Integrating Faith and Practice: A Descriptive Study Toward an Operational Definition of Christian Therapy and Counseling Practice
Reconciling the practice differences between Christian therapy and counseling models is a difficult task. Although research has been conducted on several integrative approaches that focus on the compatibility and inclusion of Christian faith-based interventions and activities in established psychoth...
| Authors: | ; ; ; ; |
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
2021
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| In: |
Journal of psychology and christianity
Year: 2021, Volume: 40, Issue: 4, Pages: 298-316 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Psychotherapy
/ Integration
/ Christianity
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| IxTheo Classification: | CA Christianity ZD Psychology |
| Summary: | Reconciling the practice differences between Christian therapy and counseling models is a difficult task. Although research has been conducted on several integrative approaches that focus on the compatibility and inclusion of Christian faith-based interventions and activities in established psychotherapies, few studies have surveyed the current practices among those who identify as Christian therapists or counselors. This study addressed this gap and investigated therapy and counseling practices currently in use by those who identify as Christian therapists or counselors. An online anonymous survey was conducted among members of several Christian therapist and counselor organizations. Participants were asked demographic questions, specific qualitative and quantitative inquiries into faith in practice, and how effective and faith-integrative they perceived specified treatment components. Qualitative components were analyzed for content. Quantitative components were analyzed for frequency and compared across variables. Results showed some agreement among participants on current practice, with wide variability reported in the use of faith-based interventions and activities, especially between high and low participant groups for the degree of acceptance of scientific evidence-based interventions. Similar differences in responses were observed when asked how to treat a novel vignette example of an individual with faith-related presenting problems. These differences highlight a lack of accepted best practices and need for more organized and consistent training in Christian therapy and counseling. In addition, an argument is made for the need for an operational definition of Christian therapy and counseling practices to cut through the ideological differences between viewpoints. |
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| ISSN: | 0733-4273 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of psychology and christianity
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