The Transformational Psychology View, By Coe And Hall Essay

The book Integrative approaches to psychology and Christianity second edition by David Entwistle introduces the text by explaining how psychology can go in a direction, and Christian theology approach can lead in a different direction. He continued by stating the need for understanding and studying human behavior because people come from different walks of life and different expectations. It leads us to form unique perspectives to help give us an understanding of the individuals you encounter. The Entwistle 's book addresses the relationship between Christianity and culture, Christianity and science, and Christianity and psychology.

No doubt that in the book written by David N. Entwistle Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity, the author leaves the truths embodied in his book. Truths that for many to this day are still trying to accommodate in their vast knowledge they have concerning the psychological science. Many still fail to understand that both psychology and theology when they go hand in hand they can become allies in treating those who for one reason or another have external and internal conflicts.

Enwistle’s book, Integrative approaches to psychology and Christianity: An introduction to worldview issues, philosophical foundations, and models of integration (2010) is a text that explores integrating psychology and Christianity. We start out by learning about integration related to both psychology and Christianity. Is this a thing? Is integration between these two subjects a subject itself? Enwistle explores through time to reveal how psychology and Christianity have been both closely studied and intertwined throughout time. Enwistle (2010) defines Christian psychology as “ a commitment to a Christian worldview that shapes how psychology is studied and applies, and that recognizes that there are specific Christian resources that uniquely reveal crucial aspects of what it means to be human (p. 14). Those in the psychology or counseling field who are also Christian have unique and different approaches but they draw from both Christianity and psychology to help them succeed.

The Christian Psychology view by Roberts and Watson, have a more historical and philosophical approach. They do not deny modern psychology, but argue that psychology has been around for the past 2500 years. For example, he brings up issues relevant today with the Sermon on the Mount instead of the science offered by todays establish psychologist. Roberts and Watson also claim that Christian psychologist should approach psychology with the bases of the Christian tradition. “Christians must approach the subject matter of humanity embracing what God has told us about what it mean to be fully human first; that then is our framework for engaging psychology as a social science” (p. 183). Roberts and Watson purpose a two-stage method: “to first appropriate the resources of the rich, Christian psychological tradition, and then to employ it in the advance of empirical science and applied science” (p.184). This is how a Christian understanding of the person can come to hypotheses that can be tested, therefore advancing our comprehension on humans.

Today, the integration of Christianity and psychology is becoming more increasingly recognized. The integration begins with understanding the sinful state of the human condition as viewed from a biblical perspective. It continues with being faithful to Christian stewardship and not only embracing theology but also the psychology of human behavior (Entwistle, 2015). A more accurate and complete understanding of human nature and function is provided through the integration of Christianity and psychology. The Allies model confirms that Christian theology and psychology are both subject to God’s authority, and exemplifies the best integrative relationship between Christianity and psychology (Entwistle, 2015). This paper will discuss the integration of Christianity and psychology through the Allies model. It will define integration, review reasons and explanations of why Christianity and psychology should be integrated. As well as look at different methods of knowing, the Allies model concept, and the two books idea along with strengths and weaknesses of this model.

Within the psychology field and in society, there is a common belief that theological principles, scripture, Christianity, and psychological principles are not compatible. Instead they believe that modern psychology is secular, scientific, and sacrilegious. However, many Christian psychologists and counselors, organizations and associations such as the Society for Christian Psychology, are striving to unite, integrate and incorporate Christian values, principles and knowledge into modern psychological counseling, research, and practice. Two of the main perspectives that tries to merge the two principles and theories is the Integration perspective and the Christian Psychology perspective.

In his book Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity, David N. Entwistle explores the necessity of integrating psychology and Christianity, the worldview issues, philosophical foundations, models of integration and discusses the difficulty in doing so. It is often thought that there are secular jobs, such as a psychologist or counselor, and there are ministry jobs. Entwistle points out that God has gifted each with abilities and those abilities are best used to serve God and others.

Bob Kelleman, in his book Gospel-Centered Counseling, suggests that a study of human mind is not a product of modern psychology. However, men’s attempt to know and understand human suffering and problems began even far back from Greek philosophy. Thus, Paul rightly says in Colossians 2:8, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ (KJV).” However, it is certainly true that rise of psychology in modern era restricted the use of counseling to a secular world, while breaking a tie between counseling and religion in its usage. Secular society claimed counseling has no place in religion, its usage and methodology can be utilized and systemized only by pure science. This is how Christian ministry began to lose a counseling in its domain.

I personally enjoyed reading Entwistles’ book “Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity: An Introduction to Worldview Issues, Philosophical foundations and models of integration. I did have a difficult decipher his “language” and found myself having to read a sentence more than once. I really enjoyed seeing Entwistles’ points about integrating psychology and Christian theology. I realize as a future Christian counselor is will be very important for me to effectively integrate the two and without knowledge on how to achieve that I will not be doing my clients any good. Although I did enjoy reading this book I did feel that there was not enough emphasis on faith and the Holy Spirit. I definitely agree that our worldview influences our perspectives but I also feel that the Holy Spirit is changing those perspectives as well. Because we are humans we have a sinful nature and because of this nature we can only help someone to a certain point. The Holy Spirit is there guiding us and giving us the discernment that we need in difficult situations. I feel that the Holy Spirit should be a key player in any counseling situation and should have been discussed more in this book. I understand that integration was the main topic but our worldview is not the only thing that sways our perspectives. As stated early I really did enjoy reading Entwistles book. I completely agree that we have to be faithful to his

In this paper, I discussed my personal theory regarding the integration of Christianity and psychology, as it relates to my beliefs, and how the summation of these two components will be reflected in my future counseling practice. I considered several factors that were critical to my personal counseling theory. First, I considered the human personality, such as, individual differences, motivations, and human development. Each person is unique; however, both Christianity and psychology have discovered common threads that are woven throughout the human race, and I believe that information is imperative to the counseling process. Next,

The book Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity written by David Entwistle (2010) talks about the relationships between theology and psychology throughout the history of each and how they both can be integrated. Some people see Christianity as areligious belief and psychology as a profession. Entwistle (2010) explains that the worldview with which you were raised, are modified by your personal experiences and reflections. The worldviews ask four questions: “Who am I?”

I have always believed that my Christian faith comes first and that it should be integrated into all areas of my life. Upon taking the survey: ‘What Does Integration Mean to You?’ my responses lined up with the category of "Psychology as incomplete or narrow” as my Christian approach to the role of psychology. This approach was scored three times higher than my second highest number, meaning that my views strongly correlate with this approach. The belief that goes along with this approach is that both psychology and theology are needed to gain an understanding of God’s design of humans.

Entwistle addresses the concept of the two directions psychology and theology. He addresses the two concepts by bringing in other scholarly professors information and principally integrating it with Christianity. Entwistle description at the beginning of the book was very enlightening. “The scenario of “a walk in the woods,” (Entwistle, 2010, p.3) is a psychological theory for life choices. According to Entwistle, he describes the uniqueness that each counselor can bring to their practice. On the one hand, Entwistle uses the scenario where one path divides into two, psychology and theology which he compares to “the fork in the road” (Entwistle, 2010, p.3). Eventually, these two paths connect and loop back onto the same path. He used this scenario to rationally integrate psychology and Christianity. On the other hand, a secular counselor would use the same scenario to guide a client into making right choices in life. This book can help readers’ see the relationships between personal beliefs and learned experiences. (Entwistle, 2010).

The idea of whether or not integrating Christian theology with psychology is necessary is well-stated by David Cartwright (2010), a professor at Colorado Christian University, in that this depends on one’s perspective (Integration of…, Video 1). Certain Christian circles believe that not only should these two areas be interrelated, but they also naturally are, as all things fall under God’s realm of creation. Yet, other believers stake their claim in a different camp with the mindset that theology and psychology should never intersect, let alone meld into one another. On the opposite end of the spectrum, this question is a moot point for one who adheres to an atheistic worldview. Personally, my stance follows a Christ-centered worldview, thus, aligning with author David Entwistle’s proposal of the ‘allies’ approach. Truth originates with God, and either discipline affords one the means to seek out knowledge concerning humanity

When I was still a child, I was already very interested in observing people’s behavior and how they made decisions. When I read novels I considered the main characters decisions; likewise, in movies I would surmise the psychological changes of characters following the development of plot. Based on this interest, I eventually chose psychology as my major. After learning about Social Psychology, Applied Statistics for Social Sciences, Sampling Techniques, I found that the essence of psychology lied in statistics and experimental verification: each and every theory had to be proved by plenty of experiments. I was once required to design a mental experiment in which variables needed to be controlled strictly and interferences from unstable