Saturday, April 11, 1998

Christian therapists blend professional training, personal faith

By Raymond McCaffrey / The Gazette

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- In the beginning, there was the father - Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychology.

Freud preached a scientific approach to studying the mind, a philosophy that lives on today in the therapist's "bible": the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

In Freud's world, religious beliefs were little more than "illusions," a psychological defense people concocted to allay their primal fears.

Today, however, a growing number of therapists think of the father as, well, the Father: God, not Freud. And while many of them rely on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual when treating patients, their bible, at heart, is the Bible.

These individuals are not just professionals who are forthright about their faith; they are licensed therapists who are guided by the teachings of both Scripture and modern psychology.

Some of them have banded together in professional organizations like the American Association of Christian Counselors, an organization whose national membership has jumped from about 250 to roughly 15,500 members in five years or so.

Christian therapists can be found working for large ministries, such as Focus on the Family, or in private practice.

Psychologist Joe Hammock blends what he considers the best of both worlds -- his professional training and Christian faith -- in his private practice, the Center for Biblical Psychology.

"Biblical Psychology represents my attempt to combine or to integrate the highest and best of historical orthodox Christian perspectives with the highest and best of the empirical scientific perspective," said Hammock, who has a doctorate in clinical psychology and a master's degree in theology. "I take very seriously my training as a psychologist and a theologian."

Therapists with a Christian orientation are not necessarily seen as being outside the boundaries of mainstream psychology. The American Psychological Association, the organization whose imprimatur is sought by the top academic programs in the country, has accredited two Christian seminaries that award doctorates in psychology, as well as an institute that awards a master's degree in Buddhist counseling.

"I would say that there's an increasing trend for therapists themselves to investigate their own spirituality," said Charles Simpkinson, a Maryland-based clinical psychologist who is the publisher of Common Boundary Magazine, which focuses on the relationship among psychology, spirituality and creativity.

"If you talk to depressed people all day, you need a source of inspiration."

Focus on the Family, which has about 18 part-time counselors at its Colorado Springs headquarters and also employs a nationwide network of more than 1,600 therapists for out-of town referrals, has a strict set of therapeutic standards. In essence, the counselors who work for the organization must use an integrated approach that marries Christian teachings with more traditional secular approaches.

"Part of what we talk about is their relationship with the Lord," said Willy Wooten, a licensed clinical social worker and director of the counseling department at Focus on the Family. "Do they use Scripture? Do they pray with people?"

Focus on the Family also asks prospective therapists how they stand on such key issues as euthanasia and abortion. The ministry, according to Wooten, believe that both are wrong -- a Focus counselor would counsel a dying person about pain management techniques rather than suicide, for example.

Those views are not inherently at odds with those of non-Christian therapists, but there are some areas where a strict interpretation of the Bible would seem to be at odds with the tenants of modern psychology. For example, it has been decades since the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. But a Christian therapist at Focus on the Family still would advise a client that engaging in homosexual relationships is wrong.

"Most biblical counselors would say: ÔAccording to the Bible, that's not the lifestyle God intended,' " Wooten said.

Not surprisingly, some therapists in the secular community have some concerns about Christian counseling. They're not against Christian counselors in general, but they worry about the extremists.

"My concern, and I think the concern of the community, are the way-out extremes of the Christian community," said Vicky Duval, a licensed professional counselor who is a past ethics chair of the El Paso County (Colo.) Association of Professional Counselors. "Those are the people ... who tell their clients that they should not see non-Christians because it's the devil's work.

"There's enough sort of prejudice and bias against gays and lesbians in this community that that's the type of thing I have a concern about. Because I think it's a travesty to shame people who don't have a lot of choice. They can feel so badly that they face suicide ... if they're told the only way they're going to be saved is to change their sexual orientation."

One factor that keeps such clashes from occurring is that patients generally seek out compatible therapists. Someone struggling with his sexuality might not be inclined to stick with a therapist who considers homosexuality a sin.

And those who seek help from Focus on the Family and other Christian therapists generally do so because they want a spiritual underpinning to their treatment.

In fact, one client who went to the Center for Biblical Psychology for marriage counseling said it was a comfort to know that Hammock had a Christian orientation.

"He does acknowledge a spiritual side to a human being, that you're not just a mind and body," said the client, who requested anonymity. "You're mind, body and spirit ... a complete human being."

(EDITORS: STORY CAN TRIM HERE)

Of course, no two therapists -- let alone Christian therapists -- are alike. And some Christian therapists are more dogmatic than others.

Hammock believes that Christian therapists choose one of three basic approaches. Some of them might not be distinguishable from non-Christian therapists in their methodology: although they allow their Christianity to form their ethics, they might deem it inappropriate to pray with their clients.

The second group would include those who might have a tendency to employ a "try-harder theology" when counseling their clients, offering them a set of imposed norms found in Scripture.

Hammock places himself in a third group of Christian therapists. In his view, those therapists avoid telling clients what they should do, but they're not hesitant to help them develop a deeper relationship with God. The therapist tries to accept them as they are and help them face the challenges -- "to teach them how to more effectively draw on the resources of God, the Bible, and the people around them ... and themselves," Hammock said.

"That's good science and good psychology."

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(c) 1998, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.).

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