...4-MAT Review: Psychology, Theology and Spirituality in Christian Counseling Liberty University McMinn, Ph.D., Mark R. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (1996) 4 MAT Review: Psychology, Theology and Spirituality in Christian Counseling Abstract Christian counseling is all about integrating psychology, theology and spirituality into counselor and clients lives. Psychology, Theology and Spirituality in Christian Counseling gives insight into how these three perspectives can be used to help individuals identify certain aspects of their lives that might be enhanced when the counselor includes spirituality into their counseling sessions. We also see how important it is for the counselor to be in touch with their own spirituality so that they can lead by example. Many counselors have a hard time addressing their own faith, with their clients. They question whether it is acceptable to talk to their clients about their Christian beliefs. Therefore, many times spirituality will fall by the wayside in the counseling session. McMinn (1996) gives us ways in which the counselor can integrate their spirituality into the counseling sessions and promote Christian guidance, into their clients lives. The goal of the Christian counselor is to promote mental and spiritual growth, so that the client can draw from their faith and look to God for guidance. McMinn (1996) allows us to see that we need a healthy sense of self in order to overcome our obstacles (p. 47). One way we develop...
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...Review 4- MAT Review 2: Psychology, Theology and Spirituality in Christian Counseling Liberty University Diane Jaynes McMinn, Ph.D., Mark R. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (2011) 4- MAT Review 1: Psychology, Theology and Spirituality in Christian Counseling Summary McMinn used psychology, theology and spirituality in the process of supporting individuals with improving distinctive facets of their lives. For a counselor to be effective, McMinn stated throughout the book that it is very imperative that the therapist be fervent and resilient within their personal piety. (McMinn, 2011) McMinn talks about the numerous defenses therapists need to take and he also discussed limitations that counselors face. It can be perplexing for Counselors to articulate their own spirituality when integrating it into their counseling session (McMinn, 2011). Therapist also feel that sharing their spirituality can also be difficult, for the reason that they may possibly feel unsure about their Bible knowledge (McMinn, 2011). And as a solution therapists will just not use anything from the Bible in their counseling sessions since the counselor surely does not want to muddy the waters any more for the individual or elucidate the meaning contrarily (McMinn, 2011). Guidance has been made available by McMinn to any therapist that desire to increase spirituality within their clients therapy sessions, and at the same time, increase their own spirituality (McMinn, 2011). When integrating Christianity...
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...personal value that I hold in my life is my spirituality. Spirituality can have many different definitions, depending on who is asked. It can be something as simple as looking for a higher meaning to life, or something so complex that one can base their beliefs, religion and overall life around it. There are several different ways to express one's spirituality; rituals, songs, dances, stories, and writings are all common methods of expression. Finding spirituality in something can make someone feel enlightened and bring strong emotion and deep feeling. Several authors have based some of their writings on their spirituality. Some of these writings are as intricate as the Bible or as basic as an article in a local newspaper, but the meaning and passion behind them should never be doubted. In my personal value system and for the purpose of this Value Reflection paper, spirituality is forever tied to knowing God and doing God's will. We often hear the word "spirituality" used to signify that one has faith in a higher power. Spirituality as it is seen in Christianity is to believe in God. As a Christian, we believe that God loves us. We believe that Jesus died for us. We believe that Jesus rose from the dead with all power in his hand. Spirituality as it relates to Christianity says believe on a merciful God that loves and offers us redemption in spite of, and because of, our sins. In regards to counseling and my personal value of spirituality, I understand my need to be multiculturally...
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...help her realize and achieve his or her full potentials through growing in spirituality. Spirituality, for me, is having and maintaining a personal relationship with the Creator--God. As a Christian, I believe spirituality is very significant in an individual’s life. Personally, my own spirituality helped me become the person that I am today. It has helped me focus on the things that truly matter and see things beyond face value. I can also say that my spirituality helped me to be happier and be a better person. With regards to guidance and counseling in accordance with spirituality, the person of a counselor should have personal conviction in his/her own spirituality. He/she must have a deeper understanding not only of himself/herself, but also of his/her own spiritual life. He/she should be rooted in his/her own spiritual beliefs and that whatever goes against his/her way, he/she would still stand firm to what he/she firmly believes in. The counselor should be someone who could never be moved so he/she could be perceived by the client as someone they could rely and depend on. Most importantly, the counselor should be someone who has a personal relationship with the Creator and puts Him in the center of everything. In that way, his/her life would serve as living testimony of his/her own spirituality eventually radiating it to his/her clients. Counseling in accordance with spirituality can be vastly applied to address various clients’ needs. Clients suffering...
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...Psychology, Theology and Spirituality: Interdisciplinary Approach to Christian Counseling Morenike Oye Liberty University Psychology, Theology and Spirituality: Interdisciplinary Approach to Christian Counseling Summary McMinn (2011) uses this book to bring out the importance of the use of spirituality (as related to Christian faith) in psychological counseling. He describes the Christian Counselors as people who are highly trained in counseling theory and techniques, in theology, and are personally disciplined to mirror Christian attributes during and after counseling. (pg. 139) According to McMinn (2011), Christian Counselors face the challenges of knowing the techniques of spiritual formation, inability to learn spiritual passion, and devotion so as not be handicapped in bringing religious issues to counseling and therapeutic session (p.39). This is because training and competency in the field of psychology and theology can be evidenced, but understanding spirituality cannot be evidenced. This will continue to be a challenge because we can never be spiritually competent. Another challenge is the link between the counselors personal and professional life and worldview as it affects the clients’ level of spirituality, believes and worldview. He states that Christian counselors are faced with the problem of expanded training. They must go beyond the level of professional training to personal training because other factors such...
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...A Review of McMinn’s Text: Psychology, Theology and Spirituality in Christian Counseling Ashley Pasquale Liberty University Online Christian Counseling Summary Written by Mark R. McMinn, Psychology, theology, and spirituality in Christian counseling (2011) contains a vast amount of information regarding the use of prayer, scripture and spirituality in counseling; beginning with the explanation of interdisciplinary integration versus intradisciplinary integration. Interdisciplinary integration includes the integration of psychology and theology in order to provide better counseling. Intradisciplinary includes both of those as well, but goes further to include spirituality within the scope of Christian counseling (McMinn,...
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...4- MAT Review 2: Psychology, Theology and Spirituality in Christian Counseling Liberty University Jennifer Hooker McMinn, Ph.D., Mark R. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (2011) 4- MAT Review 1: Psychology, Theology and Spirituality in Christian Counseling Summary McMinn utilized psychology, theology and spirituality in order to assist people in enhancing different aspects of their lives. McMinn made it clear that it is important for the counselor to be strong in their own spirituality, so that they will be able to properly help the client in their process. (McMinn, 2011) McMinn addresses the different precautions counselors should take and also the limitations. Counselors express when it comes to incorporating their own spirituality into their counseling session, it can be challenging, due to the fact that they may not feel that confident about the knowledge they have about the bible. As a result counselors will often omit the use of God’s word in their counseling sessions because they do not want to confuse the client or interpret the message differently. McMinn has provided the guidance for the counselors who wish to strengthen spirituality within the counseling sessions, as well as within themselves. There are many benefits that come with incorporating Christianity into counseling sessions, but some of the main elements that can help to enhance the client’s life are, they can gain a better sense of self, a better understanding of human need and limitations and also...
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...Christian Counseling attempts to provide encouragement and guidance for those who are facing losses, decisions, or disappointments. Counseling can stimulate personality growth and development, help people cope more effectively with the problems of living, with inner conflict, and with crippling emotions, assist individuals, family members, and married couples to resolve interpersonal tensions or relate effectively to one another and assist persons whose life patterns are self-defeating and causing unhappiness. The Christian counselor seeks to bring people into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and to help them find forgiveness and relief from the crippling effects of sin and guilt. Therapist Characteristics A Christian counselor has beliefs about the attributes of God, the nature of human beings, the authority of Scripture, the reality of sin, the forgiveness of God and the hope for the future. The counselor seeks to help counselees change behavior, attitudes, values, faulty thinking and/or perceptions. We attempt to teach skills, including social skills, to encourage recognitions and expression of emotion, to give support in times of need, to teach responsibility, to instill insight, to guide as decisions are made, to help counselees mobilize inner and environmental resources in times of crisis, to teach problem-solving skills, and to increase counselee competence. The Christian counselor also seeks to stimulate spiritual growth, encourage confession of sin and...
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...McMinn utilized psychology, theology and spirituality in order to assist people in enhancing different aspects of their lives. McMinn made it clear that it is important for the counselor to be strong in their own spirituality, so that they will be able to properly help the client in their process. (McMinn, 2011) McMinn addresses the different precautions counselors should take and also the limitations. Counselors express when it comes to incorporating their own spirituality into their counseling session, it can be challenging, due to the fact that they may not feel that confident about the knowledge they have about the bible. As a result counselors will often omit the use of God’s word in their counseling sessions because they do not want to confuse the client or interpret the message differently. McMinn has provided the guidance for the counselors who wish to strengthen spirituality within the counseling sessions, as well as within themselves. There are many benefits that come with incorporating Christianity into counseling sessions, but some of the main elements that can help to enhance the client’s life are, they can gain a better sense of self, a better understanding of human need and limitations and also get the opportunity to confide interpersonal relationships with God and others. (McMinn, 2011) McMinn uses the book as a teaching tool where he separates different subjects into chapters where he guides you through the challenges and the key elements the counselor should...
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...Review McMinn Billy Madison Liberty University Summary In this book Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling McMinn drew in on the basic concepts on a Christian’s life along with the basic concepts which we believe Christian counselors focus on. He focused on spirituality, theology, and psychology along with the daily battles faced by Christian counselors in their personal and professional lives. In the book McMinn went into the most important components in the life of a Christian being prayer, scripture, confession, sin, forgiveness, and redemption and broke down in all the ways we are affected during our counseling sessions. In the book we are left with personal experiences from the author in which prayer and scripture should be used and in how much we should use them when dealing with each component in the life of a Christian. Many counselors are faced with regular struggles on knowing and deciding when it is the appropriate time to use scripture and the various biblical readings in there sessions because of various reasons such as not wanting to offend their clients, not wanting to have the client feel as if they are being judged, and not wanting to puncture another wound in an already broken individuals situation (McMinn 2011). The book began to open me up when McMinn stated that “Christian counseling is more complex than other forms of counseling because our goals are multifaceted” (McMinn 2011 pg. 39). He opened readers up to the fact that as...
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...Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian counseling: McMinn 4-MAT Erin Liberty University Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian counseling: McMinn 4-MAT Summary Psychology, theology, and spirituality in Christian counseling (McMinn, 2011) is about ways Christian counselors can integrate practical concept of psychology, theology, and spirituality when faced with real-world problems, challenges, and questions in the counseling office. An emerging approach for Christian counseling is intradisciplinary integration, which incorporates the Christian faith into counseling practices (McMinn, 2011, p.26). McMinn describes six challenges of intradisciplinary integration such as competency of psychology, theology, and spiritual formation. A major theme of this book emphasizes the importance of establishing a therapeutic relationship in counseling, with the key components in the therapeutic relationship being the counselor’s own spiritual life and walk with God. Introspection of Christian counselors’ own spiritual lives will direct counselors to recognize their own weaknesses, while encouraging dependency on God (McMinn, 2011, p12). The desire to obtain a better understanding of Spiritual wisdom and the Spiritual life for the counselor and client can be guided by a map for Spiritual growth. The map should be scripturally and theologically sound, yet not so simple that it is inadequate for understanding challenges of mental and Spiritual health by...
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...1 – Crabb PACO 507 Theology and Spirituality Counseling Susie N. McCoy Liberty University Dr. Max Mills Spring 2014 Comparison of Larry Crabb’s Book Effective Biblical Counseling This comparison paper will briefly evaluate Larry Crabb’s (1977) reflection, responses, and summary given in his book Effective Biblical Counseling: A Model for Helping Caring Christians Become Capable Counselors, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. This comparison will reflect on Crabb’s (1977) four approaches to integrating the Bible and counseling, and his three levels of counseling models that can be integrated into the functioning of a local church. This study will explore that one must be a caring Christian in order to become a capable counselor and that any approach to counseling that is Biblical base will be successful among a body of believers in a local church setting. Crabb (1977) stated that since effective counseling requires both a caring attitude and an understanding heart of Christian love of human functioning, than the mature believers in the local churches need to be train in counseling insights and skills (p. 14). Summary: Crabb’s Theory/Methodology In his book Crabb (1977) offered three levels of counseling to be used in the local church. The first one that should be implemented is educating the believers of the local church with the strategies and method of biblical counseling. His second level is exhortation in counseling. He defined exhortation as the requirement...
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...Book Review: Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling Summary McMinn (2011) in his book, Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling, highlights the importance of combining psychology, theology, and spirituality in to a Christian counseling session. McMinn(2011) guides the reader to a profound understanding of the pros and cons of incorporating : prayer, scripture, sin, confession, forgiveness, and redemption in the clients’ healing process. McMinn(2011) explains the psychology, theology and spiritual foundations of each stage of the clients’ healing step. McMinn (2011) encourages the Christian counselor to always pray for his/her client. However, McMinn (2011) advises to firs take into consideration the mental and spiritual state of the client when deciding to pray with him/her. If client is not being open and loving towards God McMinn (2011) warns the counselor to be very tactful and even abstain from praying with client. McMinn (2011) stresses the importance for the Christian counselor to keep in mind that even though Scripture is the Word of God, one should be humble and accept that human interpretation has been limited by sin. Hence, Christian counselors should spend time studying and meditating in the Scripture in their personal time. It is also imperative for Christian counselors to have a sound interpretation of the Bible in order to guide their clients. McMinn (2011) points out four approaches to handle tactfully the...
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...Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling 4-MAT Review 4-MAT Review: McMinn Summary Psychology, theology, and spirituality in Christian Counseling written by Mark McMinn (2011) discuss the integration of psychology and spirituality including impacts of such in our daily lives both personally and professionally. According to McMinn (2011) there are three essential categories that must be considered within counseling; psychology, theology, and spirituality. To incorporate the three categories, the book down into further sections including prayer, scripture, sin, confession, forgiveness, and redemption including “what if” sections with descriptions of circumstances and the corresponding results, what works and what doesn’t within the sessions. By beginning with an active and healthy prayer life personally, the counselor is able to pray for the client both inside of and outside of the counseling sessions. McMinn (2011) discusses the importance of ethical issues of using prayer which is the source of growth in spiritual lives, promoting a relationship with God rather than promoting health. According to McMinn (2011) prayer must only be used after consent given and the potential effects considered as some forms of prayer may be detrimental to the client. Scripture use within counseling can be considered a self-help book enabling personality and behavioral changes. McMinn (2011) discusses the use of Scripture to support...
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...Spirituality in Healing Hospitals Ryan Sidebottom April 22, 2012 HLT 310V Spirituality in Healthcare Grand Canyon University A growing topic in healthcare today is the focus on promoting a “healing” environment. While many consider all hospitals, nursing homes and rehabilitation centers to be healing facilities they are not recognized as such by the Baptist Healing Trust of Nashville Tennessee. To be deemed a “healing hospital” a facility possesses three key components which are not only physical in nature but spiritual as well. By recognizing the relationship between the two, a facility is able to overcome many of the barriers that present challenges for other companies. By identifying the key components and broken barriers one can distinguish the difference between a designated healing hospital and one that is not. According to the Baptist Healing Trust of Nashville Tennessee, the three key components of a healing hospital are: A healing physical environment; the integration of work and design technology; A culture of “Radical Loving Care” (Eberst 2008). To achieve the designation of being a “healing hospital” all three of these components must be put into place from both the physical and spiritual aspect. The component of providing a healing physical environment is much different than having a facility that has the capability of saving lives, performing surgeries, or simply treating illness. While all of these things are necessary, a healing hospital must be able...
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