the 2009 AACC World Conference begins tomorrow at the Opryland Hotel, Nashville, TN. On Wednesday, I’ll be presenting a 3 hour pre-conference workshop with Dr. Diane Langberg where we explore the counselor’s role in addressing pastoral sexual abuse. The conference proper begins Wednesday night and runs to Saturday evening. During that time I’ll be attending various presentations, meeting with colleagues, attending a meeting about next steps in Rwanda and presenting my own hour long training (Friday afternoon) entitled, “Engaging Biblical Texts in Trauma Therapy”. Check out my articles, slides, etc. page for PPT slides.
If possible, I’ll blog a few extra entries to give you a flavor of what the conference is like. I’m hoping to be able to link you all to the special video to be shown regarding Rwanda and our “ask” card where we will be asking attendees to consider donating to the Rwanda project. I hear they are selling coffee there to benefit our work as well. Can’t wait to buy some more Rwandan coffee.
Tag Archives: christian counseling
AACC World Conference
Be Anxious for Nothing???
Posted slides on my “Articles, Slides…” page (#13 on the list) from the talk I gave last night at Macedonia Baptist Church. Talk entitled: Be Anxious for Nothing??? Dealing with Anxiety in a Frightening World.
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What should Christian counseling look like?
I posted this little item for my last guest blog at www.christianpsych.orgfor the month of July. In it I mention “Christian Counseling: An Introduction” by Malony and Augsburger (2007).
And no, I don’t say what it should look like–merely a comment that we still need to figure out how we handle the faith/science dichotomy that we’ve been handed all these years.
Those who have been around wisecounsel for a while will remember I blogged through each chapter. If you are interested in seeing those posts, just use the search engine on this page to find posts mentioning Malony.
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Evaluating Models of Counseling
I’m a little late to post this here but I am the Society of Christian Psychology’sguest blogger of the month. Here’s the post that I put up for today on how to parse the next hot new model of counseling you come across. Check it out at:
http://christianpsych.org/wp_scp/2009/07/20/evaluating-models-of-christian-psychology/
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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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Rwanda Day 6
Today (Sunday) we attended the local Anglican church. Several hundred were in attendance. 5 white folk (us four plus a visiting Brit and head of a school in the area). We were introduced during the service and each asked to speak a word of greeting. We heard some good singing and some exuberant preaching from the Bishop on Phil. 1:4-6. We partook in Communion (dunking. I was told this was because of the scourge of AIDS). Afterwards, we were mobbed by kids. Leah got some good pictures that I hope to share with you soon. The afternoon was quite slow though we spent considerable time as a foursome with both good laughs and planning what we might do for our “next steps” in helping this country. Our team has done well together. All our waking time is with each other but no troubles thus far. Though, I must say it has been harder than I imagined not knowing what is going on with Kim and the boys. I’m ready to come home though we have two more days to go. We have not had email or phone contact since the first day or so.
As the daylight faded, we took a swim in the lake. Somehow, it seemed more risky swimming in this beautiful lake since it is an African lake.
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Filed under Rwanda
Rwanda Day Three
Awoke to the call to prayer by the local imam. Did not sleep well. Sinus headache due to the ever present charcoal smoke. We left Butare for Kigali to meet with with the president of the senate (2nd in command of the country) but he was suddenly unavailable. Something about the presence of UN VIPs. I guess that trumps us. Instead we met with the a key person at the ministry of mental health. She lamented the need to use BA level psychology grads and lay helpers to do the vast majority of their counseling. Lunch at Moucecore where we learned more about their ministry to prevent HIV, to protect children’s rights, teach the bible and train individuals to be community leaders.
After lunch we met with the rector (dean) of Kigali Health Institute. They confirmed the need for masters and doctoral counselors with knowledge of mental health problems. They have no problems with specifically christian counseling training and would like us to help them create a masters program and also teach or do distance ed for them. From this meeting,we drove across the city to Barakabao Foundation another ministry of the Bishop to care for over 5000 orphans. These orphans are in either foster families or child-headed homes–and they do it all with 12 staff. As some of the staff spoke, you could see their own stress and trauma. When it comes to orphans, they see 5 different types: genocide orphans, orphans whose parents died in refugee camps in the DRC, orphans born through rape, those whose parents died due to HIV, and those whose parents are in jail.
The day ended in Gahini at the retreat house. The hot meal and bed are welcome sights after such a long day of meetings. On the good note, I had a 2 minute call home. Sam answered and was overjoyed to hear me. Told Kim I was fine. Not sure if I’ll get further opportunities. I admit I’m homesick. I’ve not gone this long of a time without talking to Kim.
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Filed under christian psychology, counseling, Psychology, Rwanda
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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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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Filed under christian counseling, counseling
Can your body cause you to sin, part 3
As promised, I offer you a vignette to consider as we think about the matter of culpability and involuntary sins.
Consider a 2 year old that has missed his daily nap, is hungry, and tired of being out in public. He has a meltdown. He kicks, screams, cries, refuses his mother’s comfort because he wants some object he cannot have. The good parent recognizes the child’s distress, whispers in his ear to comfort him, says “no” firmly to his kicks, and finds something for him to eat and a place to take a nap. Has the child sinned? He surely has demanded something, acted aggressively, maybe even disobeyed by going after the object after his mother said to stop. Yes, he sinned. But was it really voluntary? Well, maybe partly. But don’t we consider the circumstances and the fact that his body is not helping matters. We forgive, we overlook, we understand, we help. We do so because we know his choices are not really voluntary.
Now, we may have another reaction altogether when we see our little boy (fully rested and fed) look us in the eye and try to bite his baby brother after we just told him to stop. We know he has great voluntary control here and is in a power struggle. And we respond with appropriate discipline.
We could easily have considered a vignette of a brain injured man or a panic disordered woman. We respond to individuals based not on whether something is sinful or not but on how much voluntary control we think they have and the circumstances in play (environment, biology, understanding, etc.).
So, our bodies can cause us to sin. In the classic sense, we are guilty whether it is voluntary or not. And yet we, and God himself, varies responses to such sins based on a variety of factors. We do not ascribe innocence to those less culpable but do try to determine levels of responsibility. Thankfully, all of it is covered by the cross.
Here’s one way this might matter. I find many afraid to seek biological aids for what they determine to be spiritual problems (addictions, depression, anxiety, etc.). If we see body and soul together, then both body and soul interventions are working toward the same goal.
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Filed under biblical counseling, christian counseling, Doctrine/Theology, sin
Musings on Faith and Psychology 