Therapy has many negative connotations. Hollywood, for some reason, has portrayed therapy by psychiatry as a mainstream concept. They present it as if everyone visited a psychotherapist regularly to better themselves. The reality is that this could not be farther from the truth, both fiscally and pridefully. The truth is that there is a stigma associated with seeking mental health betterment from physicians or even counselors. This stigma is stronger in faith-based communities. Many people in these communities believe that the Bible precludes them from seeking therapy or professional counseling. We hope this article gives you a taste of what therapy is. It also shows what therapy can be to you and your family.
It is important to make a side note. Biblical counseling (therapy) is regularly debated by many theologians. They claim that secular therapy or counseling offers nothing beneficial to biblical counseling. Some even consider it somewhat equal to heresy or apostasy. Many famous pastors and theologians have stated that biblical counseling is not performed correctly. This issue is present in most practiced settings today. They do, however, have some good points of dissent but those matters are best left for another time.
Family therapy (counseling) from a pure Christian perspective does have its own obstacles. We, as Christian counselors have to marry secular therapy with biblical doctrine and precedents. This can only be done with a good understanding of these therapies taken from a biblical lens. This essay will analyze psychodynamic family therapy approaches. It will also examine contextual approaches. Additionally, it will critique experiential family therapy applications in faith-based counseling situations. The purpose is to serve the community and its families with solid theology. We aim to extrapolate vital components of these therapy approaches without bastardizing both texts. Renowned professor and Christian psychologist Mark Yarhouse write:
The Christian faith has a unique significance in understanding the potential of relational life. Furthermore, we believe that the counselor, psychologist, therapist, and pastor are more effective in aiding families or couples in crisis. They are better equipped when they can utilize the central themes of the Christian tradition. Combining these with the best practices drawn from mental health theory, research, and technique enhances their effectiveness.[1]
We believe this is the sagest approach to Christian biblical counseling. It exalts biblical doctrine over secular theories. At the same time, it acknowledges what several centuries of mental health research offer. These findings complement and support said doctrine.
Psychodynamic theory is one of the most famous styles of counseling. It is often portrayed by the majority of Hollywood movies and television shows. Most notably was the famous nineties sitcom character Frasier Crane who highlighted this concept throughout its highly acclaimed eleven-year run. A good perspective to hold is that it “addresses how family structures influence daily interactions and experiences.”[2] Psychodynamic therapy was originally the brainchild of Sigmund Freud. It has evolved and augmented itself by pulling from various theories. These theories are designed to analyze the self, ego, and context. They also examine attachment, object relations, and many more aspects.[3] Psychodynamic therapy views the family structure as an attachment of relationships within the family order. These relationships can be symbiotic or parasitic depending on the level of dysfunction within the family or its members. For brevity sake, this discipline generically espouses:
The effectiveness of the therapeutic process largely depends on the therapist’s ability to enter into the system (engagement). They must receive the family’s accumulated projections (transference). Interpreting these transferred projections from the perspective of objectivity (countertransference) is essential. The therapist must implement an alternative set of responses. These responses can be taught, practiced, and mastered by the family (intervention).[4]
This process is analytic to the point of failure. It seems to view relationships without passion or forethought. They are seen as mechanisms on a family cog. This integrates into humanistic reactions similar to those of machines or heartlessness. Psychodynamic has biblical foundational problems. It seems to conclude that outside influences in the family are integral to the family itself. It attempts to fracture the biblical family structure and blurs the lines between man/woman and his/her actions. This type of therapy would be a hard challenge for Christian family therapists. However, in situations involving secular, agnostic, or atheistic family members, this therapy could help. It may gain the respect and trust of those members.
Contextual family therapy focuses on the holistic emotional healing of the family as a whole. “Contextual family therapy, initially developed by Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy, is an integrative, intergenerational family therapy framework that focuses on relational strengths or resources and stresses responsible relating.”[5] These strengths or resources are mainly built on trust or working toward trust. This trust is built-in contextual dimensions or modes of expression. “The four modes of contextual expression are facts, individual psychologies, transactions, and relational ethics.”[6]
Facts deal with unchangeable factors such as race and gender but can be changeable such as relationships or faith. Individual psychology is the feeling toward experiences within any given context. It involves a personal mental framework. This framework is subjective by nature. It influences how an individual feels toward incidents that happen during their life history. “Transactions involve observable patterns of relational behavior, such as feedback loops.”[7] Relational ethics or a set of rules or morals that are used to guide facts, individual psychology, and transactions. Later in Nagy’s life, he developed a fifth dimension known as ontics. In this dimension, health and symptoms are measures of the balance in one’s significant relationships.[8] This process analyzes the immediate family situation to understand a larger family structure. It places family situations in a broader context of history and meaning.
The contextual family model is useful but also carries subjective problems: whose facts are we basing this on? In today’s society, the secular world is altering certain immutable facts. One example is gender. This change could lead to serious problems from this point of view. Relational ethics poise the question; by whose ethics are we implementing on the first three dimensions? Ethics itself in a secular world is subjective. This can cause serious problems in therapy sessions when therapists and clients have a different view of ethics. The ontics dimension is fraught with questionable situations. These situations bring secular and religious doctrine to a standstill. Questions such as what constitutes a balance or which relationship is most significant arise. These questions give skepticism to contextual family therapy as its effectiveness is Christian counseling. Most notably, the context of the counseling needs clarity. Will it be held in a secular world or in the kingdom of God, here on earth? For this form of therapy to be most effective, truth must be established at the onset.
The experiential family theory aims to help family members better understand each other’s emotions and experiences. It strives for reconciliation. “Experiential family therapy is rooted and grounded deep in the 1960s values of humanistic, gestalt, and existential perspectives of counseling.”[9] This approach values the self-actualization of each individual within the family structure. These individualistic qualities would then add to or detract from the family and give way to it dynamic. It stems from existentialism and humanistic philosophy that festooned the counter-culture hippy movement. It focuses on emotionally based therapy (EBT) whereas emotions and feelings tend to overrun the undergird the sessions.
From a Christina perspective, this would seem to be the least useful of most therapy approaches. “This is because experiential family therapy originates from an existential-humanistic perspective that, in its early years, defied rigid codification of theory, and empirical evidence for its effectiveness.”[10] It actually can be argued that it goes against the truth. The existential-humanistic movement advocated against empirical truth, which is in stark contrast to biblical theology. Today, this is manifested in post-modern millennialism. The “this is my truth” sentiments and secular self-indulgence prevail. No one is wrong, and feelings or victimization are paramount.
In conclusion, many different types of family therapy models can be helpful to Christian counselors or therapists. We just skimmed the surface. Psychodynamic, contextual, and experiential are just a few. They form a large body of work developed over decades. Some argue it spans centuries of research. R-Rated Religion strongly urges you to explore some of these methods. Consider them when seeking family or couples counseling. The bible is about salvation, truth, and sanctification and what that means to the practical life of each believer. These principles are all methods of Christian counseling, whether sought after in sessions, our private homes, or the Church pew. These methods are obtained by faith, wisdom, and seeking after biblical truth.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with seeking biblical Christian counseling. It is not something to be embarrassed about or ashamed of. It is, however, vital that you understand what counseling consists of. You should know where it comes from. Be aware of the methods used in the post-modern world in which we all live. The legacy of Christian philosophy and theology is documented over time through the word of God. This legacy can bring wonderful methods and theories into the lives of families seeking guidance, reconciliation, and God’s truth. The key is not to be naïve in what you believe.
Bibliography
Kirby-Green, Gloria, and J. Elton Moore. “The Effects of Cyclical Psychodynamics Therapy on the Codependence of Families with Legally Blind Children.” Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness 95, no. 3 (March 2001): 167–72. https://www.thecampuscommon.com/library/ezproxy/ticketdemocs.asp?sch=suo&turl=https://search-ebscohost-com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pbh&AN=4255175&site=eds-live.
Sudem, Michael E.1, sudem@lasalle.edu, and Laura2 Eubanks Gambrel. “A Contextual Therapy Framework for MFT Educators: Facilitating Trustworthy Asymmetrical Training Relationships.” Journal of Marital & Family Therapy 43, no. 4 (October 2017): 617–30. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12224.
Yarhouse, Mark A., and James Nathan Sells. Family Therapies: a Comprehensive Christian Appraisal. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, an imprint of Intervarsity Press, 2017.
Footnotes:
[1] Mark A. Yarhouse and James N. Sells, Family Therapies: A Comprehensive Christian Appraisal (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008), 15–16.
[2] Gloria Kirby-Green and J. Elton Moore, “The Effects of Cyclical Psychodynamics Therapy on the Codependence of Families with Legally Blind Children.,” Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness 95, no. 3 (March 2001): pp. 167-172, https://www.thecampuscommon.com/library/ezproxy/ticketdemocs.asp?sch=suo&turl=https://search-ebscohost-com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pbh&AN=4255175&site=eds-live.
[3] Yarhouse and James, Family Therapies, 147-148.
[4] Mark A. Yarhouse and James N. Sells, Family Therapies: A Comprehensive Christian Appraisal (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008), 157.
[5] Michael Sudem, sudem@lasalle.edu Sude and Laura2 Eubanks Gambrel, “A Contextual Therapy Framework for MFT Educators: Facilitating Trustworthy Asymmetrical Training Relationships.,” Journal of Marital & Family Therapy 43, no. 4 (October 2017): pp. 617-630, https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12224.
[6] Mark A. Yarhouse and James N. Sells, Family Therapies: A Comprehensive Christian Appraisal (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008), 173.
[7] Michael E.1, sudem@lasalle.edu Sude and Laura2 Eubanks Gambrel, “A Contextual Therapy Framework for MFT Educators: Facilitating Trustworthy Asymmetrical Training Relationships.,” Journal of Marital & Family Therapy 43, no. 4 (October 2017): pp. 617-630, https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12224.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Mark A. Yarhouse and James N. Sells, Family Therapies: A Comprehensive Christian Appraisal (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008), 192.
[10] Ibid, 199.
R-Rated Religion 