CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Few counselors or psychologists would argue that they do not either explicitly or implicitly operate within the framework of some kind of theory (Hansen, Stevic and Warner, 1977). After all, one has to use some guidelines in dealing with clientele.
The new student in psychology or counseling faces the seemingly insurmountable task of choosing a theory. Selecting a particular viewpoint to guide one in his/her counseling is difficult. There is an abundance of choices which claim to be a counseling theory and of those which have been presented as such in texts dealing with theories of personality or counseling.
A few years ago, Patterson (1986) noted what could be called a turmoil occurring over the last ten years specifically in the area of counseling theory. There has been confusion because the abundance of new therapies are, to him, little more than just methods and techniques. In discussing the various approaches which could roughly be called theories of counseling, Patterson described a very important concept for the person wondering how to pick a theory to guide in his/her practice. He denoted various criteria for judging whether a particular theory is useful, or whether it actually could even be called a theory.
Of the many texts which feature various so-called counseling theories, few authors have presented any which come from a spiritual orientation (Clark, 1984, 1989a; Nelson & Wilson, 1984); that is, theories offering a world view which have incorporated the spiritual or religious dimension of humankind. This is quite odd considering that recent Gallup poll information (Gallup & Castelli, 1989) revealed that Americans not only have a deep religious heritage, but that religious interest continues to the present. Gallup and Castelli commented that "the most appropriate word to use to describe the religious character of the nation as a whole over the last century is 'stable'" (p. 4).
There has been no shortage of articles exploring the general topic of religion and psychology. Over the last several years, though, there has been an increasing number of writings which relate more specifically to the issue of how, when, or if spirituality should be dealt with systematically in counseling. Some worth noting are by Bergin (1988), Bergin and Jensen (1990), Henning and Tirrell (1982), Jensen and Bergin (1988), Nelson and Wilson (1984), Sevensky (1984), Strong (1980), and Quackenbos, Privette, and Klentz (1985; 1986).
Bergin and Jensen's (1990) article is of particular interest. They declared there "appears to be a significant degree of unrecognized religiousness among therapists" (p. 6). This conclusion is based on the professional sample they surveyed. It showed that therapists have a high (80 percent) ratio of theistic religious preference. Admittedly, this is lower than the general public's (91 percent); yet, when examining a more accurate measure of religious commitment, such as attending religious services, the proportions are almost identical. Forty-one percent of the therapists claimed to attend on a regular basis. The populace surveyed revealed that 40 percent affirmed they had been to a religious service in the last seven days.
Realizing that both therapists and the general public have at least some commitment to religious beliefs, why has there been so little said about the spiritual aspect of people when it comes to counseling theories? Jensen and Bergen's (1988) assessment provided one insight into this lack of interest (see also Bergin, 1988). They reiterated that Freud viewed his work similar to that of a surgeon--technical and objective in nature. Therapists were to maintain neutrality when it came to values, such as religion. Yet, as Nelson and Wilson (1984) have noted, Freud's view on religion was anything but neutral. For example, they point out that within Freud's work, he called religion a "Mass delusion," and Christianity, more specifically, a "myth." It seems many therapists have followed Freud's views on this issue, either outrightly, or by default.
Other perspectives on the relationship of religion to psychology have emerged over the years. Carter and Narramore (1979) classified and summarized four models into which therapists could be categorized in relation to their views on religion. They are the Against model, the Of model, the Parallels model, and the Integrates model.
The Against model holds there are inborn conflicts between psychology and religion (especially Christianity). Freud and Ellis (1975, 1980) would be in this camp.
The Of model, according to Carter and Narramore (1979), permits an open dialogue between the two fields. They hold that both domains deal with similar issues and some good can be found by exploring a psychology of religion. Fromm (1950), Menninger (1975), and Mowrer (1961) are cited by Carter and Narramore as examples of this viewpoint.
The Parallels model regards religion and psychology as distinct spheres of knowledge. Each discipline has its legitimate place, but there is rarely any interface between the spheres. Allport (1950) would be the most identifiable proponent of this perspective.
The final model is Integrates. Advocates of this view believe all truth is God's truth. This means, psychology and religion will have different ways of finding reality, but they will not ultimately be in conflict. Proponents look "for unifying concepts that will broaden the understanding that would come from either psychology or theology. . . . they search for integrative principles without violating the methodology or level of analysis of either" (Carter & Narramore, p. 104).
As might be expected, such epistemological suppositions (i.e., accepting Biblical revelation) are not to be found among any well-known theorists. However, there are an increasing number of lesser known therapists (many who have both psychological and theological training) who have been emerging and are making contributions in the field of psychology (see Lund, 1990).
How do clients feel about the exploration of their religious faith by a therapist? The conclusion from a survey by Quackenbos et al. (1985) was that clients did want to talk about their faith. This exploratory survey found 79 percent of clients "thought that religious values were an important topic to be discussed in psychotherapy" (p. 291). Yet, counselors continue to be apprehensive in dealing with spiritual issues (Henning & Tirrell, 1982), even though nearly 50 percent of therapists reported that approximately 1 in 6 of their clientele presented issues which pertained to religion or spirituality (Shafranske & Malony, 1990).
As noted above, there is currently an increasing number of therapists with theological training and the debate over the role of religion in psychological- related journals and books has increased in the last eleven years (see Worthington, 1989). Additionally, several journals which hold a Christian world view have emerged apart from the pastoral counseling movement. Two of them are Journal of Psychology and Theology, and Journal of Psychology and Christianity.
The shift to a greater acceptance, or at least a more open acknowledgment of the importance of religious ideas, could be said to have occurred in 1988. That was the year Psychological Abstracts included a subject which had been historically identified with the world of religion, and more specifically Christianity (O'Flaherty, 1990). They began to index the term "forgiveness."
There continues to be, however, a deficiency in the literature of an overall counseling theory from a spiritual viewpoint. Clark (1984, 1989a) has reported that among theory of personality textbooks which have included spiritual-based therapies, nearly all have been theories from practitioners of Zen or Yoga.
Corsini and Wedding (1989) is one example of a recent text. In their final chapter, "Three Other Approaches" are presented. One of these is Asian psychotherapies. The author of this sub-chapter stated the two classic families of this therapy are eastern mediation and yoga.
How about the theories from the perspective of a Christian world view? No text has yet to include any (Clark, 1984, 1989a), yet, Gallup polls (Gallup & Castelli, 1989) show that most Americans have allegiance to the Christian faith. From the period of 1978 to 1988 the polls show that the percentage of people who had made a commitment to the Christian faith had risen from 60 percent to 66 percent. Also during that same time period the percentage of those saying Jesus was God, or the Son of God, increased from 78 percent to 84 percent. Gallup and Castelli (1989) pointed out that "these increases are highly significant because basic beliefs of this kind are generally very slow to change" (p. 63).
The purposes of this thesis are to present one author's model which includes the spiritual dimension of people from a Christian world view, and to test it against a standard to determine whether his model meets the requirements of a counseling theory. Several authors could have been chosen to be examined as a theory of counseling. They include Adams (1970, 1973, 1977); Backus (1985, Backus & Chapian, 1980); Crabb (1977, 1987); and Wilson (1983). The person chosen for this investigation is Richard D. Dobbins and his "Healing of the Mind Model."
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