Sin and grace in christian counseling summary

REVIEW: MCMINN 2

4MAT Review: Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling

Kaylee Parrott

Liberty University

Abstract

Mark R. McMinn (2011) wrote Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling to review considerations that come with integration. This paper summarizes McMinn’s book and main ideas in the first section. The author then goes to discuss a personal story that shows McMinn’s points in action. The author points back to how McMinn’s ideas are relevant in the story. The next section the author reflects on McMinn book. The author brings up strengths and weaknesses of McMinn’s book. The author asks questions that McMinn may have not touched on in his book as well as any ethical issues that may arise. The next section is the theological interaction. McMinn discusses approaching sin in the counseling environment. The author dives into the main ideas brought up by McMinn on how to confront sin. The author also applies other research in this section. The final section is the action plan for the author. The author discusses how to use McMinn’s idea when becoming a counselor.

4MAT Review: Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling

McMinn (2011) dives into the integration of psychology, theology and spirituality in his book. He wrote the first version of this book in 1996. In 2011 he added additional comments and research to the book at the end of each chapter. McMinn (2011) wrote eight chapters thoroughly diving into each concept. The whole book exists to describe challenges and benefits for Christian counselors.

Summary

McMinn (2011) begins the book by discussing religion in the counseling office. In this chapter, he begins the discussion of integration of these three areas. The concept of integration began around 1975 and it has made a lot of progress since then with ongoing research. Integration first began as psychology and theology; McMinn adds in the third area of spirituality. He says that we must understand spirituality in order to integrate Christianity into our counseling sessions. Although, he warns that “we can never be spiritually competent” (p.11) because we need God (McMinn, 2011).

McMinn (2011) repeatedly emphasizes a balance in the counseling relationship. Christian counselors must approach in a way that reaches the spiritual need as well as the psychological need. Throughout the book, McMinn (2011) expresses that we need to look at ourselves first. Christian counselors must always recognize they are broken people just like their clients. We hope to be healthier than our clients, but we must always be looking inward. McMinn (2011) emphasizes the need for Christian counselors to remain humble because we are broken too.

McMinn (2011) uses a map to display spiritual growth in the Christian counseling office. The map goes self-sufficiency to brokenness to healing relationship. This is a simple map but it displays a starting point for Christian counselors. The ultimate goal is reaching the stage of a healing relationship. The map’s areas are seen in human development, spiritual growth and psychological change (McMinn, 2011; p.40). McMinn states that due to the map’s simplicity it is missing specific details because counseling is not so straightforward and each person requires something different.

The integration of prayer and scripture are important “techniques” as Christian counselors. McMinn (2011) repeatedly warns the counselor to proceed with caution the more hands on these techniques become in session. He encourages using prayer and scripture in each session. Sometimes the approach is subtle and sometimes it is straightforward; it is what the client needs not the same approach for every client. Christian counselors implementing the same for every client is neither helpful nor ethical.

Sin is a central focus of the book (McMinn, 2011). McMinn describes how many psychologists do not normally acknowledge sin. He describes that sin is seen as a sickness in the realm of psychology. In the theological approach sin is seen as a decision or consequence to actions. The spiritual approach combines both. People do make poor, sinful decisions, but people are also sick and can be victims. From the spiritual approach counselors are able to express empathy. McMinn discusses how to approach sin in the counseling relationship by silence, pondering, questioning, and direct censure. He also acknowledges that sometimes the sin does not need to be confronted because other things need to be focused on at the time. He leads back to the principle of “do no harm” (McMinn, 2011; p.189) when addressing sin.

Confession is another topic he discusses in the book (McMinn, 2011). He reviews how much of counseling is confession, but it is not referred to as that because of the negative view that comes along with confession. People normally think of confession as the catholic approach rather than an element of counseling. “Confession assumes moral violation, and counseling assumes moral neutrality” (McMinn, 2011; p.206). McMinn (2011) looks into the concept of forgiveness as well. He defines forgiveness then brings up the approach of it in Christian counseling. He describes how forgiveness has even been approached in the secular field at this time. McMinn describes the different view of secular compared with Christian forgiveness.

McMinn (2011) ends the book discussing redemption. He states that a redemptive worldview is part of being a Christian counselor; it is not a technique though. Redemption is essentially grace; the Christian counselor is reflecting God’s redemption in their practice. We can show some qualities of redemption but God is the only true redeemer. “Redemption is closely related to confession and forgiveness” (McMinn, 2011; p.301). Christian counselors reflect qualities of God in possessing a redemptive worldview.

Concrete Response

One time when I was in youth group, one of the interns was praying over many of us. She was praying quite loud; everyone could hear what she was saying. When she went to one of my friends that had been through a lot in her life and was a fairly new Christian, it turned into more of show. She called out my friend saying that she was having doubts in her faith with her “prayer”. This was something that was told to her in confidence in a private conversation. This intern knew everyone could hear her and continued to expose my friend for several minutes.

The intern publicly humiliated my friend in her “prayer” and it still makes me hurt for her. My friend was 15 or 16 at the time; she had only been a Christian for a year. She has struggled with her Christian beliefs since then; after a year she stopped going to church. She felt that the hypocrisy in the church was not worth continuing to attend. Honestly, this damaged mine and others relationships with the leaders after watching this humiliation because the leaders continued to defend the intern after this.

Many of McMinn’s (2011) points of what not to do are present in this story. This intern exposed my friend and used it as time to show off her spirituality. The prayer was not used as a form of worship or petition (McMinn, 2011). God was not present in this approach at all as evidenced by everything He represents compared to what was done. Another issue is that she damaged my friend’s relationship with God and the church. The intern seemed to feel that she was above doubting God and that this was a significant sin so she needed to expose my friend. She was unwilling to acknowledge this as a sin and never apologized for this instance, even after several concerned parents came forward to defend my friend. This intern was not representing the love and redemption that God represents. Christians exists to be “agents” for God’s redemption (McMinn, 2011).

Reflection

McMinn’s approach was thorough. I really enjoyed the theoretical clients he brought into his discussions. I feel that this was one of the strongest parts of the book. Instead of just explaining concepts, he showed their application. McMinn (2011) also made sure to acknowledge possible ethical violations. In the prayer chapter, he cautioned Christian counselors about implementing audible prayer into session because of the possible ethical issues. McMinn (2011) also encourages Christian counselors to be open about their beliefs on their informed consent. He suggests that even if a client is not a Christian and looking to implement their beliefs into the session, they should be aware where their counselor’s worldview lies (McMinn, 2011).

Personally, I cannot identify many weak parts of the book. I think his approach was in-depth and went into various subjects instead of repeating the same things. I do wish he would go into more topics of integration in his book. McMinn could discuss approaching new Christians in session compared to approaching those who have been Christians for a significant time. I think that approaching these two types should go very differently for many of the integration techniques. I think another improvement he could make would be acknowledging kids in his scenarios. He seemed to stick with those in early to middle adulthood when he could use various age groups.

One of the most interesting ways that McMinn discussed things was using different psychological perspectives from his method to approach situations (McMinn, 2011). He also does a bit of critiquing his original work to show that we are always growing and learning. This makes him seem humble despite his many years of experience. McMinn (2011) also continues to say that it is about the individual client’s needs, there is no one answer for integrating these techniques. I feel that many people just follow their routine approach, not respecting the individual.

Theological Interaction

Sin is something Christians are familiar with as it is a common discussion almost every Sunday at church but in the counseling environment it is not as readily acknowledged. McMinn (2011) strives to balance the psychological or mental health view of sin as well as the biblical view in his approach. Which side people choose is their attributional style. External attribution says that sin is caused by things outside the person. Internal attribution says that the person is responsible for their sin because it is internal. Seeing the significance of both styles is important for many reasons.

A counselor is primarily focused on the internal comes across blaming the issues in the client’s life, this may push additional shame on the client. Also, by focusing solely on the client’s sins the Christian counselor is ignoring the pain the client is presently experiencing and pain they have carried from the past. A counselor who focuses on the external sickness is excusing or ignoring the client’s part in this current pain. The client has made certain mistakes; those focused on external attribution push the responsibility off on the sickness. The sin needs to be acknowledged in order to stop these patterns. Some people hide behind their diagnosis making it the cause of their sin. Clients need the push to do and be better by not hiding behind being a victim. Sin cannot be overcome with willpower alone; this will set us up for failure. “Sin is our sickness” (McMinn, 2011; p.163).

The way that sin is approached or the decision to not approach is primarily based on the therapeutic relationship. The approaches are silence, pondering, questioning, direct censure and then exists the option to not approach at the time. Silence is letting the client talk through their sins. The counselor does not readily respond, they allow the client to discover things by continuing to talk through the problem. Pondering is when the counselor ponders aloud to help the client think deeper about their current problems. Questioning is to “access values” (McMinn, 2011; p.169) of the client. This sees if the client truly believes they are doing the right thing. Direct censure is the direct approach to confronting sin. McMinn (2011) cautious his readers to use this approach rarely and only in the event of a strong therapeutic relationship. He says that direct censure could do significant damage to the relationship. Not confronting can be the best option sometimes. This is used when the counselor feels that the emotions or other things need to be discussed before confronting the sin.

Counselors must be aware of their own sins before confronting their client’s sins. It is impossible to help someone effective when the Christian counselor has not addressed their own sins. Matthew 7:3-5 says (NIV) “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” This is something I find is not as frequently addressed as it should be. Counselors are wounded healers, not perfect human beings. Pointing out people’s flaws while not acknowledging our own does not make us a hero, it makes us hypocritical.

Action

I would say that my biggest takeaway from the book is to look inward first. All counselors, especially Christian counselors, should be aware of their own faults and mental health (McMinn, 2011). In previous courses self-care and burnout have been discussed. The American Counseling Association (2014) says that a counselor may cause harm if treating a client while they are impaired. This is also a way of staying humble as a Christian counselor to be aware of our own faults. It is certain that at some point I will deal with clients who appear to have some significant issues but it is important that I do not approach things like I am better than them. We are all flawed humans and subject to any sin.

McMinn’s (2011) approach of prayer in session is something else I plan to use in counseling my future clients. I will pray for the client and that God will guide me to integrate the best way for each client. As McMinn (2011) states, many times prayer is routine and sometimes it is insincere just reiterating the same old prayer for each client. He describes the same approach for using scripture with clients. My biggest concern that comes with integration is balancing it. I find comfort in his statement that it is only with experience that Christian counselors learn the best ways to integrate. I do not want to approach clients as “preachy” but I also do not want to approach from a completely secular view. I will also strive to use and remember his approach to confronting sin. This is something extremely important in Christian counseling.

Conclusion

In conclusion, McMinn (2011) teaches us about integration of different topics like prayer, scripture, forgiveness, confession and redemption in his book. There are different ways to apply these techniques in the Christian counseling office. As a future counselor it is important for me to educate myself on spiritual and psychological techniques to use them effectively. This review helped me think deeper on the concepts that McMinn discussed.

References

American Counseling Association. (2014). 2014 ACA code of ethics. https://www.counseling.org/knowlege-center

McMinn, M. R. (2011). Psychology, theology, and spirituality in Christian counseling (Revised ed.). Tyndale House.

4MAT

REVIEW: MCMINN

1

4MAT Review: Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling

Kaylee Parrott

Liberty University

4MAT REVIEW: MCMINN 1

4MAT Review: Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling

Kaylee Parrott

Liberty University