Psychology Theology And Spirituality In Christian Counseling (Hardcover)

Revised and Updated for the 21st Century

What happens in your Christian counseling office? How do you integrate your spiritual life with your psychological expertise and theological understanding?

Since its first publication in 1996, Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling has quickly become a contemporary classic—a go-to handbook for integrating what we know is true from the disciplines of psychology and theology and the impact it has on our everyday walk with God.

This book will help you evaluate how you can effectively integrate prayer, Scripture, confession, forgiveness, and redemption into your own life and your counseling practice.

After years of discussion about the relationship between psychology and theology, it is time to move the discussions to a more intimate level: what actually happens in the Christian counseling office? It is here that counseling becomes intensely personal, reflecting counselors’ spiritual lives as much as their psychological preparation and theological sophistication.

This updated landmark book looks at what happens in two secret places in counselors’ lives: behind the closed doors of their counseling offices and in their own spiritual lives.

It asks such probing questions as
How can we move into the frontier of interdisciplinary integration, where the practical implications of responsible psychology, Christian theology, and spiritual growth are seen in every counseling interaction?
What challenges do we face as we critically evaluate dominant views of mental health, establish a scientific base, and define relevant ethical standards for Christian counseling?
How can we adapt our definitions of training?
How can we nurture our own spiritual lives so that Christ will be revealed through us?

It also asks practical questions, such as
Is it wise to pray with a particular client?
Under what circumstances should I use Scripture memory as part of counseling?
What is the proper role of confession in the therapy process?
Is forgiveness a reasonable goal in a specific situation?

Mark R. McMinn is professor of psychology at George Fox University, where he teaches and serves as the director of faith integration in the Graduate Department of Clinical Psychology. Mark holds a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University, is a licensed psychologist in Oregon, and is board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) and a past president of the APA’s Psychology of Religion division.

Mark has received teacher-of-the-year awards at both George Fox University and Wheaton College, where he taught from 1993 to 2006. He was recently awarded the 2010 Graduate Researcher of the Year award at George Fox. Much of his research and all his clinical work in recent years have focused on clergy health and finding effective ways for mental health professionals and clergy to work well together.

Mark’s wife, Lisa, is a sociologist and an author. Together they raised three daughters, who are now grown. Mark and Lisa live in rural Oregon, where they attend Newberg Friends Church, tend honeybees and chickens, and run a small Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm.