Psychology, Spirituality, and Healing Book Term Paper

I never found out what became of him afterwards.

Uniting psychology with spiritual guidance would be the ideal way, I believe, that Eric could have been reached. Eric had clear psychological problems that related to his difficult family situation. But there was also a clear, deep spiritual craving to relate his longings to a cause larger than himself, and to engage in some form of self-improvement. Eric had a good will and a curiosity about the questions that grip the minds of so many adolescents, like 'why am I here,' and 'what is the purpose of all of this?' But his energies needed to be directed into more productive channels than drugs. Also, Eric lacked a true sense of interdependence. He had been brought up in an insecure value system, so he experimented with his personal morality, much in the same way he experimented with drugs. He saw himself as different and removed from other people, and justified his use of drugs because he was not using drugs (he said) for the same reason as people who just wanted to get high to enjoy a part or feel buzzed. By becoming a part of a substance-free community that fulfilled his spiritual needs, Eric might have gained a positive sense of connection, rather than merely defining himself against other people. This desire for isolation, obviously, may have been rooted in a failure to trust other people that were the result of his difficult family upbringing, as he was the child of divorced parents, and a biological father who was an alcoholic.

Reflection

Although McMinn makes a compelling case for merging psychology with Christian counseling in a way that can lead to healing, there are many questions which arise regarding how individuals who are reared within a secular culture, and how they may react to a therapist bringing up the topic of religion. Also, because the culture of faith and the culture of psychology are often paired against one another in the contemporary consciousness, will believing fundamentalist Christians feel comfortable discussing intimate issues using the vocabulary of psychology?

Action

This book is perhaps most useful in its harmonization of the positive, humanistic psychological values of community and interdependence with the traditional Christian values of family and church-based initiatives. Creating psychological counseling sessions or meetings for people undergoing specific personal difficulties (like drug addiction, the terminal illness of a loved one, etcetera) within the context of my own church community is one way to apply the principles of the book. Another idea is to apply Christian values to programs designed to help counselees deal with addiction or other psychological conflicts and include these programs as part of the services offered by the church. These are all ways to help struggling individuals reformulate their experiences into a positive search for meaning and purpose.