Biblical and psychological integration is the practice of applying Biblical Principles to psychological theories and practices. Integration of biblical and psychological techniques are influenced by how we personally integrate our faith with life experiences. Attending Jessup, we discover the tools required to integrate our faith and studies and we learn to reflect on our journey thus far to see where God is leading us with our future endeavors. Jessup assists students in understanding not only the secular psychology theories and practices, but also the integration with our personal faith, life experiences, and biblical principles. Foundations of Biblical and Psychological Integration requires students to examine our lives and determine …show more content…
A key lesson from Foundations was that everyone is entitled to believe how they believe, and their beliefs and values are as important to them as ours are to us, so we need to be respectful and understanding of other worldviews. If a client comes to you with different values that contradict your own, we learned we need to put our values aside and try to examine the situation through the clients’ worldview. Counsellors do not have to dismiss their own personal values, but in a session with a client who has different values, the counselor must put themselves aside and look at the situation from the client’s worldview. This class began our understanding of all real truth is Gods truth, and realizing that there is truth in psychological principles when kept in boundaries set by biblical …show more content…
The Spiritual Formation event allows students to not only connect in a deeper way with ourselves and God, but also to slow down and listen to all God has to say for our lives and our journeys we are on. Listening and discerning what God is doing in my life becomes challenging with the fast pace of this program. Spiritual Formation helps students discern God’s voice and attempt to listen to what God is telling them for the point of their journey that they are on. The Spiritual Formation event reminded me that God never shames, and the harsh and brutal voice is of the accuser. God’s voice is always in agreement with scripture and whenever we are unsure if what we are hearing is from the Lord we need to test it against the scripture and biblical principles we know to decide if it aligns or
David Entwistle’s (2010) is the author of the Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity. In the book Entwistle embarks on a journey to explore Psychology and Christianity. As the title suggests several approaches that are used to define the relationship of Phycology and Christianity. In the book Entwistle begins to takes us on shows that psychology and Christianity go in two different directions and meet up someplace in the middle. This allows them to provide different approaches to understanding and studying the human behavior. Entwistle, (2010) took a new approach that has rarely been used in other books that discussed the topic of integration. Entwistle, (2010) began to talk about the relationship of psychology and Christianity
This paper will be reviewing the book “Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity: an introduction to worldview issues, philosophical foundations and models of integration, by David N. Entwistle. As the title states, this book discusses how to integrate psychology and theology. It also dives into to why it is so important to be able to integrate the two. Entwistle explains that just because the two are different does not mean they should be separated and that we have to use both our worldviews. “Weaving together perspectives from psychology and Christian theology can help us understand and appreciate humanity more fully than we could either perspective alone.” (p.3)
David Entwistle’s Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity David Entwistle's (2010) Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity is geared more towards Christians with conservative evangelical views and provides the reader with an outline to different worldview disputes and truth-seeking groundwork that surround the connection that underlies psychology and theology. In addition to analyzing the possible connection between psychology and theology, Entwisle discusses the consideration of integrating Christian faith with the practice of psychology. “Christian understandings of person-hood, the purpose of human life, our need for God, and the ethical teachings of Christian faith are integral to psychology, not merely parallel to it” (p. 199). Entwistle’s viewpoint on this matter is clearly stated. He believes that it is necessary for theology and psychology to be integrated in order to fully understand human nature.
Counselors regularly decide which school of thought they will mainly utilize with their clients most often based on the combination of the orientation of the program they were primarily trained under, based on their personal views and opinions, and their personal therapeutic experience. There are some therapists who consider themselves purists and generally subscribe to only one particular theory practice; however, it is becoming increasingly uncommon to encounter a therapist, counselor or psychologist who still considers themselves a purist in that fashion. It has been realized that many theories offer potentially helpful methods of counseling (Lazarus, 2005), and some therapists find certain aspects of certain theories easier to manipulate in order to help different clients through different issues.
Establishing a theoretical counseling orientation is an important step in developing professional identity. Theories provide counselors with explanations of human nature, help with conceptualizing clients’ problems and deliver procedural guidance in predicting clients’ change. Contemporary counselor is expected to be integrative and eclectic, drawing inspiration from many approaches. It is also my hope to synthesize a variety of concepts and a diversity of strategies from different theories and integrate them into a coherent, comprehensive perspective.
Although Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity is a great book, it is a difficult read which is a negative aspect of the book. One must read the book slowly so they will fully comprehend all the concepts within the book. If a person reads it too fast they will miss some of the points Entwistle makes regarding the integration of psychology and Christianity. One such point is, “the integration of psychology and Christianity emerged largely, though not exclusively, from the Christian liberal-arts tradition” (Entwistle, 2010, p. 16). This is an important argument Entwistle made in support of integration. Although Entwistle’s book is a difficult read, one of the most positive things about the book is that he takes his time developing each concept so we thoroughly understand them. He gives footnotes at the bottom of each page so we have other valuable resources. Another positive aspect is that Entwistle provides the views of those who disagree with him regarding the integration of psychology and
One of the main themes in Chapter Fourteen is that of morality. Cari Barney defined morality as “conformity to the rules of right conduct” (lecture). Man is “a moral being” obligated “to act according to moral principles” (McDonald, 2007, p. 165). Deep down within man’s conscience, there is the sense of knowing right from wrong and knowing God’s requirements (Romans 2:14-15). This awareness should cause all humans to strive to adhere to what God requires of us. The moral consciousness of man is within the heart (Proverbs 4:23). McDonald (2007) stated, “So man is in himself a moral being with moral obligations and responsibilities (p. 165). Man’s lifestyle should resemble biblical principles that have been instructed by God.
Spiritual direction is defined as “help that is given to another to enable him to become himself in his faith” (Davis, 266). It is an adolescent religious education model that encourages an ongoing relationship between the mentor and adolescent; involving one-on-one meetings where discussion centers on issues which are affecting the adolescent’s life in hopes to see how God may be present and working in them. Spiritual direction addresses the major concerns in each individual adolescent's life. Through this educational model, adolescents wrestle with relevant spiritual questions which may lead him or her to discern presence of God in his or her life (Davis, 268). Because adolescence is a time in which one desires to find a deeper meaning to one’s life, spiritual direction from the Church and parents is both beneficial and necessary. Adolescents develop the capability to reason and question, thus understanding the Truth in a new spiritual way. It is important for spiritual leaders to walk alongside adolescents to direct them towards the Truth. This development stage opens individuals to new capabilities for addressing a spiritual hunger, making it the prime time for conversion (Davis, 270). With spiritual direction from parents and mentors in the Church, adolescents can discover and create individual identities before God.
Horton, D.J. (2009). Discerning spiritual discernment: Assessing current approaches for understanding God’s will. The Journal of Youth Ministry, 7 (2), 7-31.
Horton, D. J. (2009). Discerning spiritual discernment: Assessing current approaches for understanding God’s will. The Journal of Youth Ministry, 7(2), 7-31.
bless to be a counselor, but Dr. Crabb's biblical teaching in Christian counseling will lay out the foundational requirement to enable the ones
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (ESV).” The Bible is extremely powerful text, both for its redemptive message and its abounding insight and wisdom. Within its pages are written counsel and knowledge pertinent to every area of life. This remains true in the case of psychology: the study of the human mind. The verse above from the book of Genesis reveals that we as humans are made in the image of God, the most perfect and yet most imperfect manifestations of his existence. Therefore it stands to reason that perhaps the most accurate information we can gather concerning our minds can be found in God’s revelation to us through scripture. Though not a psychology textbook, the Bible has much to say about broader behavioral concepts, answering questions pivotal to the human condition. Amongst the discord and speculation comes a distinctly psychological aspect to these problems, and not only does the Bible give us a better understanding of our world, but also a better understanding of ourselves.
Taking the techniques of counseling class was a great course that contributed to my evolution as a perspective therapist. Certain skills I already possess such as, great communication, being empathetic, and open to learning. However, throughout the class I learned different therapy policies such as confidentiality, attending skills, and self-awareness. Having knowledge of these basic practices and skills has contributed to me becoming well rounded, self- aware, and a competent perspective counselor. I have made moderate progress towards the learning goals I established for myself in the beginning of the semester. During the beginning of the semester I anticipated learning different counseling approaches, becoming culturally competent, and learning how to be more confident. Throughout the course not much was mentioned about theoretical approaches and how to incorporate the framework into therapy. Nonetheless, the content that I learned allowed me to be more culturally competent, self-aware, and confident. To be culturally competent, it is essential to know basic background information about a client before assisting them. It is imperative to know basic information about a client such as age, sex, and nationality to determine how to assist the individual. Not knowing certain information may contribute to unethical work and a disservice to the
With this in mind, the following will focus on the spiritual formation process within the Christian community. The concept of Christian community stems from the Bible with the perspective of the body of Christ. The body of Christ is compared to the humane body, a whole comprised of numerous parts; each individual part is required and created by God to form a cohesive whole, no matter believer or non-believer or social status (1 Corinthians 12). Similarly, the spiritual community is also comprised of bountiful parts and can be customized to the individual as the formation. Ashbrook appraises the significance of individuals and community, “Our spiritual formation is designed by God to happen in the context of Christian community, the chu...
One aspect I found striking was the role of advice giving in counseling. Prior to this class, I knew that counselors did not typically give opinions or advice to lead a client in a certain direction. What I did not know was the entire reasoning behind this. A counselor might avoid giving advice so that a client learns to make his/her own decisions, does not become dependent on the counselor, and to ensure that a client will not later blame the counselor if the counselor’s advice did not turn out well. In this context, I have a better appreciation and understanding of why therapists refrain from telling the client what to do.