Category Archives: christian counseling

July 17, 2009 · 5:47 am

Rwanda Day 8 (and 9)


Our final day in Rwanda! We fly out at 7:45 pm. This was a day packed right up to the last minute to get to the airport. Just like the Bishop to make sure we use every second! We had lunch with the Commission to prevent Genocide and the rector of KHI to present the beginnings of our proposal to them. We proposed a 3 pronged response to the needs we observed:

1. Information dispersal: (a) 1 page informational statements to educate adults and children about the symptoms of trauma, simple things to do if one witnesses another having a trauma reaction (grounding), and ways to remember the genocide without creating more trauma. This would be sponsored by the Commission; (b) basic workshops for psychiatric nurses, doctors, HIV workers, and pastors), (c) helping community care givers, and (d) developing better ways to run the memorial 100 days using their own new theme of Hope.
2. Support the sending of key Rwandans to the US to complete MA/PhD in Counseling so they can return as teachers
3. Developing a Masters degree counseling programfor KHI to run that is Christian based (at least a track of it would be.

Our proposal was met with enthusiasm!

We thought we were going to end the day with a bit of shopping. I got a bit of coffee and a few trinkets. However, on our way to the airport, we detoured to see the  Minister of Education. He had been unavailable earlier in the week and now wanted to meet us before we left. Though we should have been at the airport, we flew across the city to meet with him for 15 minutes. As an MD, he was able to give us some good guidance.

Got to the airport and through security (much laxer than the US). A large number came to see us off. Sadly, the Bishop was not allowed to get on the plane. Something wrong with his visa (he got back to the States where his family is staying til December two days later). Our plane left one hour late and very full of children (expats on the way to holiday in Europe). Going up the stairs to the plane I got what I hope not to be my last sniff of the cooking fires. After the doors closed the attendants went through the cabin spraying something to kill mosquitoes (repeated after our brief stop at Entebbe, Uganda). They said it wasn’t dangerous to us but I wonder just the same.

After a full day in Rwanda, we travelled to Belgium (10 hours), had a lay over of several hours (where I purchased some Belgian chocolate), and then another 8 hours to Newark. Sadly, I cannot sleep on planes so I enjoyed several “Bourne” movies. Our team was not able to sit together on the flight to the US and this was sad. As we got off the very full flight, we lost track of Leah. We went in the wrong customs line and she must have gotten through before us.

So, we end our trip with much to process, little time to do it, and no time to do it together. I have grown fond of my new acquaintances in Rwanda and teammates Leah and Josh. But, now it is time to sleep as 40 plus hours of being awake is taking its toll!

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July 10, 2009 · 9:02 am

Rwanda Day Five


Today we visited Nsinda Prison (population 8000) to interview those convicted of genocide. As we pulled up to the prison we met a large group of prisoners returning to the prison from the fields. They had only 1 guard with a machine gun and another with a stick. Many prisoners carried produce. Again, it felt like we were transported back a century. It was a dusty ancient looking place with shirtless male prisoners carrying huge logs on their shoulders (for firewood for their cooking fires). We were ushered to a bare cinder block room with a log and metal roof. 4 stools were brought for us. One of us noticed several wasp hives attached to the roof. In walked 19 prisoners all accused and convicted of mass murder. Quite a few were women and two had babies. One baby nursed throughout the session. The one guard stood outside the room with the door open to the out of doors. We asked them about their experiences. These individuals denied much wrongdoing, felt their former government led them astray, confessed, asked for forgiveness but felt they were denied it. They espoused genocidal ideology in that Tutsis were accused of killing the president and succeeding in forcing out the Hutus in the country.

Oh, as we entered the prison, we were greeted with “Nothing but the Blood” in native tongue over a loudspeaker. Apparently, there was a church service going on. What a contrast between the song (which recognizes guilt and the need for cleansing and the perceived innocence of the genocidaires (“I only mutilated dead bodies.”)

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July 9, 2009 · 8:59 am

Rwanda Day Four


Spent the day traveling around Kigali. First stop was Ndera hospital, the only psychiatric hospital in the country. It sits atop a dusty hill just outside the city. Upon entering the gate and getting out of the cars, we were welcomed by patients asking for water and money. The hospital has a 19th century or impoverished cold war era feel about it. Sterile cement block buildings set in a square. Sparse is an overstatement. We learned many staff and patients were murdered during the genocide. This hospital has over 200 patients (but just 12 beds for children). Psychiatric nurses provide the bulk of the care. Their “intake” room had one chair, one table and very little light. Patients lie on the grass outside in various states of unhealth. They have many with PTSD and schizophrenia diagnoses. Their only medication is Haldol. No “atypicals” or newer medications. A woman started screaming just outside our door. Translated: “Why does everyone hate me?”

From this hospital we traveled to the National Memorial Center to tour the genocide museum and grounds where some 300,000 have been interred. I couldn’t handle the room filled with poster size pictures of young children in happier days. The small print told of their favorite foods and activities…and how they were hacked to death.

Another lunch with a Christian counselor, Ms. Paulette, who told of her counseling work and training of lay counselors. After lunch, we met with the executive secretary of the Commission to educate about and prevent genocide. This handsomely dressed man shows the signs of his own trauma. he desires our help to guide the country to remember in healthier ways. Right now they play videos of the actual genocide and so during their 100 day memorial (April to July) they see so much trauma responses. He wished us to start right away.

Here’s a thought in my head: Does Rwanda need us or do we need Rwanda. I am amazed at how community minded this country is. They have no choice. People sacrifice for the good of all. They make do with a little. They are action oriented and start doing things rather than waiting to get it right. Risk calculation is not part of their thinking. What amazing things we could do in this country if we would learn from these people on how to put neighbor ahead of self.

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July 7, 2009 · 8:56 am

Rwanda Day Two


We arose early pumped up with adrenaline if not with good sleep. Our retreat house sits on the eastern end of Lake Muhazi–a long lake with many nooks and crannies. Just across the water are several red dirt paths leading to the lake. Children and women walk the paths from the banana treed village to the lake to fill their jerry cans with water. The plan is to travel first to Kigali and then on to Butare, some 2 hours south of the city. We were told this trip would be a breeze in comparison to a few years ago as the road is now paved.

Our first daytime views of the country reveal a lush green world with many hills and valleys. Everywhere people are working in their fields or walking to and fro. Most noticeable are the numerous children on bikes. They are carrying multiple cans of water, milk cans, 3 or 4 huge banana clusters. We are told these young children are not in school as they cannot afford to go beyond 6th grade. So, they make a living (less than 1 dollar a day) delivering water to the villagers to support their families One young man has balanced a table on his bike. Women are walking with bundles on their heads and babies wrapped up on their back. Life seems to be all about procuring enough water and food for the day.

In Kigali, we tour Moucecore, a nonprofit lay counseling ministry started by Bishop Alexis to train up community leaders to lead their fellow villagers to improve life for all. We’ll learn more about this ministry later this week. The trip south to Butare continues through beautiful, rural hills and sharp valleys (many vistas) filled with banana plantations, small knots of goats or cows, mud brick houses in all shapes of repair. We note a group of pink garbed prisoners working in a field. These are “genocidaires”. The trip included many hairy moments when passing slower vehicles or just missing pedestrians.

At Butare, we meet with the Dean of the faculty, a PhD in psychology. They have just begun a masters in psychology program and have their first group of graduates. Not sure thye really have much training. They have needs for help improving their program and for CE or grand rounds training. It will be possible to do such activities live as they will have fiber optic capacity by October.

After this meeting, we meet with 60 some pastors to hear about their experiences. They speak of those they fear are demon possessed, of young children traumatized by the videos of the genocide or by learning their parents took part in the killing. They have to deal with those infected by HIV due to rape and wonder how best to teach about forgiveness. We ended the day with some moving worship in the church. Though we could not translate the exact meaning of the songs, they still spoke to the heart.

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June 20, 2009 · 2:33 pm

A Christian Psychology 2


Chapter 2 of Eric Johnson’s book, Foundations for Soul Care(IVP, 2007) traces the use of the bible as soul healing agent throughout the history of the church. Eric explores the work of early church fathers, medieval church, reformation, and Puritanism as examples of soul care writings based on the biblical text.

The chapter then moves to consider the historical movement of the relationship between Christianity and science. While early scientists saw their field of study as something revealing evidence of God’s handiwork, a “fracture” begins with Enlightenment thinking.

Ironically, while Christianity contributed to the development of the scientific revolution, that revolution came to be increasingly linked to an alternative worldview: modernism (p. 63)

 Eric does a nice job summarizing the transition. One moves from the use of metaphysics, tradition, and revelation (Eric’s words) to a focus on the specific object of study and the use of observation. Thus, human reason and empiricism rule the day.

At core what distinguishes modernism and Christianity as ways of thinking about human life are their different ultimate commitments. Christianity assumes a God-centered worldview in which the individual self (with its submissive reason) is seen as relatively important in relation to the rest of creation but relatively unimportant in comparison to the infinite God. In such a framework, science is a noble task done first for the glory of God and second for the benefit of humanity, a good means to a greater end. Modernism inherited the self of Christianity, but without its God to keep things in proper perspective, the self became the center of the universe (an anti-Copernican revolution!), eventually regarding its own experience, together with its autonomous reason, as the foundations of truth and morality…Consequently, individualism–and not relationship–was established at the base of the modern worldview. (p. 65)

Eric goes on to talk about how Christianity imbibed the modernistic assumptions (either trying to use empiricism to defend fundamentalism or accepting that psychology is the best way to understand human functioning).

Eric does a good job summarizing the modern pastoral care movement and capitulation to psychotherapy models. Further, he shows how a Barthian model of soul care was not quite liberalism nor evangelicalism. Finally, he reviews the postmodern turn and “postliberal recovery.”

Johnson’s take on modern pastoral care movement? It doesn’t offer much to the evangelical in the way of thinking biblically about souls. The postliberal engagement with the Bible does two things: re-engages the text of Scripture as a real dialogue partner while not dismissing the helps within positivist psychology.

If you are unfamiliar with the modern history of Christian counseling and pastoral care, this is a great chapter to start with. You can get  a quick overview plus a bibliography to point you to original sources. The next chapters deal with evangelical and fundamentalist counseling models and how they dealt with Scripture (i.e., biblical counseling or integrationism).

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June 18, 2009 · 4:02 pm

Making sense of things and the suffering it brings


Ever had the experience of having your brain work overtime to try to make sense of some action, something done to you?

Some things make no sense and we know it–things like the premature death of a single parent, a genocide, impulsive choices that make matters much worse, etc. Yet our minds keep trying to figure it out. Why? How come? What does it mean? If only I could understand what God was up to then I could…

Sometimes, trying to understand the incomprehensible compounds and adds to our present sufferings.

We then tend to respond in one of three ways, (a) give up and stop functioning, or (b) develop antiseptic conclusions (e.g., God is going to use this to bless me later), or (c) put our heads down, ignore the pain and do the thing in front of us.

Response b may in fact be true but often it is used to help the person dissociate from the incomprehensible in a way to keep living and moving.

What do you find most helpful when dealing with an unsuccessful attempt to make sense out of suffering? How do you avoid giving in to ruminations about unanswerable angsts or hopelessness or its opposite, baseless optimism that denies the present reality?

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June 16, 2009 · 12:40 pm

Ethics Codes and Christian Counselors


Last night was the last class session of my ethics and practicum orientation classes. In both places students were discussing matters related to mandated abuse reporting, dual relationships, and attitudes towards state and professional ethics codes.

Evangelical or conservative people tend to have several responses to ethics codes that I want to highlight here.

1. Fear. Actually almost every student has this reaction. The rules can be complex and their are vague rules about everything (barter, dual relationships, advertising, competency, etc) which may even seemingly contradict other rules. While they have been written to protect the client, following them often leads to both client and counselor having vulnerable feelings (i.e., abuse reporting rules) and feeling a bit out of control.

2. Rejection (or dismissal). One’s feelings about government regulation and whether submitting oneself to a secular agency (licensing board, professional organization) may tempt the counselor to think little of the codes. In particular, the heavy emphasis on avoiding dual relationships where possible seems wrongheaded to many ministry minded individuals. It would seem that sterile counseling relationships (no touch, no informality, no friendship, keeping mental health records, etc.) run counter to the values of brother/sister relationships in church settings.

3. Fastidiousness. Maybe this is really just as number one. But some respond to ethics codes by being ethics junkies. They fastidiously keep every iota and in so doing tend to suck the humanity out of the counseling relationship.

A better way?

The first time you face something completely new, fear is common. With repeated contact, comfort can develop. At least that is what I told myself after my 3rd statistics and research design class. Remembering that these rules are designed not merely to catch you doing wrong but to help protect you and your clients might help. The more you talk about them with others (including the spirit of the rule, not just the letter), the more you will relax.

Also, paranoia is not a good character feature for counselors. Thus, if you have a tendency to see the government as all bad all the time…if you think alarmist conservative talk radio is right from God’s mouth to your ear…if you look at every psychological ethics rule as anti-Christian, you may not be right for this field. In fact, such feelings may induce pride, arrogance and forgetting that the number one goal is avoiding client exploitation and increasing client protection (yes, even from themself).  Further, 1 Peter 2 reminds you to submit to your authorities and governments–even if they are harsh…so you can silence ignorant talk and not use your “freedom as a cover-up for evil.”

Finally, don’t forget to be human. Cross your t’s, dot your i’s but do it while showing concern for the person in front of you. Some of your ethical standards may seem foreign to others. A kind explanation can do wonders.

Hey, and don’t forget to seek out consultation and/or supervision. There is NO reason you should be going this path alone.

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June 11, 2009 · 9:01 am

Counselor Self Care


One of my former students, Eartha Holland, just got a short essay published by the Black American Association of Christian Counselors (BAACC). She had some really good points so I got permission from her to post her page here. Some good reminders of the necessity of caring for our own souls.Eartha-BAACC Self Care Article

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June 10, 2009 · 2:08 pm

A Christian Psychology Proposal 1


This summer I’m choosing to read through Eric Johnson’s Foundations for Soul Care: A Christian Psychology Proposal (IVP, 2007). Eric is the founding director of the Society for Christian Psychology. I’ve skimmed large portions of it before, had numerous, enjoyable conversations with Eric over the years, and am familiar (and mostly agree) with his ideas. But, I thought I might share of few tidbits now and again from what I’m reading. But realize the book is 700 plus pages (he tells me he had to cut 1/3 of his book to get it published!). So, I will not be blogging through it like I have done with others books.

What distinguishes this Christian Psychology?

The book attempts to lay out a framework of Christian psychology. Johnson says that a framework ought to include these core distinctives:

1. It is doxological. It should glorify God in all that it aims to do and understand.

2. It is semiodiscursive. Here, he uses this word to convey that any psychology is a use of words, descriptions, and interpretations that point to meaning. “…soul care is interested in the referential function of various aspects of human life: language, emotions, mental images, actions…”

3. It is dialogical/trialogical. It is relational and interactive rather than something that exists by itself.

4. It is canonical. The bible, Johnson says, is the Text of texts. There is a standard that is our guide for soul care.

5. It is psychological. It is interested in the “nature of human beings and their psychopathology and recovery….Christian soul-care providers study the bible not for its own sake but for the light it sheds on the nature of human beings and their well-being and improvement.” (p. 16) 

I encourage interested parties to read his first chapters. Chapter one, “The Place for the Bible in Christian Soul Care” acknowledges that “The entire canon shows a concern with human well-being with reference to God.” He goes on to explicate that by sampling from Old and New Testaments as well as to define “soul-healing to include both salvation and sanctification in both vertical and horizontal dimension. Soul healing is not merely for creating the right relationship with God but also for healing and strengthening human to human relationships.  Chapter 2 and 3 talk about the misuses of the Bible in both biblical counseling and Christian psychological venues.

This book is exceptionally focused on the foundations. So, we may not expect great focus on whether soul care will greatly reduce mental healthy symptoms. But, lest we only think pragmatic thoughts, we ought to step back and consider the basis of the practical–the theoretical and theological bases for our work.

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June 4, 2009 · 10:18 am

Biblical Seminary Summer Offerings


Every summer we have a summer counseling institute where we offer electives for current students, alum, and other interested parties (graduate counseling credit counts for required CEUs!). This summer we have three fabulous offerings!

1. **ON-LINE** Models of Counseling(2 credits) by Dr. Bryan Maier. From 7/6 to 8/31. This class has NO on-site time. If you have ever wanted to study the historic models of counseling from a Christian perspective this class is for you. Bryan really understands the basics of these models, offers great insights and careful thinking. Plus, Bryan’s material includes narrated PowerPoints and short videos made to stimulate your thinking. 

2.  Theology of Suffering & Disability(2 credits) by Jerry Borton and Kevin Kain. Class meets two weekends (7/10-11, 7/24-25). Jerry works for Joni & Friends and both Jerry and Kevin have intimate understanding of Cerebral Palsy. This is not, per se, a counseling course but open to all who want to think biblically about suffering and disability and apply that to their counseling or ministry practices.

3. Counseling Victims in the Criminal Justice System(1 credit) by Jenn Zuck. Class meets one weekend (August 7-8). Jenn has tremendous experiences working with victims of abuse and crimes in the justice system. Sadly, the church has not supported these individuals as it could have (I have heard several Christian prosecutors tell me that they have yet to see a pastor come in support of the victim, but many times observed the pastor supporting the alleged perpetrator). If you don’t live in the area, consider a visit. Class meets Friday night and Saturday. Philadelphia is a great town to visit!

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