The Way of a Pilgrim

This week, boys and girls, Nicole wrote a paper on The Way of a Pilgrim. And she had such a hard time with the notions and ideas in the book that her paper doesn't make much sense. So, instead you're getting instead, an integration piece about psychology and Christianity that I wrote for my Community Psychology class.

Without some knowledge of the field, it will probably bore you to tears. But try, if you must...

This week’s readings on the professional role of doctoral level psychologists, viewed in the light of the proven effectiveness of preventive interventions for children, support that there is a distinct need for psychologists to reevaluate our professional identity within the field. Levine & Perkins make a strong case that the number of individuals experiencing some form of life stress or psychiatric event in any given year is larger than the current population of helping professionals can hope to address using only individual psychotherapy. While psychotherapy can be effective on an individual level, the limited number of resources precludes the availability and viability of such a model. Humphreys implies this to mean that the advent of independently practicing master’s level clinicians requires a re-imaging of our professional role in new and creative ways apart from psychotherapy. Humphreys advocates pioneering new ways of training doctoral students in order to provide internship experiences that promote innovative competencies that support the shift of the psychologist’s role away from individual psychotherapy toward addressing the somewhat forgotten areas of psychology, such as public policy, community service, and action. But the findings of Johnston Kruse & Schwer Canning entreat psychology training programs to also increase training experiences that introduce students to underserved populations. Combating the perceived lack of fulfillment in working with underserved populations seems to be key in moving psychologists out of the affluent private practice clinic into new realms that address the systemic concerns of the underserved in psychology practice.

Few authors go so far as Albee, who advocates the abolition of reimbursement for individual psychology interventions. In his aptly titled, “The Futility of Psychotherapy,” the author suggests primary prevention to be the answer and a better distribution of limited mental health funds. Albee’s support of primary prevention is reasonably validated, considering positive effects found by the meta-analysis of such interventions with children by Durlak & Wells. Together, the readings support a shift from a focus on individual psychotherapy, which is available to the affluent more than other populations, toward systemic and community interventions. Such a shift in focus must then be reflected in psychology training programs and in the attitudes toward the populations that psychologists serve.

I, too, have often felt disillusionment with the efficacy of individual psychotherapy to make any sustained, systemic change. However, the powerful journeys of change that I have experienced with some individual clients make me hesitant to completely abandon individual psychotherapy all together. I agree that there is a paucity of training that equips students to deal with the community side of psychology or for the challenges of underserved populations. However, I feel Albee’s suggestion that we eradicate all reimbursement for individual therapy is irresponsible. To say that there is no medical cause to certain psychological problems, and therefore no rationale for treating them, leaves many suffering individuals with no course of treatment, more victims of the medical model. Our goal should be to view individuals more holistically, and to grow away from our dualistic notions of a separate biological and mental self.


As I learned in psychopathology, it seems that conceptualizing psychology as biopsychosocial (biological, psychosocial, sociocultural) is the best framework for addressing all aspects of persons. The research showing the effectiveness of community and preventive interventions is undeniable. However, there will always be individuals who need the help of psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, and other individual interventions. In addition to the push to conceptualize psychological service more systemically, I think that making quality individual psychotherapy services available to underserved populations is also key. From a Christian perspective, it is important to seek a creative “third way” of conceptualizing psychology as service. Traditional evangelical culture is focused on the individual and his or her actions, decisions, and faith. However, I feel that we have much to learn from the community based approaches of more mainline and Anglican traditions. Our God is personal, acting in the lives of individuals through a relationship with Him. Our God is also concerned with the least of these, and Jesus himself challenged the social and community structures of his day. The joining of these two approaches seems most effective and powerful, but also the most difficult approach.


In my professional development, I am grappling with these issues. Why am I pursuing my doctorate, which is not what I have anticipated? I absolutely adore individual therapy. It is gratifying, effective, and mainly useful with a fulfilling subset of clients. Yet, I could have stopped with my M.A. if that were all I desired to do professionally. But because my goal is to start a community mental health agency in rural East Tennessee, I must acknowledge that my role will not primarily consist of individual therapy. I also want to develop a specialty with adolescent girls. So, the question before me is how do I best invest my time while in graduate school for the greatest result for my future clients? I feel overwhelmed by all the subject areas that seem essential to succeeding at what I feel is a calling of God. I want to learn all I can about community psychology, adolescent therapy, individual therapy, child development, rural psychology, research, and teaching. Adding the Christian integration piece seems to be the only thread holding the thing together. I can not help but ask myself, “How I can serve the greatest good of the greatest number of people with my training without sacrificing the therapeutic nature of individual relationships?”