The Christian Psychologist and Healing
Posted on December 10, 2008
In the last post, We looked at several base assumptions about God’s healing activity. The Christian counselor rightly looks to God to be the power source in any positive change and healing in the lives of counselees. But, our counselees come from quite different vantage points. Some are looking for a secret method for instantaneous healing. Others despair that God cares about their situation. Others wonder if it is okay to ask God for help since their pastor or friend has warned them off from seeking help from prayer warriors or medicines and only to trust God in their pain.
So, a set of assessment questions may guide us as we consider how to talk about healing with our clientele.
1. What attempts has the person made in seeking freedom from their emotional or relational struggles? Do they focus on medicines? Healing prayer? Fatalistically waiting?
2. What do they believe about God and his concern for their situation? He’s concerned and doing something about it? He’s concerned but punishing them for past behavior? He’s concerned but unable to do anything? He’s unconcerned?
3. What is our experience with healing and change agency? Do we focus on skills or behaviors? Experiences? Do we resist healing talk due to observed abuses? Do we tend to focus on either spiritualization of life or pragmatic approaches to problems?
These kinds of questions may help us determine how best to respond to the concerns of our clients. They may cause us to question our own counseling habits (e.g., emphasizing vs. ignoring prayer as a tool; emphasizing behavior change vs. gathering spiritual insights, etc.)
When someone wants God to heal them, do we encourage this behavior? How? Are we aware of the dangers (e.g., minimizing God’s healing activity, searching for the reasons why they are unwell, etc.)?
As we seek to work as ambassadors of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:16f), let us examine ourselves and make sure we understand the healing character of God and to remind our struggling friends and counselees that God is in the business of healing us–day by day.
[by Philip G. Monroe. Associate professor of Counseling & Psychology at Biblical Seminary, moderator of this blog and author of www.wisecounsel.wordpress.com]
Filed Under Biblical Counseling, Christian Psychology, Christian counseling, Philip G. Monroe | 1 Comment
A Christian Psychology of Healing
Posted on December 1, 2008
Filed Under Biblical Counseling, Christian Psychology | 3 Comments
