Christian Cbt Model

I started reading with the expectation of learning how to use prayer and scripture in therapy. By reading this article I learned of the historical overview of how prayer and scripture became a part of therapy. I also learned of the ethical and proper uses of prayer and scripture during “CBT” and also had a chance to read the illustration of different therapy sessions using different Christian approaches. It was very pleasing to see the key features of biblical approaches used in Cognitive-Behavior Therapy. I learned of the difference between Implicit and Explicit integration in therapy and it was used. Learning of how to conduct a pre-intervention assessment to establish the method of whether to use Standard or Christian CBT was very helpful. I discovered about the seven steps to inner healing prayer and how it might not be a good idea to use these methods on a more psychotic client. I would definitely want to research the use of scripture and prayer a little more and how effective it is in treating clients. I am glad to see that it actually help the client in the article and also how he showed his method of doing so with Christian CBT. It is so exciting to see that Biblical or Christian values can help heal a client. I would absolutely love working in a Christian Counseling setting where I would be able to share and teach a client about the Lord and still help them get through whatever crisis they might have.

The author used client(Jane) to demonstrate effective methods while using Christian CBT. For instance, Jane, an adult experienced depression, and anger from her childhood. Her anger stems from her father lack of affection toward her, even though he provided financially She had a problematic time maintaining a personal relationship with God too. After using prayer and meditation during therapy, she gained knowledge and better understanding on how to cope with life struggles. Secondly, the author demonstrated scriptures using CBT and how its important not to interpret the wrong understanding while reading scriptures.

Personally, I enjoyed this article because I look forward to being able to integrate the Bible and Scriptures into my own counseling practices. I feel that both my knowledge of psychology and the Word of God will allow me to help people through anything. God’s word will be the basis of my treatment plans; I will also need my background and insight from psychology.

Furthermore, religion and spirituality positively affect psychological aspects of health. George et al. (2000) declared that religious involvement is associated with positive mental health outcomes such as a lower prevalence of anxiety and depression. Other research similarly presents religion as a protective factor against depression, anxiety, and suicide (Chiswick & Mirtcheva, 2013; Koenig, 2009; Lee & Newberg, 2005). In addition to deterring mental health issues, religion and spirituality facilitate positive mental orientations such as happiness, increased self-esteem, and improved life satisfaction (Lee & Newberg, 2005; Marks, 2005). There are many benefits of religion and spirituality for psychological health.

In Tan’s article, “The Use of Prayer and Scripture in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy” published by the Journal of Psychology and Theology in 2007, he discusses integrating prayer and scripture with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Tan uses examples of integration from real-life counseling sessions that he has been involved in, as a counselor. Tan’s article first discusses the usefulness of CBT and other behavioral techniques in counseling (Tan, 2007). Tan discusses very early in his article that CBT is as effective as antidepressant medications and is more effective that cognitive therapy alone according to a recent placebo study (Tan, 2007).

Religion and spirituality is a major essential part of one’s’ health. They have included things such as prayer in healing, counseling, and the use of meditation. Spiritual issues make a difference in an individual’s experience of illness and health. With spirituality, the health care providers can learn to support the values for the art of healing. The health care provider must have respect for their patient’s religion. (Larry Dossey. Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine. Harper Collins, San Francisco. 1993.)

In my opinion, it may be difficult to define health because it may vary from one person to another depending on one’s perception about health. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not just the absence of disease (Saylor, 2004). However, I feel that the WHO definition of health misses a very important aspect of health which is spirituality. According to Anye et al. (2013), spirituality is associated “with a more positive outlook and better quality of life”. In fact, they found that in patients with advanced stages of cancer, religious belief was associated with higher life satisfaction and patients who engaged in religious activity reported higher levels of happiness and had positive outcomes (Anye et al. 2013). In addition, studies have shown that mental health patients who have consistently identified spiritual needs as an important issue to them had symptoms of relief and general well-being (Chidarikire, 2012).

I believe Christian counselors should, therefore, make positive use of what God has given them in their attempts to reconstruct an individual’s thought processes. Subsequently we all have bad thinking sometimes and are in need to reframe the mind. For instance, according to the word, Jesus died for all of our sins (John 3:16, 1 John 2: 1-2), but after we accepted Jesus Christ in our lives, most of us struggled with self- forgiveness. We can only count on the Holy Spirit to change our thoughts and reveal the truth through the Scriptures to replace all the lies and misconceptions, we formulated from old traumatic experiences. The knowledge I accrued from this article are similar to what I went through myself last year around this time; but, I would say I found it very encouraging that experimental studies are beginning to demonstrate the benefits of incorporating prayer and scripture into CBT, and that the scientific community is beginning to take notice. After reading this article, I was inspired to look for more information on this subject, and see what others are doing in this area to help people who profoundly brokenhearted. It’s acknowledged that in CBT a therapist with the best intentions can

God, the counselor will have wisdom that can be easily tapped by the clients because an empty well cannot give out water. Secondly, it will constantly remind the counselor of our finitude nature that is the awareness that we are finite creatures, dependent upon God for our abilities and for our very being (Entwistle, 2010). And lastly, it will create a serene atmosphere that will allow clients to develop trust and freedom to let out all issues tormenting them because where the Spirit of God is there is liberty (2Corithians 3:17).

CBT works with both spiritual and non-spiritual clients regardless of their religious affiliation. This type of therapy can be provided to clients who reject God and will still show results; however, they will never completely be cured because God will always be the missing link. The therapist should never impose spiritual beliefs upon the client. It is up to the client to decide what to believe and not the job of the therapist; even if the therapist is a Christian counselor. It may sound difficult to work with a client who does not hold the same faith perspective of the client however that is not the case. Because CBT matches much of what Christ calls for Christians to do, therapeutic techniques of CBT can be used to help client alleviate

As a heath care provider it is important to assess our patient’s faith. To a lot of people faith and spirituality play a large part in their overall health and healing. Health care providers cannot be expected to know about every kind of faith in the world but assessing and talking with patients regarding their personal beliefs will help with understanding more about patients and their view on their health. To better understand three of the world’s very popular religions this writer will discuss the spiritual perspective on healing, the critical components of healing, and what is important to people of a particular

An initial overview of CBT, according to Brady, Taylor, and Rego (2012), describes, “CBT as a system of psychotherapy that merges the procedures of cognitive therapy with the procedures of behavioral therapy” (p.25).CBT states that it is not the triggers that upset people but instead how the person perceives them. Regardless of how they originate, psychological disorders are maintained through distorted negative thoughts and maladaptive behaviors. As a result, a CBT therapist focuses on modifying cognitions and behaviors, benefiting the patient for a long term change in the way they feel, think, and act even in the presence of triggers. CBT tends to be a brief, top down approach centered on the here and now. That is to say, what started the problem is distinguished from is allowing the problem to continue. CBT has numerous points which can be recognized in the model for

“The goal of CBT is to teach clients how to separate the evaluation of their behaviour from the evaluation of themselves and how to accept themselves in spite of imperfections” (Corey, 2009, p. 279). In CBT the clients are expected to change their current behaviour (normally full of automatic thoughts) to a more rational way of thinking. The clinician will challenge the client’s behaviour in order for the client to understand his or her behaviour and get alternatives to change his/her behaviour. When using CBT, the client’s behaviour changes when they are aware of the abnormal behaviour. This approach allows the client to focus on improving his/her wellbeing. This enhances the client’s awareness of an existing issue and that changes are necessary. The client will develop new coping skills to deal with the situation and develop a new way of thinking from negative (automatic thoughts) to positive (more realistic thoughts). Initially the client may not recognise that a problem exists, but through this process will get

CBT methodology for eating disorder treatments are provided in session stages. In some cases the stages are twice weekly in stage 1, weekly in the subsequent stages, and biweekly toward the end of the intervention. Usually, the treatments range from eight to twenty sessions over a period of four to six months. Also, the CBT requires five main assessment time points: at baseline (before treatment), at three months after starting treatment, at the end of treatment, at 20 weeks after ending treatment, and at 12 months follow-up after ending treatment. In addition, certain clinical measures will be recorded on a weekly basis, and early behavioral changes, treatment adherence, and therapeutic alliances will be measured at four weeks into treatment.

Psychologists since James have addressed this topic of religion and positivity relating to overall health. Studies found in the Handbook of Religion and Health “religion to be beneficial to the immune system with regard to other physiological indicators, such as interleukin. Apparently, therefore, religious and spiritual coping can reduce bodily expressions of stress.” (p. 439) Earlier discussed was stress relating to