Prayer In Therapy

This article talks about Cognitive-Behavior therapy and using prayer and scripture appropriately, how to approach using biblical/ Christian values in therapy. The journal also talks about an historical overview of behavioral therapy, throughout the years. The commentary discusses the two component of mindfulness, in which the first component engages self-guidance concentration and the second component engages implementing a meticulous direction that is distinguish by interest. He discusses the eight main features of the Christian approach to

It is not coincidental that there has been an increase in births to single mothers, divorce rates tripling, and teenage suicide increasing. Allowing prayer in schools has set valuable standards and morals for graduates and current pupils. Currently ninety percent of the countries kids are enrolled in the public school system being influenced every single day they are present. Proven by previously mentioned statistics, the majority of morals clearly dropped after the removal of prayer in public schools in 1962. Without prayer, people have become more and more obliterate to God-based values, this causes people to neglect crucial things such as the sacredness of marriage. “After 1963 divorces increased by 300% each following year”(Prayer in America) Many argue and take to the opposition that marriage is just a piece of paper, when in all generality, it is a gift from God. Single mothers, sexually transmitted diseases, divorces, violent crimes, and teen suicide

McMinn (1996) states, a Christian counselor’s “spiritual life spills over in interactions with everyone, including clients” (p. 13). A few other challenges that McMinn (1996) identifies are as follows: the necessity for a scientific basis, the need for ethical standards, and challenging the dominant models of mental health. While evaluating each religious intervention, McMinn (1996) poses three questions to ponder that consist of asking the reader if the intervention will establish a healthy sense of self, sense of need, and establish a healing

Prayer will have a profound effect on the children. Those that are of younger ages will develop an attitude of gratitude because someone taught them to pray. They can be introduced to other gods if they chose to. They will renew the founding fathers’ ideals of what the United States of America was built on as far as God goes. In God we trust. Morals and values have almost disappeared completely in the public schools. David Barton wrote “ The schools have declined since prayer was removed in 1962. Teenage pregnancy rates have gone up 500%. SAT scores have steadily declined each year for 18 straight years since 1962. The United States is rated 15th among the industrialized nations.

McMinn (1996) uses a cognitive/behavioral approach. Many clients, especially those in the “Bible Belt” seek our Christian counselors. They look for a counselor that will hold them accountable for their actions and make them question themselves. However, I also believe that the counselor must identify when their client is ready for this approach. Too much too soon can lead to dissolution of the counseling relationship. I enjoyed McMinn’s approach to prayer. I agree with McMinn that God is always a part of the counseling session. Without God we cannot experience healing. In my opinion, the way a counselor displays their spirituality and approaches spirituality in the counseling setting is a key factor in how well the counselor can blend psychotherapy

Prayer is an essential to any kind of religious faith. Over the years and years of believing in a higher power,

Christian counselors have a responsibility to their clients to integrate psychology and theology in their therapeutic approaches. Incorporating multiple components however is not as straight forward as one might think. In Psychology Theology, and Spirituality (McMinn, 2011) McMinn discusses the benefits of an integrated counseling approach that strives to promote “both spiritual and emotional growth” (McMinn, 2011, p. 5) by including a third element; spirituality, or more specifically, spiritual formation. Finding the proper blend of elements can be challenging even for a seasoned therapist.

The Spindrift organization spent a decade performing laboratory experiments trying to determine which prayer strategy was most effective: directed prayer for a specific outcome, or non-directed prayer, having no specific outcome. Directed prayer participants tried to “direct” the process of prayer with having an outcome in mind. For example one may wish to rid a person of cancer, or recovering from a heart disease. Non-directed prayer, on the other hand, approach prayer with a more open-ended mind-set, in which no specific outcome was held in mind. Dossey considered that the Spindrift research experiments has given us much evidence to demonstrate that non-directed prayer works better than directing prayer for a specific outcome. The Spindrift researchers tried to grow mould on the surface of agar plates used routinely by bacteriologists. After stressing but not killing a patch of mould, directed prayer was used to encourage growth on one side of the plate while non-directed prayer was used on the other side of the divided glass surface. Directed prayer produced no results. Non-directed prayer produced multiplication of the mould into concentric growth rings. These and other experiments conducted by Spindrift give indications for the best prayer method to use in situations when we don 't know what should happen. When non-directed prayer is answered, the outcome is always in the direction

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).

McMinn tells how psychology, theology, and spirituality are used and how they should be used in Christian counseling. A Christian counselor has to look at not necessarily psychology and theology in a counseling session but how religion and spiritually is brought into the session. McMinn (2011) states, “Religious interventions require us to understand spiritual formation, place priority on personal spiritual training as well as professional development, challenge prevailing models of mental health, work toward a stronger scientific base, and sensitively recognize ethical issues” (p. 26). Counselors need to work on their own spiritual foundation so they can are able to help clients. This consists of prayer, scripture, redemption, sin, forgiveness, and confession (McMinn, 2011).

Even though, I could deduce all these benefits after reading this journal, I disagree with the authors remark that “the use of prayer and Scripture is also not appropriate with Christian clients who are in active rebellion against God or who are so angry at God at the moment that they are not interested in pursuing any explicit spiritual

The use of prayer and scripture in psychotherapy is something that Christian therapists and some non Christian therapists may choose to use within their sessions with Christian clients. An example of using scripture and prayer in a case where the client was experiencing racing thoughts and anxiety over too many problems occurring at one time; A counselor could assess the client to see if they agree with the statement that God wants to receive your burdens and heal your heart while sanctifying you. The counselor could even simply give these following scripture verses to the client: Romans 5:3-4,

Irvin Yalom (2012) initiates thought-provoking moment after thought-provoking moment in his work, “The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients.” There is an authentic yet profound air in Yalom’s work and in his recorded therapy. It would be difficult to sum up the importance of what Yalom addresses in one paper, but I will attempt to note the parts of Yalom’s writing which stood out most to me. I hope to cover Yalom’s thoughts on avoiding diagnosis, letting the patient matter, using the here and now, therapist transparency, feedback, and freed & responsibility as in-depth as possible. Moreover, I hope to address how these thoughts will impact my own approach to therapy and how they interact with my faith.

Religious faith is important to most Americans, with approximately 95% of Americans reporting belief in God and about 50% being active in church organizations (Gallup & Castelli, 1989). Despite the widespread prevalence of religious beliefs in society, some researchers have maintained that religion and religious beliefs are often neglected in psychological research (Jones, 1994; Plante, 1996). This neglect stems from a couple of different factors. First, it is difficult for psychologists to overcome the fact that believers in many religions claim to have unique access to the truth. Secondly, truly theological questions such as the existence of God or the nature of an afterlife are often ignored by scientists. This may be in part a

Having been a Christian for many years I thought that I had a fair knowledge of what it meant to pray. I was amazed and humbled by the idea that through Jesus’ restorative act on the cross I am able to come into God’s presence - and not only come but be welcomed and even longed for. I believed that prayer is a powerful tool to petition God , a vehicle to praise Him , and an instrument to increase our intimacy with Him . I understood that people pray in a variety of ways, based on the teaching they have received, their experience, and even their personality. Most commonly, I engaged in prayer as a conversation with God.