faith based counseling
TRANSCRIPT
A Lunch & Learn presentationArgosy University / Sarasota, FL
29 July 2011
Harry Morgan, PhD
Sponsored by
Faith-Based Counseling is an approach to therapy in which the insights of theology and spirituality are integrated with the principles of modern behavioral science to help individuals, couples, families, groups and institutions achieve wholeness and health.
• Holistic approach • Beliefs are fundamental to effecting change
• Views an individual as having , at least:
a body a soul
a spirit
• Views an individual as created in the image of God
Psychology
Psychopathy
Psychotherapy
• psyche = soul, mind, spirit
• logos = word, dissertation, science of
“The cure of a part should not be attempted without the treatment of the whole, and no attempt should be made to cure the body without a soul.”
Socrates, 400 B.C.E.
“The deeper one’s thought penetrate in the field of psychotherapy, the closer one comes to the realm of theology… The fundamental questions with which psychotherapy ends can only be answered with theology.” (Rollo May, 1967, page 218).
It is not the experience of life, but the experience of the cross that makes one a worthy hearer of confessions. The most experienced psychologist or observer of human nature knows infinitely less of the human heart the simplest Christian who lives beneath the cross of Jesus. The greatest psychological insight, ability, and
Bonhoeffer
experience cannot grasp this one thing: what sin is. Worldly wisdom knows what distress and weakness and failure are, but it does not know the godlessness of men. And so it also does not know that man is destroyed only by his sin and can be healed only by forgiveness. Only the Christian knows this. In the presence of a psychiatrist, I can only be a sick man; in the presence of the Christian brother, I can dare to be a sinner.
• 92% of the US population is affiliated with religion
• 96% profess a belief in God or a universal spirit
Psychotherapy (Shafranske, 1996)
• Provides hope
• Provides forgiveness (mercy & grace)
• Integrates religious beliefs into life’s circumstances
• Appeals to a population seeking spiritual counseling
• May appear exclusive to a religious population
• May appear less professional and scholarly
• May appear provincial, especially if associated with a religious organization or denomination
• May appear restrictive and judgmental
• Nonprofit religious organizations (501©(3) have many additional requirements
You can contact Dr. Morgan at:
Biblical Counseling Center825 4th Street WestPalmetto, FL 34221941-729-6600