Summary
In his book, Psychology, theology, and spirituality in Christian counseling, Dr. Mark McMinn argues that Christian counseling entails more than theology and psychology. McMinn (1996) believes that both the spirituality and the interdisciplinary approaches need full consideration.
The interdisciplinary approach arises from the view that the client and the counselor are involved. The author adds that the counselor needs spiritual maturity in a bid to get the client to the same level of maturity.
The structure that McMinn implements stresses on healing, with the objective of creating an appropriate feeling of self that translates into a necessity and sums up with a flourishing association with other people and God.
McMinn (1996) believes that even outside the confines of the counseling session, prayers need to be used, but with care. He explains that he knows that it is vital for the counselor to have a personal time for prayers. Individual prayers coupled with intercessions build the basis for Christian counseling.
The disadvantage of this initiative is that it may exceed the professional boundaries, thus leading to unhealthy personal feelings between the counselor and client.
The author emphatically points out that the scriptural references for Christian counselors should be a firm guideline for relaying the truth and knowing how to utilize it efficiently. It relies on the client’s psychological, emotional, and spiritual condition in accordance with how the counselor interprets the situation.
The clients can rely on the scriptures as a tool for changing their initial negative beliefs. In line with the aspect of sin, McMinn (1996) suggests that the counselors need to present both aspects of personal and original sin to the clients. It supports the belief that the fault lies with God as well as with their wrong decisions in life.
The author states that the clients always feel better when the counselors reply in a non-judgmental and caring manner (McMinn 1996). He adds that the people who mostly take sin lightly need to know the needs of the confrontation of repentance and sin aids them to understand the magnitude of their iniquity.
Forgiveness, according to McMinn (1996) is a reflection of individuality and perspective transformation and it needs genuine surrender to God.
The primary objective of repentance is to enhance an uplifted feeling of self, others, and God, which ultimately brings the urgent rest emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually (McMinn 1996).
In this part, the counselor needs to know what his/her forgiveness from Christ means in a bid to teach it to the clients. Elaborately narrating on redemption can help a non-believer client to turn to Christ.
In summary, the work done by McMinn motivates counselors to incorporate and utilize lessons concurrently not through his/her strength, but reinforced by Godâs grace and the Holy Spirit for the main purpose of healing and nurturing clients.
Concrete Response
The elaborate model of mental and spiritual well being offers a more interesting perspective of mental and spiritual working of recognizing my past and my present. I say this since the problem has often resided within the commonly heard reply of how I perceived myself before and after the change.
Salvation never increased the initial feeling of self. Even the feelings of hurt never changed. A properly balanced sense of self progressively developed. Due to the lessons I obtained in church, counseling, and relationships, I realized that my wait emerged from the fact that I was maturing and evolving spiritually.
However, I am not sure whether the clients that come for the sessions can relate or observe the difference as they come for fast solutions. The duration assigned to each client varies, but McMinn (1996) has no sub category for wanted outcome and pre-generated ideas in the clientsâ section.
Regardless of the view that the book is mainly for the counselorsâ improvement of which the client profits, I discovered that I had a problem. I hated how I was and desperately needed a change. I am certain that the clientsâ coming is a reflection of a mutual feeling that we both share.
It hurts to see them not having any significant change during the sessions. I can relate to the authorâs stressing the aspect of praying in this line of work.
However, this book implies that there are no mistakes allowed, which in our nature as humans, is unrealistic. As magnificent as the McMinn model is, implementing it is more difficult than imagined.
Reflection
There is an interdisciplinary approach to treating the psychological, emotional, and spiritual aspects of life that are implemented in small doses (McMinn, 1996). During the counseling sessions, there may be a need for an outline or graph to improve on the visual and learning sessions.
The counseling techniques require careful planning and implementation to allow the client to grasp, fully visualize, and gain the perceived benefits. In some cases, this aspect may never happen to the counselor or at least in one seating.
As demonstrated in Eph. 6:10-13, a Christian counselor can never engage in such warfare unless s/he wears the full divine armor.
In occupations that involve the Christian ministry like Christian counseling, there is a need to place importance on daily prayer and confession. It would be unreasonable to indulge in a counseling session without first asking for the Holy Spiritâs guidance and divine covering.
The counselorsâ objective would diminish due to occupational burnout. Such drastic situations do not define Christian counseling.
In such a case, both the client and counselor fail due to the lack of divine support. In this aspect, the role of the Christian counselor is to guide the lost souls back to the divine light, thus marking their importance in the profession.
Application
The biblical book of James challenges Christians that actions have to complement faith. Therefore, if counseling is my calling, I then must perform all that God requires of me as a Christian. As the medium that God uses for change, I have to perform at full capacity to help as God expects of me.
I consider myself a loyal medium that will go to great lengths to accomplish the task. I believe that God utilizes such willing tools as myself within his great plans. Through reading McMinnâs book, I have started to see my powerlessness, as a firm believer in the Christian gospel. A need and new love for the Christian doctrine is now evident, as I long for a more divine encounter with God.
The fear of coming out as a spiritually inadequate person drives me to seclude myself from others. It is evident that prayers and fasting during the weekends should be a priority in my schedule.
Such days need to be with few disturbances both externally and internally when I am alone in the house. As a counselor, I can decide to give up some of the morning sleep and dedicate the time to devotion, meditation, spirituality, and theology before the daybreak.
Reference
McMinn, M. (2011). Psychology, theology, and spirituality in Christian counseling. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishing.