Psychology, Theology, and Sprituality in Christian Counseling Essay Example for Free

Psychology, Theology, and Sprituality in Christian Counseling Essay In his conceptual book, Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling (1996), McMinn presents a convincing presentation of a multitasking counselor who has developed a niche in the counseling world. New age Christian counselors have developed simultaneous skills that embark on the areas of psychology, theology, and spirituality. This begins our journey down the path of understanding how values and perspectives can be changed as a result of a well rounded, multitasking Christian counselor. With life illustrations and brief counseling scenarios throughout this book, McMinn (1996) provides the reader with an excellent working model of identifying and relating life experiences to Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality. The opposition of modern psychology and theology practices is delivering different contemporary messages concerning mental health. Psychologist Albert Ellis wrote, â€Å"The emotionally healthy individual should primarily be true to himself and not masochistically sacrifice himself for others.† Versus Christian spirituality that identifies and states in scripture that as individuals we are instructed to look out for the interest of others (Phil. 2:4) and to prefer one another in honor (Rom 12:10) (McMinn, 1996). As McMinn works through the concepts of integrating these three distinct disciplines, Christian counseling becomes more complex and multifaceted. Christian counselors set their eyes upon God with an individual’s spiritual growth and mental health in their mind. In addition to placing the pieces of a battered mental health condition focus to the forefront, their client’s eternity of life and knowledge of God is an important piece of the puzzle. A more detailed perspective of psychological and spiritual health, allows every individual to recognize their responsibility to God, to their family and friends and to themselves. As humans, we must understand and have a healthy awareness of brokenness to allow ourselves to experience grace and hope in the midst of our walk on this earth through life’s trials and tribulations with Jesus Christ. Integrating psychology, theology, and spirituality in addition to the niche of multitasking, all three disciplines in unison takes time, energy, loyalty, and dedication of the counseling profession. In the last two thirds of this book, McMinn uses prayer, scripture, sin, confession, forgiveness, and redemption to show us a glimpse of the counseling world. The problem with sin is that it separates us from God; the wonder of redemption is that individuals are brought back into relationship with God. (McMinn, 1996, p. 265). A redemptive Christian counselor has humility and compassion and experiences God’s grace with gratitude. Scripture yanks people out of the grips of sin as a redemptive God shines through. Those who deny sin see no need for spiritual redemption. Confession, allows us to acknowledge our sin and our desperate need for help and through the grace of God we receive forgiveness and experience redemption. Once our affections turn to God, our prayer will never be the same. Our lives will be completed changed and everlasting. â€Å"Bless the Lord, O my Soul, and do not forget all his benefits-who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the e agle’s†(Ps. 103:2-5). Response Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.† As I had struggled throughout my chaotic childhood dealing with the presence of alcohol, drugs, fighting, and uncertain living conditions in my circle of life, I developed the ability to discern which people were right for me in my life. My perception of family was skewed. At the age of 7, I lost my grandfather and life’s losses of my protectors continued until 2004 with the death of my first husband Dale. My life was over. My family was a mess. I had just started a new church and I wasn’t sure where God was in my life. My father in law, who preached my husband’s funeral, started providing Christian guidance and support as a lay counselor. We prayed and shared scripture together. At the age of 33, I learned the true meaning of prayer. I knew how to pray and I knew how humbled I had been in my prayers for Dale. In the kindness of his God filled heart, he taught me that humility allows us to see God’s word. As I study and read my Bible, I continue to learn the importance of a Christian family for support and guidance and the necessity to share the story of Jesus Christ. My father in law stepped out in faith to help turn my life around. Through his obedience, I work to help others who are hurting find the power of prayer and scripture in their times of heartache. Reflection As I read through Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling (McMinn, 1996), a highlighter was used to mark special passages I needed to keep in the forefront of this class. There are so many key notes to remember in the text, the book was turning a nice shade of yellow. Anyone who is starting out in the counseling field should be required to read this book. McMinn does an excellent job of showing the reader how to integrate our Christian faith and spirituality into the secular world with real life reflections. Christian counselors want to follow the will of God and McMinn provides the examples, guidance, and techniques on how to incorporate God into the counseling session. The major drawback with this work concerns the conclusion. Throughout the reading, it is apparent McMinn is preparing the counselor to learn the skill of multi-tasking. In two pages, McMinn summarizes the whole book. The most important part of integrating the three diverse areas of studies is profound enough for him to provide a greater level of detail to the new counselor concerning the background of multitasking. Success lies in the strategy that is used in multitasking these three distinct practices and beliefs. In dealing with the secular world, this skill is a necessity to bring all three disciplines together. Action I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. â€Å"Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say; for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. (Matthew 10:16-20). God has given me back tenfold since the loss of my first husband. I have established myself as a praying respiratory therapist at UVA. As Jesus calls me into the counseling field, he is preparing me for the secular world. In my environment, people are at the lowest points of their lives. I use Gods calling on my heart and spirit to reach out in Christian love to these individuals and families. God places pastors, judges, professional basketball players, the rich, the homeless, the curable, the dying, in my path for a reason and a purpose. Life is simple when you are obedient. Go where God calls you. The people I come into contact with are not by accident. I minister to their hearts through their illness and time of need. I pray for God to give me the strength and the right words of his will to deliver to the sick and their families. I pray for each individual that crosses my path to find the love of Jesus Christ and meet him in heaven to spend an everlasting life with our father.

An Analysis of A Raisin In the Sun :: Raisin Sun essays

An Analysis of A Raisin In the Sun "A Raisin In The Sun" is a play written by an African-American playwright - Lorraine Hansberry. It was first produced in 1959. Lorraine Hansberry's work is about a black family in the Chicago's South-Side after the Second World War. The family consisted of Mama(Lena Younger), Walter Lee(her son), Ruth (his wife), Travis (their son), and Beneatha (Walters younger sister). The Younger family lived in poor conditions, and can't afford to have better living standards. However, Lena is waiting to receive a $10,000 check from her late-husbands insurance money. The two main characters in the play, Mama and Walter, want this money to be used for the benefits of the whole family. Even though both of them want to benefit the family, each one has a different idea of what to do with the money and how to manage it to benefit everyone. Walter Lee, like his father want's his family to have a better life and want's to invest the money in a liquor store. Walter want's the money so that he can prove that he is capable of making a future for his family. By doing well in business Walter thinks that he can buy his family happiness. Walter has dreams. Dreams he most likely got from his father. Dreams of better life for his family and himself. A dream of financial security and comfortable living. Ruth, on the other hand is stable and down to earth. She doesn't make rash choices to accommodate a dream. She will just make do with what she has. Mama is a loving person, she is wise but lives in the past. She is happy to have her family with and be safe from society. She thinks that money is not something that makes a family happy. Besides dreams Walter also has a husbands responsibilities which are universally thought of as being able to support his family and raise his children so they are morally in line with what he believes in. Walter's problem, however, seems to be that he is building his supposedly well thought out plan of investing money in a liquor store into something he is infactuated with. By creating this infactuation, he is not able to achieve his responsibilities. Besides having responsibilities Walter also has his

Bhaviour across the lifespan

Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development is I think explained best the personality development of an individual. His theory focused on the boundary between the child and the environment and then graphed the evolution of the maturing ego’s relations with an expanding social world. Psychological developments results from the interaction between maturational process or biological needs and the societal demands and social forces encountered in everyday life. His theory concerns psychological development throughout the lifespan, rather than just the birth through adolescence.He based his theory on the concept of epigenetic principle, which means that development takes place in order, clearly identified stages, and that phase ought to be adequately resolved for growth to proceed smoothly. The eight stages of the life cycle clearly illustrate the development of an infant to his older years. He believes that development does not end when maturity is reached, but extend s into old age which is very true. The process of learning continues throughout life. For instance, stage 1 of Erikson’s trust vs.mistrust theory, infants learn either to trust or mistrust that their needs will be met on the basis of their experience (Sternberg and Wilson, 2004). Successful passage of this stage leads to a child that wants to learn to become self-sufficient and to develop his own independence. At each step of development, children learn that certain behaviors are acceptable whereas others are not. The years of middle childhood are particularly for the learning taught by the family, culture, and society. Peer relationships become more important over family.Erikson believed that individuals on this stage search for an identity as part of the society and must balance the desire to be unique and the need to conform. Adulthood life stages focused on achieving unselfish love, the feeling of productivity and wisdom. Certainly, that many people experience conflicts a t the ages Erikson specified, everyone would undergo the eight life cycles, but then successful passage of these stages can be a healthy experience for an individual. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has been regarded as a neurotic disorder, like phobias and anxiety states.A neurotic patient, unlike a psychotic, he is aware that he has a problem- that is, he has insight and his contact with the outside world is relatively intact. People with this problem can suffer considerable distress, and often feel that they are helpless victims. Severe OCD can cause major incapacitation and drastically affects people’s lives. Criteria used for diagnosing OCD are: a person must have obsessions, compulsions or both; the disorder is not due to another disorder such as depression or organic disorders.Finally, the obsession and/or compulsion cause distress to the person and interfere with his life and activities (Penzel, 2000). A person with this disorder experienced unwanted recurrent and persistent thought which is not voluntarily produced just like when one is saying I am obsessed in football but experiences that invade a person’s consciousness that can be worrying, repugnant, blasphemous, obscene or nonsensical. An obsession is a passive experience: it happens to the person.He may be engaged in some activity, like driving a car, when the obsession intrudes into his consciousness. It disrupts his normal thinking and behavior. Compulsion on the other hand is a repetitive and seemingly purposeful behavior that is performed according to specific rules or in a stereotyped manner (Maj, 2003). The behavior is not an end in itself, but is usually intended to prevent some situation or event, though, the action is not related in a logical or reasonable way, or it may be clearly excessive.The person feels a strong compulsive urge to engage in a particular behavior which he carries out despite resistance and recognizing that it is irrational or excessive. Recovering f rom OC disorder is not simply a matter of sheer willpower or resistance. OC individuals need intensive help in retraining themselves, both in terms of behavior and their outlook on life. Therapies such as behavioral, cognitive and psychotherapy are the treatments that were used by psychiatrist in order to help an OC person to overcome his disease.Medications like antidepressants can also help to treat OCD, but important treatment came from the person itself, his willingness and the support from the people around him. WORK CITED Sternberg, R. & Wilson, J. (2004). Psychology. US: Thomson Wadsworth Maj, M. (2003). Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. England: John Wiley and Sons Penzel, F. (2000). Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders: A Complete Guide to Getting Well and Staying Well. New York: Oxford University Press

Multicultural Competence Of School Psychologists - 1031 Words

Multicultural Competence of School Psychologists For more than two decades, school psychology has known about the necessity for, and importance of, developing multicultural competence (Fouad Arrendondo, 2007). From research, ethics, and practice standards, school psychologists and other school personnel have been aware that an effective school professional is multiculturally competent and able to make sense of students’ sociocultural, socioracial, and sociopolitical backgrounds that present themselves within a classroom setting. Multiculturally competent professionals are informed as to which environmental, academic, and community factors combine to support all students’ learning and development across ages and abilities. Twenty-first century American schools are changing in dramatic ways partly because of shifting demographics in rural and urban communities and in public and private educational institutions, as well as among students who are homeschooled. These change s have produced a new generation of multilingual, multiracial children with racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic differences; multiple learning styles; native language learning; and changing family constellations. Some of today’s learners also come from families with multiple and/or generational family traumas and dysfunctions. These challenges and the shifts in student enrollment demographics are creating new demands on schools’ teaching and learning services.Show MoreRelatedEthics And The Ethical Standards Essay1626 Words   |  7 PagesThe Ethical Standards were set up to implement direct rules for conduct as a psychologist. Most of the Ethical Standards were composed extensively to apply against psychologists in an assortment of roles, even though the utilization of an Ethical Standard may differ which is contingent upon the unique situation. The Ethical Standards are not exhaustive. The fact that a given conduct is not specifically addressed by the Ethics Cod e does not mean that it is necessarily either moral or untrustworthyRead MoreThe Emotional Intensity Of The Clinical Material785 Words   |  4 Pagescomprises developing school curricula that promote multicultural and multiracial understanding and tolerance, increasing public education programs to raise the knowledge and acceptance of the benefits of pluralism to a society, and of the contribution of newcomers to the cultural and economic life of the country, increasing public awareness of the possible difficulties faced by newcomers, and the effects of prejudice on both victim and perpetrator. Researchers and practicing psychologist need to bear inRead MoreThe Impact Of Multiculturalism On A Multicultural Community1345 Words   |  6 Pagesmulticulturalism which will make the service that is being provided beneficial. The individual should show competence when dealing with individuals of a diverse background. The individual who shows competence enhances ethical thinking. It helps to be aware of the various cultures in the community in order to be sensitive to a multicultural community. Each program that is in a multicultural area should have a balance of awareness, knowledge and skill, without these understanding the program willRead MoreViolence in Schools Essay3323 Words   |  14 PagesCurrent Events Impact on School Counseling Profession Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred December 14, 2012 in Newton, Connecticut. This was one of the deadliest mass shooting at a grade school in the history of the United States. A 20 year old male, Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children and 6 adult staffers. Lanza also shot his mother. Lanza committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. Lanza had significant mental health issues which psychologist say did affect his ability to liveRead MoreDiversity and Multicultural Competence815 Words   |  3 PagesInterpersonal Effectiveness Diversity and Multicultural Competence Since Bobby is Hispanic, comes from a poor upbringing, did not finish his education, and is unable to hold a job as an adult; treatment must be dealt with according to his ethics and culture. Information found under the APA Guidelines, Policy Statements, and Resolutions the discussion of proper procedure in ethnic background treatment and diversity (APA, 2010). The recommendation of a Hispanic psychologist will only assist in allowing BobbyRead MoreThe Diversity Of Multicultural Education972 Words   |  4 Pagesrelevant teaching by using multicultural teaching dimensions, so that all children can achieve. Multicultural education will be successful only when the teacher understands the meaning of multicultural education, take into account results from their assessments of the children is learning styles, and then make changes to their teaching methods if necessary, by using a wide range of strategies and teaching techniques, that encourage diversity and acceptance. Multicultural education resembles instructionsRead MoreCoun 500 Personal Identity Paper1469 Words   |  6 Pagespsychiatry. All fields in counseling have similar goals to empower and support clients in all areas of life, however, there are huge differences between them all. There are different types of professional counselors. Professional counselors include school counselors, clinical mental health counselors, marriage and family counselors, addiction counselors, student affairs and college counselors, and rehabilitation counselors (Neukrug, 2014). All professional counselors have a master’s degree in counselingRead MoreDiversity in the United States1647 Words   |  7 Pagesprofessionals tailor their services to the needs of various cultural populations (Constantine, Kindaichi, Arorash, Donnelly, Jung, 2002). The awareness that ethnic minorities experience negative consequences from being oppressed, resulted in the multicultural competence pedagogy and has helped counselors identify effective strategies to generate social change (Hage, 2003; Vera Speight, 2003). Social norms that cause these injustices are identified, allowing for ethnic minorities to constitute and embraceRead MoreReview Selection Of A Standardized Test . Introduction.1457 Words   |  6 Pagesselected. As a student, in the process of achieving a Master s degree in clinical psychology, it is essential to be aware of the reasons for certain tests, their reliability, and validity. This especially true for a clinical psychologist, which I plan to become. Clinical psychologists identify psychological, emotional, and behavioral concerns. Eventually, those issues are diagnosed. Then, treatment plans are developed and implemented. This would not be possible without tests, observations, and assessmentsRead MoreForeign Language Learning And Teaching1479 Words   |  6 Pagesto one’s native language (cf. Gehring, 2010). Consequently, various forms of foreign language learning and teaching have become common worldwide, and language courses are offered in school, university, and in the workforce. In particular, English, French, and Spanish as foreign languages have been dominating in school systems around Europe (cf. Decke-Cornill Kà ¼ster, 2010). The world language and lingua franca English is widely used for international communication; no one can deny its spread and