So, this week I was offered the opportunity to attend the "world" convention of the American Association of Christian Counselors conference next September. I accepted the offer because who wouldn't accept free hotel, airfare, and conference admission to her home state? But the more I think about aligning myself with the AACC, the more anxious I become.
To be honest, I am suspicious of most Christians who call themselves counselors, or those organizations who purport the concept of "Christian counseling." Often, such organizations promote the manipulation of vulnerable individuals by using scripture laced with some psychobabble. They effectively take people who are at their wits end, on their knees, and then bastardize the Word of God in order to make people think that all their psychological ailments will disappear if this person prays harder, believes more faithfully, or what have you.
What I do in my therapy office just isn't that. Sure, some of my clients and I talk a lot about their relationship with God. Most are Christians, because we are known in the community for having a Christian staff. But, I hardly ever mention scripture. I may paraphrase it on occasion, especially when a client claims something preposterous in the name of Christ, Christianity, or the Bible. But I have to say that my being a Christian does affect the way I see my clients. I pray for God's leading to not totally screw things up, to lead me in what I say. I pray for my clients (but not with them).
The less fundamentalist I become with my faith, the more I see how good psychotherapy, good theology, and good faith praxis can overlap with little distinction. However, God won't cure all your psychic or your physical pain. And I can't do that.
What I find even more ironic is the fact that I am much less hesitant to sign up to be in cahoots with secular psychology. I'm a member of the APA without batting an eye. I would probably be less discerning about entering into research with certain nonChristians than I would be with certain Christians. Eventhough I probably disagree with most secular psychologists about more crucial things than I do with other Christian counselors, I embrace the secularists. I dance for them. I make my theology and research fit their posters, presentations, and conferences.
Why is it that I am so afraid of other Christians in my field that think less integrationally than I do? I enter into the world of secular psychology with enthusiasm, but feel nervous around my own brother's and sisters. Pursuing psychology from either perspective can be equally damaging.
As an integrationist, I feel like nobody wants to listen to what I have to say, outside of my tiny integrationist community. The world of secular psychology writes me off as some fundy whack job that is manipulative with a God complex. The Christian community of counselors think that I've sold out God in favor of the "Secular Humanism" of the "World." Sigh.
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2 comments:
Haven't faith and secular tactics been integrated in recovery programs for ages? I think it all fits in with what C.S. Lewis called the Tao - the fact that there's something human beings need to be whole, a path that affects mind, heart, and soul.
And secularists seem finally to have grasped that secularism cannot answer all the ills of the world. There are some voids only God can take care of. But the religious haven't quite gotten the idea that God uses tools other than the Bible, that there are areas of expertise which cannot rely wholly upon Scripture for an answer. I wonder if they would have told Paul that he was being ungodly for not making tents along the lines of the Tabernacle?
Anyhow, good luck, and here's hoping this convention is one of the more sensible sort. ;)
Kirala,
Yes and no to the recovery program bit. The way integration addresses faith is much different compared to say, AA , and too complex for my brain to digest while on cold medicine.
While secularists are beginning to grasp that secularism cannot answer the ills of the world, in psychology at least, they are still a long way from acknowledging that God is the answer to that void.
In fact, most psychologists would probably say that the voids of life can be filled by great self-awareness, or some sort of pseudo spirituality.
The debate with religious types usually centers around the fact that they can't get past the teachings of theorists like Carl Rogers, who state that people are good at their core, or Freud, and his focus on psychosexual theories. Their fundamental disagreement with humanistic and Freudian approaches makes the most fundamental Christians throw the baby out with the bath water by denying ANY Truth could come from worldviews with such skewed beliefs at their core.
Such individuals often say that the Bible has the corner market on understanding humanity and its nature, and therefore should be able to singly speak to treating its ills. There is an inherent dualism in that very statement. It assumes that the biology and psychology of a person are separate, but it is my belief that they are intertwined. I doubt, however, that such fundamental Christians would suggest using the Bible as a medical text book, but if you carry out the logic of their stated beliefs, that's where it takes you.
Thanks for your comment and good wishes for my conference. :)
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