Liberty University - The Integration Model of Counseling

In what ways are your own beliefs about integration similar and different from Liberty University’s?  How might Liberty University’s integration model be a challenge for you?

After watching Dr. Hawkins’ presentation, The Integration Model of the Center for Counseling and Family Studies (2013), I don’t believe my beliefs about counseling will be any different from the views of Liberty University.  While completing my undergraduate studies at Liberty, my eyes were opened to integrating secular beliefs with my own Christian values and how they can best be used in the helping professions.  Dr. Hawkins’ presentation could be best summed up by being motivated by his question, “What does this person need?  What is the grace response?” (Hawkins, 2013).  As a counselor, I have to be guided by the Holy Spirit to use all of the resources I have available (biblical and secular) to best help a person bring about a positive and effective change in their life.  Through this process, God will create opportunities for me to introduce the Gospel of Christ and share a message of salvation that will bring about more healing and understanding.

Clinton and Ohlschlager (2002) include a quote from McMinn (1996), who tells us that Christian counselors are multitasking experts.  Simultaneously we must be able to process several ideas spanning multiple categories from psychology, theology, and spirituality (McMinn, 1996).  Psychologically, we have to view the problems of the client from their perspective while being able to reflect emotions and read body language (McMinn, 1996).  We must also understand the spiritual life of our client.  Are their problems related to behavioral habits or do they relate more to their spiritual development?  These questions can be answered better by using many techniques that have been developed by believers and non-believers (Clinton & Ohlschlager, 2002).

Adopting a strictly secular approach to counseling will exclude a spiritual approach to many questions that can only be answered by having a spiritual relationship with Christ.  Also, adopting a strictly Christian approach to counseling will discount the countless hours of research and theories by scientists such as Erikson, Piaget, Freud, Jung, etc.  While my personal beliefs may not be consistent with their beliefs, I can see how the Holy Spirit speaks to me through Freud’s explanation of the id, the ego, and the superego.  Dictionary.com gives a definition of integration as it relates to psychology, “the organization of the constituent elements of the personality into a coordinated, harmonious whole.”  For the Christian counselor, a coordinated and harmonious whole must include psychology, theology, and spirituality to bring an awareness of the necessity of having a relationship with Jesus Christ.

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References

Clinton, T. E., & Ohlschlager, G. W. (2002). Competent Christian counseling. Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook Press.

Hawkins, R. (2013). The integration model of the center for counseling and family studies [Video file].

Integration | Define Integration at Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/integration?s=t