Interventions That Apply Scripture In Psychotherapy (Essay Sample)

INTERVENTIONS THAT APPLY SCRIPTURE IN PSYCHOTHERAPY
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Interventions that Apply Scripture in Psychotherapy by Garzon, Fernando
Summary It is sometimes challenging for Christian therapist to develop treatment components that integrate the Bible. Formatted as a case study, this article describes various strategies that a clinician may use scripture within psychotherapy interventions. The author also aimed at increasing the awareness of therapists in these techniques. This article utilizes the case of George to give examples of various interventions strategies. George is a fictional character who possesses issues that most people go through. He dealt with depression on and off, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts and sleepless nights. He has been a regular Christian for more than two years, and he finds the church to be a good source of solace. However, he does not feel comfortable, and he thinks that people of the church will take him as a loser when they realize what he is going through. George dreams of being a pilot but finds this dream simply unattainable because of his low self-esteem.  Garzon envisages issues surrounding scripture interventions. The article relates interventions that utilize implicit scripture, Theo-educational, cognitive, psycho educational, behavioral, and affective experiential approaches. Ethical issues are also of great concern within this discussion. According to Garzon (2005); an individual must acknowledge that, within these interventions, there must be dual relationships, an imposition of values and issues such as competence and informed consent of the counselor may arise, and boundaries between the church and the state may be violated. To avoid these ethical concerns, there should be inclusive conformed consent, inclusive assessments that clearly reflects the spiritual beliefs of the client, and proper usage of the scripture interventions only within specific clients (Garzon, 2005). Garzon asserts that to avoid negative outcomes such as guilt, the religious background of both client and counselor must be positive. It is also vital to incorporate values of the therapists as part of the assessment. . The author concluded that there are various other ways of using Scripture as an intervention in quest for a therapy with a Christian client who wants this type of experience. The word of God is a potent resource that should be used by clinicians provided the correct measures and procedures are used and abided by (Garzon, 2005).
Reflection “Interventions that apply Scripture in Psychotherapy” is not an exhaustive literature review of all interventions that can include scripture as a resource; on the contrary the article aimed at: first, increasing the awareness of Christian therapists and various types of Scripture interventions available. Secondly, to encourage divinely inspired creativity that will ensure development of strategies to incorporate the Holy Word of god in Christian Psychotherapy. The Bible is as a source of healing powers to many Christians. Whatever the approach an individual take in relation to Christian therapy, people are to differentiate how the Bible’s messages apply to therapy. To be honest, Christian counseling is one of the diverse professions in the world today. However, within this diversity there is always various perspectives on if, when, and how to use the Bible in psychological treatment. It is worth noting that some approaches might abjure overt approaches incorporating Scripture in treatment, others decree such usage to be the only way to undertake Christian therapy, while on the other hand others takes a client-specific and situation-specific stance. The author uses a more realistic approach in demonstrating how the Scripture can be used in therapy. This is achieved through the fictions story about George. The story of George is a true reflection of what many people goes through. As a matter of fact, many Christians go to church to seek comfort and peace of mind just like George did. However, they might not get the required assistance due to the fear of how other Christians may react when they open up and reveal what they are going through.  Going to church alone is not enough and for this reason; Garzon argues that there is a need for using Scripture in psychotherapy. The most interesting part of this article it takes into account God’s word and where the client is in their own spiritual walk. It further gives the client the right direction in Scripture to help them readjust their perceptions of how they should feel about themselves. In my own opinion, this article is a very interesting and important one that shows how Christian therapists sometimes emphasizes an incarnational perception on spiritual interventions such as using the God’s word in treatment. This article not only demonstrates how the scripture can be used for psychotherapy, but it also gives the clients education around the importance of feelings that they may be feeling. It gives clients a loom into the Scripture and passages that relate to situations that they are going through. A similar article that is also interesting and worth reading are: “Use of Prayer and Scripture in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy” by Latonya Philips. These two articles relate well and give advanced description of Scripture can be used in psychotherapy. Application Most if not all Christians Counselor passionately believe that the Bible is the source of words and presence of God. They are not only God’s words but also His words to the humankind. Thus, we resort to these words when we are, hurting,...