Concrete Responses As I was reading the chapter on forgiveness in Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling by McMinn (2011), the personal life experience that jumped out to me was when I had to make the decision to truly forgive my ex-boyfriend and his parents for the emotional pain they caused me. After living in New Jersey for a month and spending time with my boyfriend and his family, working, and taking care of an elderly lady with dementia my world came crashing down on me. My ex-boyfriend’s parents discovered sin in his life and told me I could no longer pursue a relationship with him because of the sins he had committed. After finding out the sinful things my ex-boyfriend had done, I chose to forgive him. I also chose to give him a second chance at a relationship with me, but my effort to salvage our relationship was futile. His parents had made the decision that to end our relationship for us. My ex-boyfriend and I never got a say in the matter. A couple weeks after they discovered sin in his life, his mom told me all about her son’s “dirty laundry” when she was driving me home from church. I felt it was inappropriate for her to share her son’s “dirty laundry” with me and I became angry and slowly started …show more content…
All three disciplines are useful in counseling. He gave practical insights on using religion in the counseling office, moving toward psychological and spiritual health, using prayer and scripture in counseling, and choosing whether or not to address sin in a client’s life. McMinn (2011) also gave practical insights on confession, forgiveness, and redemption. McMinn (2011) discussed various challenges counselors could encounter in working with their clients. After reading McMinn’s (2011) book I do not have any criticisms. The book is an easy read; however, the reader does not want to rush through it or else important points will be
Prior to reading this book I was unclear as to how the counselor could go about introducing spirituality into the counseling relationship. I believe that McMinn provides us with a good foundation on how Christian counselors can guide their clients to rely upon God. One thing that I would like more clarity on is how counselors can integrate spirituality into the counseling relationship when there is a difference in beliefs? If Christian counselors are to lead and guide their clients to God then how do we effectively do that when our beliefs may be different from our clients?
“Those who use forgiveness in counseling because it helps people feel better often acknowledge the religious meaning of forgiveness” (McMinn, pg.
I am so thankful for the amazing gift of grace that God as gifted us. Grace, as defined by McMinn is, “merciful kindness offered by God to those who do not and cannot ever deserve God’s kindness, and it is our only hope.” Grace is such an interesting concept. The idea that we have already been forgiven for our sins before we even commit a sin is not widely accepted by most people nowadays. When people sin, they feel a sense
The article "Self-forgiveness: The forgotten stepchild of forgiveness research" is a qualitative rather than a quantitative study of the phenomenon of self-forgiveness. The authors distinguish self-forgiveness versus forgiveness of an 'other' in an outwardly-directed fashion. They state that self-forgiveness has been under-studied in the existing literature. The beginning of the article is devoted to a literature review of existing writings upon the subject, with using a working definition of self forgiveness "as a set of motivational changes whereby one becomes decreasingly motivated to avoid stimuli associated with the offense, decreasingly motivated to retaliate against the self 地nd increasingly motivated to act benevolently toward the self" (Hall & Fincham 2005: 622).
Robert D. Enright is a meta-analysis study on interventions that are conducted to determine if the
Forgiveness is significant to a client because it helps to get relief psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually. "Before getting into forgiveness in counseling, there are concepts that are related to it and should be analyzed (McMinn, 1996)". Forgiveness is viewed in three perspectives which include opposition, technique, or an obligation. These perspectives included in counseling are a healthy method for forgiving.
is not primarily any of these - it is for the purpose of reform and
The journal article, Intervention Studies on Forgiveness: A Meta-Analysis, written by Thomas W. Baskins and Robert D. Enright examines several studies on forgiveness. Based off the many studies, the definition of forgiveness is having the ability to end the feelings of resentment against another individual. The process of forgiving has been around since the beginning of time when God gave mankind a cure for the curse that started when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of life. However, it was not scientifically studied until the 1990’s.
Everyone has the control within them to forgive or not to forgive someone. Forgiveness comes down to taking responsibility for the choices we make and doing what we believe is right. By forgiving others, authority of our own lives can be regained by letting go of the conflicting objects from the past and moving into a more significant direction. The world today is full of conflict and people are being hurt every day. Conflict is seen today in politics, between countries, and between your average everyday people. Conflicts such as those listed above are often shaping the atmosphere we live in and shaping the person we are today. We can see that forgiveness is a place to start when trying to resolve conflicts, but not everyone will
The forgiveness intervention assisted older adults by exploring this topic, maybe for the first time (Ingersoll-Dayton, Campbell, & Ha, 2009). The process itself took place over a period of time. Forgiveness is not necessarily something that can be processed overnight. The time allotted for these sessions provided the group members with several weeks to explore the topic. The sessions involved a group facilitator and group members. The group facilitator was a trained professional who was knowledgeable about the therapeutic aspects of this type of group. Having other group members to share this experience with facilitated the experience of not being alone. Writing was also part of the process. The journal was a tool that allowed them to voice their experiences. As an assignment this provided the participants with the opportunity to continue their exploration of forgiveness beyond the group experience. The environment provided a safe place for the group members to explore painful memories. All of these factors contributed to helping this population explore forgiveness. The participants reported that this experience was helpful in that only one topic was explored, the nonjudgmental acceptance of the group and facilitator, and the journal questions.
I was encouraged that researchers are starting to use biblical principles to answer secular questions. Forgiveness is a difficult process especially when sexual abuse such as, rape has been committed against the person.
What do you think will be most challenging for this couple, the husband to ask for forgiveness or for his wife to forgive him?
There has been a significant amount of reports of emotional abuse in the United States. Nearly 35% of women have reported that they have been emotionally abused by a husband or a significant other. Spousal emotional abuse has been a problem for quite some time and the effects of the abuse are long lasting.
I find that this topic relates both each story but also it relates to daily life. The topic of God’s forgiveness helps to relate many biblical including Genesis, Exodus, and Daniel. Forgiveness is shown in each of these biblical stories helping to link it to other stories where Gods forgiveness is evident. Each of these stories is based on a character’s temptation or betrayal of Christ as well as proving to God that they are worthy of him. In each of these betrayal stories, God uses these characters to display his mercifulness and forgiveness through his actions towards his followers. As well as, linking each of these stories through the theme of forgiveness, this topic is relatable daily. Just as the characters in the biblical stories stray,
Can or should and the opposite is the forgiveness dilemma because no answer is right or wrong on any individual or mass crimes against humanity. All have their rational reasons supporting by many evidence and inferences. But, to forgive is one conclusion I have kept for many years, and especially when I saw the wounded woman who lost her girl in the church due to the terror attack. Har faith strengthens who lost their beloved ones in mass crime or terror act while her tears were asking for justice and not revenge. I was wondering if only she should forgive or she should, and can! Deeply, people who live persecuted and tortured have the experience of forgiveness also the opposite, and they know what the answer is. Since a long time, the world