What do you think of Christian psychology?

[siliconwafer]

What do you think of Christian psychology? Many Christians believe that the Bible contains all of the information we need to help us with all of the problems we have that pertain to sin. They would be opposed to the idea of a Christian psychology because they say that we don't need the insights from psychology to help us with our struggles with sin.

[Manwë Súlimo]

I have the same opinion of it that I have for Christian reheating delivery pizza.

[Chrawnus]

Well I'm skeptical of psychology (or more specifically the branch of it called psychoanalysis) and I don't see why I would like it any better if it would be called "Christian" psychology.

[KingsGambit]

What do you think of Christian psychology? Many Christians believe that the Bible contains all of the information we need to help us with all of the problems we have that pertain to sin. They would be opposed to the idea of a Christian psychology because they say that we don't need the insights from psychology to help us with our struggles with sin.

I would ask them where the Bible says that.

[siliconwafer]

I would ask them where the Bible says that.

They infer this from 2 Peter 1:3, which teaches that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness.

[KingsGambit]

They infer this from 2 Peter 1:3, which teaches that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness.

The context of that verse doesn't even seem to refer to the Bible in the first place, so I don't think that verse can be used to support this position. It more seems to mean that God gives us the ability and power to persevere in faith.

I will say that I am a little suspicious of some modern secular branches of psychology. But there are also many godly Christian counselors that do incorporate psychology into what they do and they can find themselves condemned by some of the anti-psychology crowd. I think as long as we are careful to be putting our faith in God and not in Freud, there's nothing that would exclude a Christian from seeing a psychologist.

[Teluog]

I have the same view of psychology as I do of science: psychologists are to figure out the mind just as scientists are to figure out the natural world.

And my Christian psychologist has helped me out a ton thanks to psychology and is theological and id flat out awesome.

[zorathruster]

There really isn't that much problem with sin, otherwise it wouldn't keep happening. On the other side, guilt associated with doing the wrong thing tends to cause a mental barrier and regret. Religion attempts to provide absolution after the fact, philosophy attempts to prevent the acts before coming to regret. Too many find it easier to get forgiveness than permission.

[GlobalWolf]

While I would prefer if a psychologist I were seeing shared my religious beliefs for certain situations (for instance, if I were going to a counselor because of concerns related to obsessive compulsive scrupulosity), it's not something that would normally be a deal breaker.

As far as the idea that the Bible replaces psychology...no. Just no. Most psychological problems are largely biological and therefore no more sinful than a pancreas infection. Even when it comes to things that involve sinful behaviors, like drug addiction, there's a medical component. You can't just read ten Bible verses and meditate on them in a situation like that. Your ability to make rational decisions is significantly impaired, and you normally have to have clinical support and possibly pharmacological assistance (particularly if you have a drug addiction with potentially dangerous withdrawal symptoms).

[Abelard]

The question is Christian psychology not Christian psychiatry.

I assume you are interested in discussing clinical psych and not the other two dozen aspects? Are you thinking Rogers, or Skinner or Allport or who? I don't know any clinical modalities that are distinctly Christian, but I think Carl Rogers' self-actualization paradigm is the most useful and compatible.

[siliconwafer]

The question is Christian psychology not Christian psychiatry.

I assume you are interested in discussing clinical psych and not the other two dozen aspects? Are you thinking Rogers, or Skinner or Allport or who? I don't know any clinical modalities that are distinctly Christian, but I think Carl Rogers' self-actualization paradigm is the most useful and compatible.

I wasn't thinking of any particular clinical modality. Why do think that Carl Rogers' self-actualization paradigm is the most useful and compatible?

[KingsGambit]

While I would prefer if a psychologist I were seeing shared my religious beliefs for certain situations (for instance, if I were going to a counselor because of concerns related to obsessive compulsive scrupulosity), it's not something that would normally be a deal breaker.

That is precisely the reason I make sure the psychologist I see is a Christian, and the sessions have done wonders for me. Our discussions remain in the context of a Christian faith, although insights from other theories are used. I couldn't imagine what state I would be in minus these sessions.

[Abelard]

I wasn't thinking of any particular clinical modality. Why do think that Carl Rogers' self-actualization paradigm is the most useful and compatible?

Because it posits individuals each have a uniquely ideal status, and because problems come about when we judge ourselves wrongly based on worldly standards of perfection, and because the solution is unconditional love. Accepting Christ as a significant other opens one up to truly unconditional love.