs by giving them a conditioned stimulus. Skinner observed that he could control the behavior of pigeons by systematically changing the consequences of two separate behaviors (Sharf, 2000; Craig, 1996). These animals were learning from and being controlled by their experiences.

Through such experiments, Pavlov and Skinner noted that the presence or absence of a reinforcer could predict and even control individual behavior. In behavior therapy, when an experience or behavior is followed by a positive reinforcer, then the experience or behavior is likely to be repeated. When reinforcers are withdrawn, then the behavior is likely to stop. According to Gestalt therapy, understanding past and present experiences can help a person gain personal awareness, and that can lead to their taking ownership of their experiences and to dealing with their unfinished business. Failing to deal with unfinished business can be another cause of psychological problems for an individual.

People learn and are motivated by their past and present experiences, but they are also motivated by a desire for certain future events. For example, an individual will be driven to seek training for a career that he or she wishes to pursue. In like manner, a person will be motivated to save money to buy a home, take a vacation, retire, or do whatever else if the expenditure is deemed worthwhile. When a person lacks this kind of motivation concerning future ambitions, events, and experiences, then he or she will most likely have difficulty sticking to a particular course in life, and that can be a source of psychological problems. A person can also have problems if their desires for the future are unrealistic.

In 1920, Jung introduced his theory about the collective unconscious, and in it, he said that each person has an inaccessible personal unconscious and an inaccessible collective unconscious (Kottler & Brown, 1992). He thought that an individual's behavior was a reflection of all the latent, unobservable memories in their two unconscious states (Jones & Butner, 1991). He identified personality types based on the attitudes of extraversion and introversion, the judgments of thinking and feeling, and the perceptions of sensing and intuiting. He believed that an individual's personality type would motivate him or her towards a certain behavior.

In cognitive theory, Don Meichenbaum believed that situations would lead to cognitions and that those cognitions would lead to behaviors which would then lead to consequences. Ellis thought that a person’s belief system or thoughts about a particular activating event would motivate and lead the person to certain consequenting emotions. For both men, cognitive theory suggests that people are motivated by their thoughts and that the consequences of those thought-driven behaviors and emotions are the cause of psychological problems for the individual.

In I Corinthians 6:19-20, the Bible says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." Even though Christians may not always take advantage of this resource, they still have the Holy Spirit to guide and help them through life. Living for the Lord is not automatic, and it is not always easy. But the Holy Spirit is the Christian’s Comforter, and He can help.

The dichotomy theory maintains that the Holy Spirit resides in the immaterial component of man, but that component is also where the sin nature resides. As a result of both conditions, the Christian might receive leading from the Holy Spirit about a particular matter and, then, get equally intense leading at the same time in a totally different direction from the fleshly, sin nature. Being able to distinguish between these two motivating forces is often difficult, and many times, the uncertainty of the sources of the two messages can lead to individual stress and difficulty. Adams’ solution to this problem is for the client to repent, trust in the Lord, look for the high road, and forget about the stress and difficulty. But this approach is too simplistic for therapeutic counseling because the client, in all likelihood, will have already tried to do these things before ever seeking professional help.

The Theory of Personal Development

From a psychoanalytical perspective, Freud identifed the developmental stages of an individual as oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital (Craig, 1996). He based most of his psychoanalytical beliefs on what he thought was a boy's sexual desires for his mother and the father's resentment for the boy. From his viewpoint, the boy’s personality would change as he passed through the above developmental stages, and the result would be the exhibiting of different thoughts and behaviors. When the little boy would go from the anal to the phallic stage, he would begin to have sexual fantasies about his mother. Those fantasies would be a reflection of his personal development and personality change up to that point in his life. Then, when he would pass through the phallic stage, his personality would change again to reflect that personal development.

Other psychologists have also come up with lists to describe a person’s developmental stages. Erik Erikson defined the eight psychosocial, developmental stages of oral-sensory, muscular-anal, locomotor-genital, latency, puberty and adolesence, young adulthood, adulthood, and maturity (Craig, 1996). Edgar Schein defined the eight developmental stages of dependent child, transition to adulthood, single adult, married adult, parent of young child, parent of adolescents, parent of grown child, and grandparent (Gordon, 1987). Jung defined the four personal developmental stages of childhood, adolesence, middle age, and old age (Sharf, 2000).

With each of these models, the individual passes through a particular stage, takes on new aspects to their personality, and then, assumes a new, hopefully more refined set of motivations and functions for themselves. In considering the Schein model, for example, a grandparent would not have the same motives and functions as the parent of a young child. Similarly, married adults would not be motivated or function in the same way as single adults. Regardless of the developmental model used, though, all the models show that people change over time, and so do their personalities.

To a much lesser degree, this truth is also evident with Christians. The two developmental stages which are discussed in Scripture are the spiritual infant and the spiritually mature. In Hebrew 5:13, the author wrote about the milk of the Word as being appropriate for those who are spiritual infants. In Ephesians 4:13, the Apostle Paul spoke of those who become "mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ". Just like a person grows physically, the Bible teaches that a Christian should grow spiritually.

In treating people who undergo these types of personality changes, the steps of therapy should remain fairly consistent regardless of the client’s stage of development. Therapy will still involve establishing the therapeutic relationship, making an assessment, conceptualizing the client's problem, deciding on a plan of action, putting the plan into action, following up with the client, and then terminating. What does change, however, is how some of these steps might be implemented and how some of the conclusions are determined.

A therapist would not gather information during an assessment with a young child in the same way as with an adult. Likewise, the therapist would not talk to a young child in the same tone as to someone who is older. When making an assessment, when trying to conceptualize the problem, or when trying to develop a plan of action, the therapist will be more effective if he or she is able to determine where the individual is in their stage of development. Even when counseling a Christian, the therapist will have greater flexibility by understanding the client's level of spiritual maturity. If the client is spiritually mature, then the therapist may have more freedom to talk effectively about sin, faith, and repentance.

The Theory of Individual Differences

Individuals differ for a variety of reasons, including spiritual, non-spiritual, and differences in genetics. They have different personalities, different experiences, come from different backgrounds and different environments, and they might be in different stages of their personal development. Some will be Christian, and some will not. To be successful, the therapist must be able to adapt his or her style to the client's individuality rather than vice versa. Whenever possible, therapy should be tailored to the needs of the client, and this will be much easier to do if the client's individual makeup is understood. A less mature Christian client, for instance, might respond well to a firm, more Christian-based overseer approach, whereas the same technique might be a huge failure for another client of different spiritual maturity. During the assessment phase of the initial sessions, the therapist must try to understand the individual client with whom he or she is dealing and also the style of therapy that will be most effective.

The Theory of Health

From a psychological perspective, the chief characteristics of good mental health will be determined by the person’s abilities to function and adapt. A healthy person will not normally exhibit dysfunctional or antisocial behavior. A psychologically healthy person will grow and be able to move through the various individual stages of development. Using the principles of Gestalt therapy, a healthy person will be free of facades and excuses and be more aware of themselves and their end-goals (Jones & Butman, 1996). Based on the principles of behavioral theory and cognitive-behavioral theory, being healthy will also mean having good coping behaviors and more appropriate cognitions, respectively.

From a biblical perspective, John 10:10 says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." This verse describes a healthy individual as someone who is living an abundant Christian life. While on this earth, Christians will never completely overcome sin. But they can still grow in the Lord, have a close personal walk with Him, and become more mature in their faith. A healthy Christian will be able to live by Romans 8:28, which says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Living by this verse will simply mean that when the difficulties of life come, the Spirit-filled, psychologically healthy, mature child of God will be able to trust all aspects of their difficulty to the Lord.

The Theory of Illness

In rational emotive behavior therapy, Albert Ellis maintained that the objective is to help clients deal with the irrational beliefs that are causing their psychological difficulties, and he focused on biological, psychological, and sociological factors as the principle causes of illness (Sharf, 2000). From a biological perspective, he believed that people were created biologically prone to self-destruct. He even thought that some mental disturbances were partly inherited. From a psychological perspective, he believed that dysfunctional beliefs could keep a client from ever achieving their goals. And from a sociological perspective, he thought that people learned to see themselves as others were seeing them and that they learned to behave based on how a higher authority might say they should or must. In cognitive theory, these psychological difficulties manifest themselves as dysfunctional behaviors, irrational cognitions, and emotional disturbances.

From a biblical perspective, people are described in the Bible as being sinners who must pay a high price for their sins. Unhealthy thoughts and behaviors can lead to physical disease, as well as to other forms of psychological difficulty. One who smokes might develop cancer or heart disease. One who drinks might become an alcoholic. One who ignores their spiritual needs or dabbles in an unhealthy, sinful lifestyle might eventually have to bear the scars of their sins. In dealing with such individuals, the therapist should try to identify the root causes of the undesirable thoughts and behaviors in order to eliminate them and find the more effective cure. Simply telling someone to repent without helping them understand why they are as they are is likely to add even more frustration to the client’s life.

The Theory of Cure

From either a biblical or non-biblical perspective, cure is achieved through well-conceived, programmed change in the client’s life. A psychologically-ill person will only seek counseling because he or she has not been able to solve their own problems. Therefore, to be successful, the therapist must be able to join with the client, help him or her see the causes of their problems, help them come up with a satisfactory plan of action for change, and then, help them implement that plan.

Some Therapeutic Techniques

While maintaining one's Christian principles and standards is important, mixing therapy and preaching is not recommended. When people become troubled and come to a therapist, they usually do not want or need sermons. They need concrete, clear interventions that will help them deal with their problems. Adams once told some counseling majors that all counselors should receive their training in Seminary, base their methods solely on the Word of God, and be answering God's call into the ministry (Jones & Butman, 1991). In speaking to those individuals, he was clearly indicating that he did not believe that valid counseling existed beyond the scopes of pastoring and the Bible.

However, in making those remarks, Adams was taking a very narrow view of psychotherapy and counseling, plus he was ignoring the fact that a client generally seeks professional help only as a last resort. Because the patient will have probably already tried many of the more obvious problem-solving methods beforehand, the therapist will need to be inventive enough to find new ideas that the client will not have tried. In counseling a more mature Christian client, dealing with the sin question alone would probably be too simplistic because that is most likely the first thing that such an individual would have considered.

Similarly, if the therapist tries to deal with the sin question and the issues of salvation in each session when working with a non-Christian or even a less mature Christian, then those sessions would probably be too overwhelming and drive the patient away. Effective Christian counseling should be effective counseling first and effective Christian evangelism second. Trying to paint everything as either all black or all white from a biblical point of view would most likely result in therapeutic failure.

One positive therapeutic technique that the Christian counselor might try would be to explain the relationship between happiness, performance, and expectations. To be happier, the client might need to either increase performance or decrease expectations. Another positive technique would be to tell the client that the new person, that they are becoming, does not practice the same thoughts and behaviors as the old person that they used to be. This technique would be especially useful in dealing with Christian clients since they have already been made into new creatures by Christ. However, as has already been emphasized above, the therapist should always refrain from having the style of a preacher, as that would most likely be demeaning and lead to failure with the client.

Other techniques that might prove useful would be to actively listen to the client and focus on what he or she is feeling. For homework, the therapist could have the client maintain a log of their thoughts and feelings between sessions and then follow-up with him or her at the beginning of each session to see what they have done. Clients would benefit by reading a chapter each day in the Book of Proverbs, the book of wisdom, if they would be willing to do something like that, plus they would also do well by learning to take more responsibility for their decisions in life. Finally, if and whenever possible, the therapist should try to bring the non-Christian client to Christ and restore the backslidden Christian client back to Christ. However, since evangelism is not the counselor’s primary job, he or she must execute such interventions very cautiously and always in keeping the client’s best interests in mind.

Conclusions

In the course of serving others, the therapist will encounter all sorts of clients with all sorts of problems. To be effective, he or she will need to establish a therapeutic relationship with the client, make an accurate assessment of the client's problems, conceptualize their problems, decide on a plan of action, motivate the client to carry out the plan, follow up with the client's attempts to change, and then terminate their therapy. In order to do all these things, the therapist will have to be familiar with the theories of structure and personality, motivation, personal development, individual differences, health, illness, and cure. He or she will also have to be able to skillfully use integrative techniques that are based on many of the different therapeutic approaches, as well as on Christianity.

In dealing with the possible conflict between Christianity and counseling, the therapist should always remember that knowing Jesus as one’s personal Savior and Lord is the most important relationship that anyone can have in this life. It is also worth remembering that people could save themselves a lot of trouble if they would receive Christ as their Savior and live by biblical principles. However, to be effective as a counselor, the therapist must first stop the hurting that is occurring inside the patient and then, if at all possible, try to tell him or her about Jesus. It may be that some psychological problems are not related to an individual’s sins. Therefore, simply preaching a message of repentance and salvation will not always get the job done.

References

Carter, John D., Narramore, Bruce. (1979). The Integration of Psychology and Theology. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 56.

Craig, Grace J. (1996). Human Development. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 42-59.

Ehrenreich, John H. (1997). "Personality theory: a case of intellectual and social isolation?". (Vol.131). The Journal of Psychology, 33.

Gordon, Judith. (1987). A Diagnostic Approach to Organizational Behavior. (2nd ed.). Boston, Massachusettes: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 92-173.

Jones, Stanton L., Butman, Richard E. (1991). Modern Psychotherapies. Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 18-305.

Kottler, Jeffery A, Brown, Robert W. (1992). Introduction to Therapeutic Counseling. (2nd ed.). Pacific Grove, California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 31-111.

Sharf, Richard S. (2000). Theories of Psychotherapy and Counseling. (2nd ed.). Belmont, California: Brooks/Cole Thomson Learning, 86-419.

Towns, Elmer. (1989). Theology for Today. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 574-579.

				Tom of Bethany