Chapter Three (Part Two): Examination of Dobbins' Works
A Commitment to Certain Goals of Counseling
The third element Burks and Stefflre (1979) consider to be indispensable for a counseling theory is a commitment to specific goals. This includes answering the question of how one knows clients are better off after therapy than they were before counseling was sought. Burks and Stefflre (1979) insist that explicit and clear statements be made; yet they do acknowledge that "for any one individual, any single criterion might be completely inappropriate and misleading" (p. 322).
Dobbins (1990b) states that, broadly speaking, "the goal of a Biblical approach to therapy and counseling is to help believers understand the spiritual nature of their thoughts and feelings so they can be more in control [italics added] of their attitudes and behavior" (p. 18).
Aside from such a general goal, more specific objectives this writer has found in the works of Dobbins are to enable people to:
1. Know how to practically do what they know they ought to do; 2. Make wiser decisions in their lives; 3. Use their internal speech in productive ways; 4. Find salubrious interpretations of previous life experiences; 5. Form a healthy God-concept; 6. Form a wholesome self-image; 7. Overcome compulsive behavior.
How-to's for Ought-to's
Dobbins (1989a), who formerly pastored a church for 26 years, laments that one of the greatest shortcomings of the institutional Church is that people are not given practical "how-to's" for the "ought-to's" in their life. He indicates that people know they 'ought to' repent, confess, forgive, lay aside bitterness, be tenderhearted, cast their cares on Christ, put off the old man/put on the new man, reverence their husbands/love their wives as Christ loved the church, obey their parents, let not the sun go down on their wrath, but they don't know how to do [these ought-to's].
Dobbins realized that there is no lack of dogmatic theology in the Church, but there is a shortage of an applied theology. Thus, he believes people need to know how to practically apply their faith in everyday life. He sees "an understanding of the behavioral sciences . . . is of great help in teaching the 'how- to's' for these 'ought-to's' (1990b, p. 5). This usefulness of the behavioral sciences was a key reason Dobbins decided to seek further education in the field of psychology while pastoring a church.
Wiser Decisions
Helping people make wiser decisions in their lives is another goal Dobbins (1987a, 1987b) has in counseling. He sadly admits that many clients are not willing to face the reality that they can make a difference in their lives by realistically looking at their situations and making better choices over events which they do have control. He humorously put it that people think they can sow "wild oats" and then pray for a crop failure; not realizing that the consequences of their actions will need to be faced.
Often Dobbins (1987d) has found that once a person realistically considers what the consequences of his/her actions might be, then there is less of a likelihood that poor decisions will be made. He believes that Sin, the supernatural force from Satan, will tempt one with something very pleasurable while hiding how much that pleasure will cost the person. Dobbins' goal for a client faced with this situation is to make sure the counselee knows the price tag of the proposed action(s). Once a person realistically examines his/her situation and knows the price of each option, then the person has a greater chance of making a wiser decision.
Productive Internal Speech
Equipping clients with the ability to use their internal speech in healthy or productive ways is a third goal of Dobbins. This deals with what has been considered the cognitive aspect of effectuating change.
Helping a person use his/her internal speech, or self-talk more productively, is beneficial to Dobbins (1984, 1987a) because, (a) one talks (i.e. thinks) to oneself at a speed that is ten times faster than the rate at which another person can speak and (b) the proper function of our words is to minimize painful experiences and amplify pleasant ones.
The way a client achieves this goal is by discerning the spiritual origin of his/her thoughts, which can be stimulated from either Zoe or Sin. Additionally, one has to deal with the bias of one's past history which will typically "remind" one that a present circumstance is going to result in a way similar to that of a past situation.
A client is better off when he/she reports of reducing one's anxiety and increasing one's hope by implementing control over self-talk when faced with difficult situations. Dobbins (1987e) holds that controlling one's self-talk, or thoughts in this way is "ministering strength to the inner man," as David, the psalmist often did.
Salubrious Interpretation of Past
Finding a healthy interpretation for previous life experiences is a fourth goal found in the works of Dobbins. This goal specifically deals with hurts from painful events or relationships, including those from childhood. Using a technique called "Praying through" (see Figure 3), Dobbins hopes to move an individual away from debilitating perspectives to more healthy interpretations of his/her past. He desires to help the client find a new meaning for his/her old hurt by enabling one to discover a healthier version or story about the past which, while never denying the objective facts, is a subjectively less destructive interpretation that will no longer hinder a client's present life.
Thus, the client has changed when he/she is no longer a bitter person because of the past, but a better person despite the past. The difference between the bitter person and the better one is the letter "I" (Dobbins, 1987c).
How does one know this has taken place? Dobbins (personal communication, July, 1988) suggests that there are three ways to know this: (a) By the client remembering a passage of scripture that comforts or reassures him/her; (b) being able to look at the hurt in a new way; and (c) recalling past experiences that were difficult, yet bearable with God's help.
Healthy God-Concept
Dobbins finds that frequently among his client population there are those who have distorted images of God. Thus, a fifth goal for Dobbins is to help clients form a healthy God-concept.
The person's image of God, or God-concept, is formed during childhood (Elkind, 1971). By approximately age five to seven, one's mental image of God is defined based on an accumulation of a variety of behaviors and experiences. Studies done on how the God-concept is formed conclude that it grows out of one's image of his/her parents (Dobbins, no date, f).
Dobbins (1987b) advocates making sure a client does not have an unhealthy view of God first, before trying to help one overcome a horrible view of oneself. The God-concept is more accessible because it is formed later in life than the self-concept. One's image of self is formed between the third and fifth birthday and tends to stabilize over time, becoming highly resistant to alteration.
For Dobbins (1987b), the characteristics one sees God as having are indicative of one's God-concept. A person's image of God not only determines what one thinks about God, but it also governs how one believes God sees him/her. As a result, one's God-concept influences whether one will have a tendency to be attracted to God or want to avoid Him. Dobbins (no date, f) adds that this "also affects the comfort and productivity of the person's life."
The three most frequent attributes credited to God are omniscience, omnipotence and love. Dobbins holds that the characteristic a client states is the chief or governing attribute of God is very important in understanding his/her image of God. If God's omniscience, the fact that He knows everything, is the main virtue a person sees God as having, then that person often has difficulty believing God can forget his/her past sins. After all, how can a God who knows everything, forget anything? Even if one were to espouse God's omnipotence, the power to do anything, as the governing attribute, one may still wonder what would motivate God to do such a thing as forget one's past (Dobbins, 1987b).
A healthy view of God has love as the dominating characteristic. Dobbins bases this belief on scriptures such as Isaiah 43:24, Jeremiah 31:34, and Hebrews 10:16,17. He asserts, "I see His omniscience effected by His love, through His omnipotence . . . [therefore] a loving God who is omnipotent is powerful enough to forget what His loving heart wills to forget, even though He is omniscient" (Dobbins, 1987b).
Wholesome Self-Image
A sixth goal found in the works of Dobbins, (1984, 1987c, 1987d) is to enable people to have a wholesome image of themselves. He proposes that one's self-image is often distorted because of equating the two notions of being worthless and unworthy. These words are not synonymous.
Because worth is determined by the price someone pays for an item, Dobbins reasons, every person is extremely valuable to God. Jesus paid the price of His life so that every human-being can be reconciled to his/her Creator. So, even though one could never be worthy of the tremendous price that was paid for his/her life, this does not mean one is worthless. Specifically, the client has improved his/her self-image when one: (a) sees oneself as a lovable person; (b) realizes how valuable one is to God; (c) thinks of oneself as a forgivable person; and (d) sees oneself as a changeable person (Dobbins, 1984).
Overcome Compulsive Behavior
The seventh, and final, goal found in the works of Dobbins has to do with initiating change in a client who has compulsive behavior which is harmful to himself/herself or to one's relationships. Through the technique of "Putting off the old Man/Putting on the new Man", (see Figures 4 - 7) the client discovers what triggers his/her negative behavior and "the way of escape," or what kinds of alternative behaviors are possible during the "window of control" (Dobbins, 1990a).
Change is seen as taking place in the process of using the Old Man/New Man technique when the client becomes more perceptive regarding his/her feelings. Because the person has a fair amount of time before the plane of intensity reaches the point of inevitable acting out, he/she has improved when the feelings of being tempted are acknowledged. Dobbins (1984, 1990a) believes that a person's maturity can be measured by one's ability to accept his/her emotions, becoming aware of them and substitutionally controlling those emotions.
Several principles are inherent within each of these foregoing seven goals which Dobbins (1987d) uses as a guide to their application. He highlights the importance of giving clients (a) realistic expectations of managing their problems, (b) extremely attainable goals for coping with their situation, and (c) an appropriate time frame for recovery from their difficulty.
In summary, Dobbins addresses the issue of what goals a counselor might be committed to by articulating seven clear goals he would have, in order to help a client become better off than he/she was before he/she sought counseling. They are: (a) "how-to's" for "ought- to's"; (b) wiser decisions; (c) productive self-talk; (d) salubrious interpretation of past; (e) healthy God- concept; (f) wholesome self-image; and (g) overcoming compulsive behavior.
A Definition of the Role of the Counselor
As stated in chapter two, Burks and Stefflre (1979), give a wide range of qualities that explain of the functions of the counselor. All of the topics mentioned might be boiled down to one question, "How does the counselor perform his/her role?".
Communication Skills
Dobbins (1987b) advocates that there is a range of communication skills needed by a therapist to facilitate the process of counseling. He divides them into two major categories: definitive and didactic skills.
The definitive skills, which he subdivides into observational and listening skills, are needed for a counselor to gain "an understanding of the person through forming and testing hypotheses" (Dobbins, 1987b). Specific didactic or speaking skills are important for the therapist to facilitate insight, to obtain a more complete portrait of the client, and to assist change in the client's behavior.
Observational skills. Developing observational skills is more of an art than an exact science. The main premise for needing skills of this kind is the belief that a person can deceive another by the words he/she speaks.
Two kinds of data are before the counselor to observe: introspective data and inspective data. The introspective evidence is what a person volunteers by his/her remarks and needs not be taken at face value. Inspective signs are nonverbal behaviors which reveal one's feelings and thought processes.
Dobbins (1987b) maintains that inspective skills are very important, especially at the beginning of a counseling relationship. The therapist needs to discern how much meaning will be invested in the words a client speaks. What the counselee says may or may not be factual.
Dobbins (1987b) also believes that the counselor needs to notice the number of different moods displayed by the client. One who exhibits a wide range of moods in the short amount of time of a counseling session should lead the therapist to wonder what that person might be like in everyday life. Dobbins holds that a majority of the time a client will be more controlled when he/she is in the office of a professional.
Likewise, noticing the person's thought-processes can reveal additional information about a client. Are the thoughts erratic and loose? That is, if the meaning of the words themselves is clear, but the context of what the client is saying does not make sense, then his/her thoughts are not focused. The client may simply be experiencing a high amount of stress, he/she might be under the influence of a drug, or an actual thought disorder might be the cause.
Inherent to a counselor's observational skills is being in touch with not only the content of the session, but also the process. The content pertains to what is objectively going on in a session. The process is the meaning of what is happening. A client who only talks about superficial things, or who is reluctant or who refuses to talk, or who consistently jokes would all be examples of the content. Yet the meaning of all of these behaviors could be indicative of resistance, a process factor.
Listening skills. Paying careful attention to the vocal qualities of the client also yields potentially important information. Vocal qualities can "reveal aspects of the personality and the present emotional state of the person" (Dobbins, 1987b). Specific vocal qualities listened for are: (a) rate of speech, (b) rhythm, (c) pitch and timbre, (d) volume, and (e) inflection.
Dobbins (1987b) underscores that the purpose of all these observations is to formulate hypotheses about the client. These hypotheses, which may or may not be confirmed, are not immediately announced to the client, nor will they necessarily be explored at that particular moment. Hypotheses which are shown to be obviously inappropriate, as more information about the client is gathered, are discarded and new hypotheses are formed.
Speaking skills. From the discussion thus far, one might expect a counselor using the Healing of Mind Theory from Dobbins to be quite directive. However, Dobbins (1987b) advocates the utilization of the wide scope of speaking skills, also called "leads," which characteristically are considered to range from being non-directive to directive in their basic nature. Because the leads which he discusses are common terms in the counseling literature they will not be included here. (The reader who is unfamiliar with them can see Appendix A for a discussion of the speaking skills Dobbins advocates.)
The Initial Interview Process
Dobbins' initial interview process requires two or three sessions and includes: (a) providing the environment; (b) structuring the counseling process; (c) completing a case history; (d) diagnosing the real problem; and (e) defining goals and devising a treatment plan.
Providing the environment. Dobbins (1987c) underscores the need to provide an ideal environment for counseling mainly because a majority of counselors who come to his seminars are pastors. He remembers, from the time he was a pastor, how difficult it was to have an individual come in for counseling. Often he would be presented with an issue by an individual who announces he/she only wants to discuss the issue "for a few minutes." Many times what the person would want to address involved more than just a simple few minutes. From these situations, Dobbins developed a tactful way to communicate the need to set aside a longer time to be of the most help to the person. Counselors in other settings may also find that their friends may seek them out for "a minute of their time" in order to avoid a formal visit. When a person tries to do this, Dobbins (1987c) suggests that the counselor simply say, "I can tell you are hurting, and what you are telling me is important enough for us to set aside some special time."
Structuring the counseling process. The next major concern for the counselor is to establish rapport to enable the client to reveal his/her primary reason for visiting. The stated purpose for coming is often known as the "presenting problem."
Aside from times when a client may be in crisis, Dobbins usually spends the first three to four minutes exchanging pleasantries. If it is apparent the counselee is in crisis (which he considers to be a judgment call), then he immediately lets the client begin to vent his or her feelings. As this ventilation occurs, the initial problem is disclosed.
The therapeutic relationship is strengthened as Dobbins aims to reveal that he will be supportive, non-judgmental, and confidential in the relationship. One way he does this is by stating, "All kinds of people come in here . . .," and then he briefly lists various examples of problems he has seen. The purpose is to assure the client who has never come for counseling that there are other people with similar difficulties as he/she has.
Specifically mentioning that the content of the sessions will be kept confidential and that he/she can feel free to talk about any problem without being judged sets the stage for a request by Dobbins for the client to be honest. Dobbins (1987d) often says, "I want you to feel free to talk to me about anything . . .," or "If I am going to be able to help you, you must be honest with me."
The counseling process is structured when the client is made aware of what Dobbins can and cannot do. Dobbins lets the counselee know that he will listen with experience and assist him/her in defining options and decision making, but will not be an answer person for him/her. If Dobbins discovers the client finds prayer meaningful (i.e., client asks for it or makes a positive statement about prayer), he will, on occasion, pray with or for the individual during the session.
The client is also made aware of his/her role. The counselee is told that he/she is expected to honestly deal with his/her problem, and assume responsibility for actions and decisions that may be needed for change to occur.
Case history. Dobbins uses a case history (see Appendix B) that is divided into fifteen sections:
1. Dates seen. 2. Identification information. 3. Presenting concern. 4. The client's background. 5. Emotional relationships. 6. The client's childhood. 7. The client's school life. 8. The client's background. 9. The client's physical condition. 10. The client's mental condition. 11. The client's social life. 12. The client's religious life. 13. The client's unconscious life. 14. The client's sexual life. 15. Marital history.
The case history yields a considerable amount of information that many other theorists would also consider helpful. The chief unique factor of the case history would be the many questions dealing with the religious aspect of the client. However, because Dobbins views the Bible as addressing every area of a person's life, this author includes not only a discussion of the religious section, but also some details from the other sections to enable the reader to understand the full dimensions of how Dobbins views the role of the counselor.
Dobbins (1987e) states that the case history "is a systematic search of the person's life to define which among these areas may be involved in the person's present complaint or pain." He admits that a counselor may not always need to have such a detailed case history as the form presented here. A common exception would be when a client is in crisis. However, he strongly urges that some kind of form be used even in this situation so the counselor does not need to repeat the same basic information every other session or in the future if the client comes back for additional counseling.
In the seminar Dobbins (1990b) gives, which is attended mostly by ministers, he freely encourages them to adapt the case history form to suit their specific setting. He proposes that one "only use as extensive a case history as the problem you are seeing indicates to be appropriate" (Dobbins, 1987d). If the counselor is not trying to help the client overcome a past hurt in his/her life, then the many questions which deal with the person's past family history will not be needed.
The first section of the case history (see Appendix B), the "dates seen" category, is a convenient place for the counselor to record the dates and number of the counseling sessions.
Obvious data are gathered in the "identification information" section. The client is asked who (if anybody) referred him/her to counseling. Dobbins states that this information allows the counselor to know who considers his/her work to be valuable.
The client's age is helpful in formulating a probable hypothesis of the counselee's difficulty, based on common problems occurring at that age. Dobbins has found this information especially useful for individuals who have difficulty identifying the problem that brings them to seek out help. Dobbins has adapted the developmental stages formulated by Erikson (1963) and Berman and Lief (1975). All age-related hypotheses are screened against the data presented. These hypotheses remain flexible and will be changed as the client reveals information that disproves it.
Uncovering the counselee's occupation offers some indication which will enable the counselor to estimate the counselee's general intelligence. The client's position in his/her family is sought to develop hypotheses based on information of birth order. Dobbins (1987d) underscores that these, as well as any hypothesis, are used to help a counselor learn as much as possible about a client to aid in the development of a clearer definition of the problem in the shortest amount of time, so more time can be concentrated toward achieving what goals are set forth.
Probable parenthood tensions are tapped by learning the age and spacing of any children the client may have. Dobbins (1985) believes parents need at least two years between each child, and that few parents desire to have a child in their first year of marriage.
Beginning on page two of the case history, various aspects of the client's emotional history are sought to reveal the emotional climate of the client's early home life. Dobbins suggests the counselor say, "Tell me about your home life when you were growing up as a small child" (Dobbins, 1987d). Further information can be gathered by inquiring about how one knew one's parents loved each other. After the client answers that question, one queries as to how the client knew he/she was loved by the parents.
Dobbins (1987d) believes many people never honestly know their parents love each other or that they are loved. He further states that people who do not know their parents love each other rarely know they were loved. Positive responses would include replies like one's parents told each other and him/her or expressed love to each other as well as to the child.
One is less likely to have deep emotional problems if one knows he/she is loved. The implication of not experiencing love means one does not know how to express it. Dobbins holds that a lack of love impacts one's relationship to God as well as one's earthy relationship.
The current home atmosphere is assessed by asking, "At the present, how emotionally comfortable is it at home for you?" (Dobbins, 1987d).
A graphic view of the client's family-of-origin is made in the middle of page two. Just as medical doctors would ask about the physical health of their patients' relatives for potentially useful global observations, Dobbins believes the counselor will benefit from similar data.
Specifically, the occupations and physical, emotional and spiritual health of the client's parents and siblings are sought. A variety of family patterns will be revealed. The counselor wants to see if, on an overall basis, the client comes from a family that is largely healthy (Dobbins, 1989c).
The client's personal emotional history during childhood begins at the end of page two. Birthplace might allow the counselor to generalize about sub- culture influences that have impacted on the client. Knowing the cultural influences of a counselee permits the counselor to adapt to the general reality of the person to more effectively help him/her.
Starting on the top of page three, information about the individual's childhood is requested. Useful details can be surfaced by saying, "Suppose you tell me the very first thing you can remember happening to you as a child" (Dobbins, 1987d). Important aspects to know include: how old the client was, who was with the client in the memory, and what was the prevailing emotional theme of the memory.
Dobbins (1987e) points out that a person will tend to hang on to pleasant memories and forget the painful for sake of survival. Generally, all other things being equal, the younger the client was in the memory, the better the prognosis. A client who can remember at least one event before he/she started school is generally seen as a good sign of having a healthy childhood. If the memory recalled is an unpleasant one, then the client might be fearful of the past pain continuing into the present and future.
The next two blanks on the case history, dealing with habits and obsessive behaviors in the childhood of the client, offers various hints and suggests how one copes with anxiety. The habits listed in the case history form deal with inward reactions to anxiety. Individuals who cope this way direct their energy internally. The presence of neurotic trends implies one acts out to cope with anxiety.
Eliciting, "Suppose you tell me the things which irritated you as a child growing up" (Dobbins, 1987e), will indicate the client's sources of irritation. The sources of happiness can be revealed by asking, "What do you remember as the happy times?" (Dobbins, 1987e).
Inquiring about childhood loneliness is very important. Dobbins has found it to be "a prominent factor in the backgrounds of adults with painful emotional problems" (Dobbins, 1987e). Identifying fears and shocks that a client has had is also helpful to know. The counselor will have to judge to what extent, if any, the past history has on the client's present problem. A discussion will follow shortly as to what kinds of, and how much of a client's past, will be attempted to be repaired.
The client's school life is explored at the bottom of page three. Knowing such details as the highest grade completed, retentions, grades, if any college has been completed, as well as the attitude one has toward school and teachers is helpful for Dobbins (1987e) because he considers a large part of counseling to be learning. Therefore, the client who enjoys learning is considered to be more motivated to change.
Space is provided at the top of page four of the case history for a discussion of the client's occupational background. Dobbins seeks this information "because work is one of the main social centers of our life; if a person is not happy there it is very likely to spill over into another social setting" (Dobbins, 1987e).
The middle of page four of the case history allows the counselor to learn if any physical condition contributes to the present problem. Dobbins suggests a helpful first question to ask would be, "How long has it been since you have had a complete physical exam?" (Dobbins, 1987e). He also suggests the counselor can get the most accurate information from a doctor's report if it is deemed necessary.
Likewise, assessing the client's mental condition might be best done from obtaining a medical or psychiatric report. However, the counselor could also ask the client if he/she has ever seen anyone else for help with problems with living. The client who has would then be asked the nature of the problems and the outcome of the counseling. Additionally, if the person had been previously helped, finding out what was effective is often beneficial. This can be done by asking, "What did the counselor do that you think helped you the most?" (Dobbins, 1990b, p.36). For those clients who had not been successfully helped, inquiring as to what was least helpful would be a good idea. Dobbins believes the wise counselor will want to avoid the mistakes another counselor had made with his/her present client and try to duplicate the ways others had succeeded in helping the client.
In the middle of page five of the case history form is a section to explore the counselee's social life. Dobbins (1987e) suggests the counselor pose the following question, "In your relationship with others, do you consider yourself to be a good mixer, aloof, nervous or at home with people?". The individual who is either nervous or aloof around others may have poor social skills, hostility toward people, low self-image, or may be fearful of others. Those who consider themselves to be good mixers sometimes relate to people in a superficial way. The best socially adjusted person is one who feels at home or relaxed with people.
Discovering the client's social flexibility is achieved by asking, "What type of people do you prefer to be with?" (Dobbins, 1987e). A flexible person will reply that he/she likes to be around all kinds of people, whereas the less adaptable individual likes to be around only those like himself or herself. The client's attitude toward socializing allude to his/her need for privacy.
The next section in the case history deals with the client's religious life and history. Several of these questions come from the work of Draper (1965). Obviously, Dobbins' background as a pastor is one reason for such a long portion being devoted to this area. He has found that a person's faith can potentially be a useful resource in dealing with his/her problem or, sometimes, it may be a hindrance. Therefore, the following questions are designed to enable a counselor to find out more about the person's faith and how he/she may or may not be applying it in one's everyday life.
The first four questions listed in the case history are phrased in the way they can be asked. The role of religion or church as a child reveals the basic religious environment of the client's childhood. Discovering what place it occupies presently suggests to the counselor the significance of the early spiritual training and whether or not the client has rebelled against it.
Insight into the spiritual discipline of the client's early home life is gained by inquiring whether or not the person was taught to pray as a child. Asking about the client's ideas of God when young reveals his/her God-concept and reveals the way the client most likely sees God currently.
Space is provided next for the client's denomination and what religious activities he/she has been involved in. The number of activities suggests how active one is in one's faith.
The client's denominational identity does not, in and of itself, suggest health or pathology. How the belief system is interpreted to the individual of a particular church better determines that. Nevertheless Dobbins (1989c) does encourage the counselor to know as much as possible about the general differences among various religions and denominations.
From an overall standpoint, Dobbins (1984) offers a test to examine whether or not the client's practice of his/her faith is contributing to or hindering one's mental health. He believes that a healthy faith: 1. Is affirmed in fellowship. 2. Sees God as love. 3. Fosters self-image. 4. Meets reality. 5. Adapts to change. 6. Manages stress and anxiety. 7. Finds joy in giving. 8. Expresses anger constructively. 9. Balances work and play. 10. Loves and forgives others.
Myrtle's situation (Dobbins, 1984) is a brief example of how one's faith may interfere with one's mental health. Before coming to counseling with Dobbins, Myrtle felt called to a special life of prayer. Soon, she began to neglect her home and family. When evening came the dishes from breakfast were still on the table, beds were no longer made, and it became obvious the two sons had been allowed to run through the house as they pleased.
When asked by George, her husband, about this neglect, Myrtle would simply cry and complain that he did not understand her. Soon she was putting him down for his lack of spiritual experience. It was not long until she started to sleep in another bedroom so she would not wake him when she got up to pray. It also helped her avoid what she called "the carnal joy of married love."
George finally talked with the minister in charge of the prayer meeting about his wife's strange behavior. The minister said he would talk to her and assured George that Myrtle's overemphasis with prayer would soon level off. It did not.
Myrtle started to get up earlier and began to wake her two boys at five o'clock to pray with her. She got up so early because she had seen a vision from Jesus and He had called the boys to be ministers.
Eventually, Myrtle agreed to come for counseling. Dobbins discovered she had suffered two great personal losses in the last six months; Myrtle's father and a best friend had recently died. Dobbins found that she did not know how to cope with their deaths. He had her hospitalized for five weeks and helped her find ways to process her grief feelings and manage the death of loved ones.
This illustration shows how one's religious experience can be very disabling. Myrtle was not letting her faith enable her to face the reality of death, or equip her on how she could manage the stress and anxiety it created. However, Myrtle's faith, in and of itself, was not the actual issue. Rather, it was how she used her faith to deal with the real difficulty that was a problem.
The last question on the bottom of page five of the case history asks if the client is a practicing Christian. This question allows the person to comment on whether one's faith disciplines one's behavior and attitude. Alternately, "Do you attempt to apply your faith in the practical issues of your daily life?" (Dobbins, 1987e), could be asked instead.
Whether or not the client espouses to be a Christian will govern the phasing of several subsequential questions. The first question on page six inquires about the nature of the client's conversion. Was it a crisis conversion that occurred in later life or a developmental conversion (meaning while the person was still a child)? Dobbins (1987e) points out that one tends to have more residual problems from issues before becoming a Christian if a crisis conversion is involved.
A measure of the client's devotional life can be deduced by asking if he/she prays regularly and reads the Bible regularly. Dobbins (1987e) has observed that most people stop reading their Bible on a routine basis before they quit praying. He finds this pattern occurs because people would rather talk to God, than listen to Him.
Uncovering whether or not the client is suffering from any unhealthy feelings of guilt is the focus of the next four questions. The counselor can determine how much the person's faith is generating the anxiety by asking if he/she is fearful of hell. Disabling guilt is identified by asking, "Do you ever feel like you have committed some unpardonable sin?" (Dobbins, 1987e). Dobbins (1989d) attests that all of his clients who have answered "yes" to this question always had some unresolved guilt about their sexual behavior.
There are three ways a counselor can distinguish between healthy and unhealthy guilt, according to Dobbins (1984). First, healthy guilt is based in relationships or principles, unhealthy guilt is rooted in rules. Secondly, healthy guilt brings a person to confess things that are important to one's relationship to God and others, whereas unhealthy guilt has a general compulsion to confess the trivial matters in addition to important things. Finally, healthy guilt yields to forgiveness, but unhealthy guilt will not.
The remaining items in the religious background section help render clues to the client's attitudes, values and inner or ego strength. If a person obviously does not read the Bible, then the counselor would not ask for a favorite verse.
Knowing what a person would ask God for can reveal a person's priorities and whether they are selfish. One's values are revealed by the last two questions about the worst sin and most Christian deed a person could commit.
For the purpose of uncovering more diagnostic information, a series of questions is focused on the client's unconscious life. This begins on page seven of the case history.
Several questions are devoted to one's sleeping patterns because emotional disturbances are more obviously detected there. The counselor should note any restlessness in sleep. Six to nine hours of sleep is generally considered average. Anxiety resulting from an acute problem or not being able to relax are usual reasons individuals will take medication for sleep.
Common themes or characters in dreams are important. Likewise, recurring dreams are alwaysmeaningful. Dobbins (1987e) advocates six primary sources of dreams: 1. A disturbed digestive track [i.e., too much pizza before bedtime]. 2. A living out of events that one has been actively involved in during the day. 3. Wish fulfillment [i.e., what one wants to happen]. 4. Stress release [i.e., a way of dealing with things that would be too overwhelming to deal with while awake]. 5. God speaking. 6. Reflection of biological needs.
Dobbins favors drawing out of the client how he/she sees oneself in the dream. In other words, he avoids interpreting the dream for the person and does not recommend the use of any books to discover a meaning. He says, "The dream will simply tell you if the person is having a major problem with anxiety . . ." (Dobbins, 1987e). Next, in the case history, the counselor assesses whether or not the client tries to ritualistically defend oneself against anxiety with unconscious habits by asking, "Have your family or friends ever told you about any repetitive behavior you practice?" (Dobbins, 1987e). The presence of free-floating, or non-specific anxiety is determined by the question, "Do you ever feel anxious or afraid and not know why?" (Dobbins, 1987e). Recalling the section dealing with learning theory, these clients are likely to have the ideational component of some event separated from the emotional portion. Thus, the client does not know how to explain why he/she is afraid or anxious. Finding out if the client has any compulsions or obsessions is subsequently asked by saying, "Do you ever feel compelled to do things that really do not need to be done?" (Dobbins, 1987e). Discovering whether or not a client feels depressed in the morning will let the counselor know if the depression is likely to be chronic. Because the function of sleep is to replenish mental energy, one who continually wakes up depressed means it is possible the depression is biochemically related. If this pattern of depression emerges, Dobbins suggests that temporary medication from a doctor might be sought.
Near the end of page seven the questions shift to the client's sex life. It is not done until this point since the client usually has more difficulty talking about these matters and is more likely to be honest because rapport has been established by this point.
The first three spaces, besides providing the obvious information, also lets the counselor know about the client's general attitude about sex. The reason for asking about masturbation is to find out if the client has any residual guilt for this behavior. Dobbins presents the question this way, "In the course of growing up, about 90 percent of males and 60 percent of females practice masturbation. How do you feel about this practice?" (Dobbins, 1990b, p. 41).
Because Dobbins believes the Bible makes no clear reference to masturbation, except when pornography is involved, the counselor will not need to discuss this subject unless the client feels guilty about the practice. When guilt is present, the counselor should encourage the individual to avoid the behavior whenever possible and ask for forgiveness as one would for any other repetitive sin.
When inquiring, "Have you had any homosexual contacts?" (Dobbins, 1987e), Dobbins suggests the counselor watch for any shift in posture of the client because most people will likely deny it if they had. However, the counselor will need to reassure the client that if he/she had only had experimental experiences one does not have a problem with homosexuality. Room is then provided to record any complication the female client may have with menstruation.
On the top of page eight, the counselor specifically inquires about the client's general attitude about sex. Asking if the client has engaged in any sexual adventures is for the purpose of uncovering and processing (in therapy) any guilt that has not been dealt with yet.
Moreover, the next question, "Do you feel any conflict between your sexual behavior and your Christian beliefs", deals with a similar matter. If the client answers "yes," then the counselor will need to determine if the guilt is appropriate and plan to deal with it in therapy.
Although not listed next, the counselor should ask if the client has ever had a sexually transmitted disease. Then, the remaining questions will be asked of only those who are married. Any issues surfaced that seems to contribute to the present problem, or be indicative of another problem, will be considered for possible further exploration when or if extensive therapy is done. Considerations for treatment are discussed next as diagnosis is contemplated.
Diagnosing the real problem. After the case history is complete, then the fourth part of the initial interview process is done--diagnosing the real problem. Dobbins notes that in the Greek, "diagnosis" means "to discern for the purpose of classification" (his emphasis, Dobbins, 1990b, p. 44). Underscoring the word "discern," Dobbins declares it as a good theological term which is more comprehensive than the word diagnosis.
Dobbins believes the purpose of diagnosis is to guide in the treatment of an individual. He views it as "a dynamic process which may tend to change definition as new information about the person being seen becomes available" (Dobbins, 1987f). Hypotheses made in the early sessions are tentatively held and will be discarded, if not confirmed. In fact, "unless undisputable evidence is present," Dobbins advises the counselor to, "assume the most favorable diagnosis possible consistent with the facts" (Dobbins, 1987f).
Dobbins (1990b) does not offer anything radically new in terms of the use of a diagnosis. While looking over the data that have been collected, he offers thefollowing questions for the counselor to consider in making a proper diagnosis of the client's problem: 1. What are the presenting problems? 2. Were there any precipitating events? 3. Does the person or his/her family have a history of psychological problems? 4. Is there any evidence of a contributing physical disease, reaction to medication, or substance abuse? 5. What is the person's present mental and emotional status? 6. What are the client's defense mechanisms? 7. How does the person generally respond to other people? 8. What are the person's strengths? 9. How adequate is the support system of family and friends? (p. 45-48)
When considering the first question, what the presenting problems are, the counselor will also want to find out whether or not they are recent in origin. If they are not recent, knowing how the client has dealt with them in the past will be helpful.
Did some other event or situation bring the client in besides the actual problem? This information will shed some light on how motivated the counselee is to change. Dobbins often says, "Not until the pain of remaining the same, hurts more than the pain of changing, do people open themselves up to change" (Dobbins, 1987f). One who is in a counselor's office to make another person happy will often times not have sufficient pain to change. The client who has waited a long time to seek help may or may not want to change. This individual might have given up already and wants to have a counselor confirm how hopeless his/her case is, or there may be a very high level of frustration and willingness to do what it takes to get help.
The third question, to aid in diagnosis, has to do with considering whether there is a history of psychological problems with the client or his/her family. If so, the counselor will want to explore the possibility of genetic involvement.
Knowing any contribution a physical disease, reaction to medication, or substance abuse has on the present problem is extremely helpful. That is why Dobbins includes a section in the case history about medical components. An example of such a contribution is the male client with diabetes or high blood pressure who complains of impotency. This client can be told it is not unusual to have such a complication.
Fifthly, what is the present mental and emotional status of the client? Is the client's mood stable? Also is he/she anxious, frightened, depressed, or hostile? Dobbins considers that a person who is basically frightened will be helped differently than one who is essentially angry.
What about his/her thought processes? Is the client able to clearly express himself or herself? Are the feelings and the thoughts of the client well integrative, or does one have dominance over the other? The client who is dominated by feelings might be that way for a variety of reasons. Dobbins (1987e) believes that there are two possible explanations: biochemical disturbance or the client may have been over-indulged as a child. One hypothesis for the client who is mainly non-emotional is that he/she did not receivemuch meaningful conversation or emotional experiences as a child.
The next question the counselor would consider while making a diagnosis is what defense mechanisms is used by the client? Dobbins believes that what psychology calls defense mechanisms, is actually ways the fallen nature of a person deals with reality. He considers some of them to be healthy and some unhealthy. Also, he contends that some defense mechanisms used by people tend to distort reality more than others. Dobbins uses standard definitions given by psychologists for the various defense mechanisms (see Dobbins, 1990b, pp. 46-48).
Reflecting on how the client generally responds to other people is another useful piece of information when making a diagnosis. This will include finding out if the client has adequate social skills and if his/her behaviors are situationally appropriate. Additionally, it is useful to know if the client reactionally eat or drink excessively.
The eighth question for the counselor to keep in mind is the client's strengths. What are the ways he/she handled problems in the past? How motivated is the person for treatment? As mentioned earlier, there has to be some desire on the part of the counselee to change. Dobbins contends that pain is the only valid predictor of change. He says, "Do not alleviate all the pain. Pain is your friend as a counselor. If you give the person too much comfort, too soon, you are going to destroy the motivation for change" (Dobbins, 1987f).
Another aspect which will help the counselor determine the client's strengths is to decide whether he/she has adequate strength to consider alternate behaviors. Specific ways to test this is to ask, "How else might you see this situation?, What else could you do about this situation?, [or] You have told me what you have done, what else might you do?" (Dobbins, 1987f).
The counselor will not be able to bring about much change if the client does not have the ability to imagine alternative ways of acting. In this situation, Dobbins advises a counselor not to try to do any repairing of the client's past. Thus, only supportive counseling will be done to help the person survive the present crisis.
Finally, the counselor needs to consider the client's support systems as the last major question to guide in diagnosis. How adequate is the client's friends and family as a support system? Does the client have others who will be of any help to the problem?
Assessing if hospitalization is necessary or possible becomes an additional important consideration of diagnosis. The client with a high suicidal risk is a candidate for being hospitalized. These would mainly be the individual with an available, specific and lethal plan. A client who would not be capable of managing himself or herself on a daily basis is also a potential candidate.
Defining goals and devising a treatment plan. Once the diagnostic process is completed, the counselor is then ready to determine appropriate goals and a direction for treatment. Of primary concern to Dobbins (1987f) when devising the treatment strategy for a client, is whether other health professionals are needed in the process. As noted earlier, the individual may benefit from having a complete physical. A client high in suicidal ideation will also need to be referred to his/her physician, or else someone who specializes in psychiatry might be sought.
When should a counselor refer a client? Dobbins (1987g) holds to a simple clinical axiom that counselors should ask himself or herself; "When what [you are] doing is not working," then refer.
The next major issue in defining goals and devising a treatment plan is determining whether therapy or counseling is needed and which is possible. Dobbins (no date, e) considers therapy to be the repair of the past and deals with the personal history segment of the Wheel of Experience. The primary technique used is the "praying through" model discussed under the second major substantive element, learning theory. Counseling, for Dobbins, then is distinct from therapy, it is supportive in nature and deals with problem solving in the present (Dobbins, 1987f).
There are several factors for the counselor to weigh in choosing counseling or therapy. For a client to be capable of benefiting from therapy, his/her age, intelligence, objectivity, openness to change and pain are considered. Dobbins (1987g) declares that the mature counselor does not treat everything he/she sees. Not everyone is stable enough to face past issues.
The client's age is important to regard. Dobbins (1987g) believes that one who is beyond mid-life would usually feel very threatened by therapy (working through past events). He finds that besides being resistant to change, older people will typically feel their life was wasted if therapy was attempted because they have so few years left ahead of them. He recommends a counselor mainly focus on issues that will help the older (50 years and up) clients face death more comfortably by dealing with unfinished business.
The ability to deal with and think abstractly is essential for therapy. The client must also possess the skill to view himself or herself objectively. That is, he/she needs to be able to adequately separate oneself from one's feelings to consider other perspectives. Successful therapy is closely tied to the client's ability to view one's self objectively and being open to change. Finally, as mentioned already, for a client to be motivated to change there has to be sufficient pain.
Explicit goals for treatment involving therapy would include coping with specific trauma; learning unfinished developmental tasks, like being comfortable in a intimate relationship, or social situations; and managing missing or pathological parental or sibling relationships (Dobbins, 1989b).
Specific goals to attempt for treatment more suited for counseling would consist of helping an individual change his/her attitude towards himself or herself, toward family, friends, job, or toward the present crisis.
The treatment plan form (see Figure 8) will be filled out once goals have been defined. In the space provided for presenting problems, the client's own words should be used whenever possible. If this is not possible, Dobbins recommends descriptive terms rather than evaluative statements be used. A well-formulated diagnostic impression of the client's problem will then be written in the remaining space of the presenting problem segment.
Long-term goals should be determined first. Dobbins (1987g) declares, that for therapy "these would be stated in terms of the parts of the person's past to be restructured." For counseling they would be "stated in terms of attitudes and behaviors targeted for change" (Dobbins, 1987g).
Short-term goals are to be defined in ways that the long-term goals can be reached. These goals often have to do with homework assignments for the client to do between sessions. Dobbins advocates giving homework assignments because he wants to be sure he is not the only person working on the client's problem.
Additional Ways to Define the Role of the Counselor
The definition of the role of the counselor can involve many other areas beyond what has been examined thus far. One of these is the general issue of the values of the counselor versus the values of the counselee? The following two quotes answer this question. The first has to do with a question of whether or not a counselor should suggest options to a client: You work with them in defining options. I would not suggest them right off the bat. I would say to them, after you have the problem defined, things like: 'What do you think you can do about this?' If I see some options that they do not see I say to them, 'Think a moment, and see if there [are] some other options you can come up with' (Dobbins 1987d).
What if the client disagrees with what Dobbins has suggested? He says the following: Suppose you pose those two futures for the person and they still choose the immature choice? Then you have done your part. It is not your obligation to make their decisions for them. It is your obligation to be sure the enemy is not blinding them to the consequences of the decisions they make. As long as you know you have helped them to look straight into the consequences of the decisions they make, then we have to sort of be like the Lord [in the garden He warned them, but let them go against His wishes]. We can give people the consequences, but if they choose to go after the tree then we cannot hold ourselves responsible for fruit they choose to pick (Dobbins, 1987c).
A related question in the reader's mind might be how Dobbins would deal with the client who professes not to be a Christian. Dobbins (1987e) states that he first tries to discern if the client is interested in knowing more about what it means to be a Christian. If he/she is not immediately interested, Dobbins realizes that a barrier will be built if the issue is forced. Yet, he is up front in stating that for him to be the most help, he will have to use therapeutic techniques which are of a religious nature. If the client does not wish this kind of help Dobbins will make an appropriate referral.
Finally, in a effort to define the role of the counselor, Dobbins (1990b) discusses five traps that a therapist should avoid in his role as a helper. They are the (a) stress trap, (b) voyeuristic trap, (c) "me too" trap, (d) rescuer trap, and (e) love trap.
Avoiding the "stress trap" involves being aware of the stress generated by the counseling profession and developing ways to cope with the stress that cannot be averted. The "voyeuristic trap" is the desire to know unnecessary details about some aspect of the client's past. The "'me too' trap" refers to the counselor turning the focus onto himself/herself for an extended period of time. Dobbins holds that nothing is wrong with brief self-disclosures that acknowledge one's humanity and reassures the client, but the aim should always be to benefit the counselee and not the therapist.
Avoiding the "rescuer trap" means the counselor is fully aware that he/she cannot solve the client's problem, the therapist is to work with the counselee in finding a solution/resolution. Also, it means that realistic goals are offered, false hope should not be given to the counselee. The final trap is the "love trap." It has to do with realizing that any kind of sexual/romantic feelings is the result of the "uniqueness of the therapeutic relationship" (1990b, p. 77) and a relationship of that kind is prohibited.
In summary, Dobbins has defined the role of the counselor by discussing: (a) the communication skills one would use while counseling; (b) the initial interview process which is done to define and to diagnose the client's problem, so as to develop ways to define goals and implement treatment; and (c) his views on values and five counseling traps which should be avoided.
Evidence Supporting the Theory
The final criterion from Burks and Stefflre (1979) is for evidence supporting the theory. They state that this includes not only research study results as a determiner for evidence but also illustrative case material.
Up to this point Dobbins has not focused on any controlled research studies on the effectiveness of his perspective of counseling. Individual case studies, however, are available to demonstrate how his perspective functions in the actual counseling setting. Three cases are presented, Peggy, Hank, and Don.
Case Number One: Peggy
Peggy (Dobbins, no date, g; personal communication, August, 1990), was approximately 52 years old at the time she came in for counseling. Her presenting problem was that her marriage was unbearably uncomfortable. She had seen several psychiatrists over a period of 20 years.
After seeing Peggy and her husband for a few sessions conjointly, it became obvious that Peggy had a lot more personal issues to deal with. She was riddled with guilt and anxiety.
Dobbins saw her over a period of 15 months. Initially, it had been on a weekly basis. Therapy became bimonthly after eight weeks. After nine months he saw her every three weeks. Then before termination he saw her once a month for the last three sessions.
When Dobbins explored her background, using the case history form, he found that Peggy grew up in a home where her mother was cold and frigid. She never knew what it was for her mother to hold her. She never knew what it was for her mother to kiss her on the cheek or give her any affection, or tell her verbally, "I love you, honey."
Peggy's father had a lover during the time she was growing up. She actually found this information out from her mother, who took Peggy into her confidence and cried on Peggy's shoulder. From this, Peggy began to think that her father was one of the most horrible men who ever had breath.
Peggy's life became more confusing once her father was aware she knew he had a lover. He wanted Peggy to meet her. When Peggy met her, she gave Peggy more warmth and affection than her mother did. Peggy even became the means by which her father and lover communicated. This began in her early teens, as she would carry notes between the two of them.
At the age of 19 Peggy had her first broken love experience. Through the pain of it she began to review her past and develop a horrible hatred for her father and herself, but still clung to a sick love for her mother.
There was a lot of trauma in Peggy's past history that remained unresolved. She had distorted ways of understanding and coping with what had taken place in her early and teen-age life. The long-term goal was to enable Peggy to find a way to think and feel about her life which did not cause her as much pain as it currently did. This goal was met by focusing on her relationships with her father, mother and herself using the "praying through" technique.
With input from Peggy, Dobbins determined the first relationship to focus on would be that with her mother. This short-term goal began by having Peggy learn as much as possible about her. She was given this homework assignment because she was seeing her mother with a halo and her father with horns. Dobbins believed that her mother was not as saintly as Peggy thought she was, nor her father as devilish as she thought he was.
When Peggy began to look into her mother's past she found that she was a very cold, frigid person who never gave her any affection. She started to see her from a different perspective. Dobbins then suggested she ask herself, "If you were a man, how would you like to be married to a woman like your mother?"
From clinical experience, Dobbins has found that people rarely ever think of their mother as someone's wife or their father as someone's husband. Most people are so busy thinking about what kind of a parent their mom or dad were that they do not even consider the responsibility each had in the role of being a marriage partner.
Answering that question got Peggy in touch with a whole new dimension of her past which helped her understand her mother and father better. To help her explore the matter more deeply, Dobbins asked Peggy to consider how affectionate her mother was to her father. Because prayer was meaningful to her, she explored this question before God, in prayer, as a homework assignment.
As Peggy saw her mother in a clearer light, she slowly began to understand her father's actions better and have more compassion for him. As this change was happening, she went through a period in therapy where she hated her mother. Therefore, the focus shifted so Peggy could work her way toward forgiving her mother.
This was only possible as Peggy began to see that her mother was frigid toward her father for a reason. She discovered that her mother's background was one of many hurts as well. Those experiences are what contributed to the way she acted toward Peggy and her husband. The purpose of such an exploration was for Peggy to develop empathy, or compassion toward her mother.
Dobbins believes that one can never forgive the person he/she resents, until God gives one compassion for him/her. However, one can never have compassion for another until he/she has put himself/herself in another's place realistically enough to understand what it must have been like to live through the hurtful circumstances that made a person what he/she is presently.
By developing some compassion for her mother and releasing the anger and hatred toward her mother in a healthy way, Peggy was able to go through the process of forgiving her (see Dobbins, 1987c; and O'Flaherty, 1990) for a discussion of the willingness to forgive and the readiness to forgive). Being able to forgive her mother was the first step in Peggy's healing process.
Next, the focus was on Peggy forgiving herself. This was very difficult as she thought about how she had betrayed her mother by befriending her father's lover. In her eyes, she was a horrible, rotten, low- down, good-for-nothing person who did not deserve any good thing to happen in her life again. Her feelings about herself were very exaggerated and difficult for her to control.
At this point, Dobbins (no date, g) reminded her of her own childhood and said:
If you were never held as a two or three year old. And as a four or five year old youngster nobody ever put their arm around you and told how much they loved you, or even bragged over your school work, how hungry would you be for a little bit of love? How starved would you be for some affection? How badly would you want to hear some good things from someone else, since you did not hear it from your mother?
The purpose of these statements was to build a base for her to have compassion for herself. Finally, as she began to remember what it must have been like to be a child, craving affection and not having it, she could understand how as a preteen she would reach out to even her father's lover for something she had wanted all her life. Considering these points led Peggy toward the goal of forgiving herself.
Peggy then had only her father left to forgive.She had not talked to him in five years and had not really seen him at all for 12 years. It took her longer to forgive her father than her mother and herself, but since she saw the relief from forgiving herself and her mother, she realized it would not do any good to continue holding onto a hatred of her father. Although, at first, she tried to simply not think about the hatred toward him. This worked for only brief periods of time; whenever she was alone, however, her mind would focus on her real feelings toward him.
She was finally able to put herself in her father's place and develop compassion for him. This was done by having her suppose she was a man who had married a woman he had loved for long time and was really looking forward to being close and intimate with her. The actual situation for her father was that no matter how attracted he was to his wife she could not tolerate physical love. Peggy was asked, "As a man, how would you have felt?" Well, for the first month or so, he would probably be patient. But this behavior continued even beyond three or four years. It was not until Peggy was eight or nine years old that her father had a lover. She was asked, "How long should your father have waited?"
Of course, she also was able to see that there were other options for her father. He could have sought help for his wife or divorced her. But, Dobbins reminded Peggy that most people look back on their life and find they have made decisions which were not the wisest possible choices.
As Peggy began to understand the kind of life her father lived, she gave up her resentment and hatred of him and God helped her to forgive him. This was evidenced when she gave her father not only a card, but a gift on Father's Day that year--the first in 12 years.
Peggy came to one of her last sessions saying, "Boy, I feel like saying Hallelujah." Dobbins asked, "What brings that on?" She told him that for over twenty years she had not been able to drive alone. On that day she drove all alone!
It has been several years since Dobbins counseled with Peggy, but he reports that the progress made in therapy continues to this day (personal communication, August, 1990).
Case Number Two: Hank
Hank (Dobbins, no date, h; personal communication, August, 1990), was a 46 year old man who was in therapy with Dobbins for about a year and a half. He had problems with an uncontrollable temper. He was not sure of the cause of his over-reactions, he only knew that at times the impulse to hit his wife was so great that he had left her battered and bruised. At times, he had battered and bruised her so badly that she had to have medical treatment.
Hank thought that after becoming a Christian he would not have any more difficulty with his temper. He thought he would never hurt his wife again, but he did.
He would say, "This is terrible, I am a Christian, I should have better control of my temper than that." He then started to think that even being a Christian could not help him control his temper.
Soon after that, someone had told him about the charismatic experience of being baptized in the Holy Spirit. He thought that is what he needed to overcome his temper. "If I have this, it will never happen again," Hank thought. He received the charismatic experience, yet he still continued to lose his temper.
His wife told him she was not going to take it anymore. This is when the two of them came into counseling at Emerge, the counseling center Dobbins founded in Akron, Ohio. His wife had reached the end of her endurance, but really loved Hank. After being convinced she was relatively healthy and was not in any present danger, Dobbins thought it was no longer necessary to see her.
Hank had to drive over 200 miles to come to Dobbins for counseling. Because of the distance he traveled, Dobbins tailored the sessions differently. During the first three months he saw Hank for two hours every two weeks. Then Hank came once a month and stayed overnight in town. Dobbins saw him one hour each day.
Through the use of the case history, several things surfaced about Hank's past which explained his problem of managing his anger properly. When Hank was a teenager, his father had an affair. Hank's mother could not forgive his father. She was so angry with him for having the affair, that she was determined to get revenge. She got even by having an affair of her own. Hank tolerated his father's affair, but his mother's he did not. He did not expect his mother to have an affair, nor did he see the horrible offence it was to his mother for her husband to have one.
When Hank's mother had an affair, his father could not forgive her either. Hank's father wanted to get even, so he got a divorce. When the home was broken up, Hank began to hate his mother for being the cause of it. He did not have any resentment toward his father, but Hank was unforgiving toward his mother. Whenever Hank and his wife got into a heated argument his emotions would rise to a peak. Then, in his mind, time got confused and he could not tell the present from the past. He could not tell his wife from his mother and all his feelings were turned upside down. Without knowing why, he would then begin beating his wife, as he was actually venting his feelings toward his mother.
Managing the compulsive behavior (the acting out in anger) became the goal of therapy. The energy created by Hank's anger was not being used constructively (see Dobbins (1984) for a discussion of anger as an energy management problem). The first step in treatment was to help him redirect his anger by beating something other than his wife. Dobbins used the model "Putting off the old Man/Putting on the new Man." Hank wanted to change so much that he was willing to begin by putting a tackling dummy in his basement. Hank worked really hard at not hitting his wife.
For the first 10 months he did not touch his wife and then one day he shoved a pillow in his wife's face. When this happened he became so overwhelmed, he thought, "What is the use, there is no hope for me." He was not even going to come back to counseling.
At that point his wife, depressed at the time, called Dobbins and told him that Hank was not planning to come back. He listened to her pour her heart out, then he asked to speak to Hank. Dobbins said to him, "In the 10 months before you came to me, how many times did you hit your wife"?
He said he could not count them. Then Dobbins asked him how many times he had hit her in the last month. There was silence on the other end of the line for several moments. He then asked, "See any difference?" Immediately Hank responded, "Yea, I will be back, I will be back."
Next time Dobbins saw him, he used the pain of this crisis to motivate Hank to come to terms with the need to forgive his mother.
This was done first of all by Hank using the "praying through" technique as homework to deal with his relationship with his mother. The goal was for him to get rid of hatred toward his mother so he could reinvest love and trust into that relationship. Time was also set aside for meditation so Hank could reinforce the reality of Christ's presence in his life to help him do the work that was needed to forgive his mother. Hank found a place where he would be able to pray without being distracted.
After several sessions, Hank was able to get in touch with the feelings toward his mother (the first two steps of "praying through"), but he really was not yet able to complete the process of forgiveness.
Hank finally forgave his mother by completing the remaining two steps of "praying through" as homework between sessions. In fact, it happened in between sessions. Hank joyfully walked into counseling one day with an expression that meant good news. Even though Dobbins knew what had happened, he let Hank tell the exciting news. The breakthrough of forgiveness came as Hank renewed his love and commitment to Christ, which enabled him to extend the forgiveness he had received to his mother.
Dobbins (personal communication, August, 1990) reports that he is still in contact with Hank and his success made in therapy has continued over the years.
Case Number Three: Don
Don (Dobbins, 1989e), a married man, was approximately 28 years old and had become hooked on pornography when he was 13. He now wanted to end his addiction.
Dobbins believes that even though someone like Don desires to change, there are several hurdles that will need to be overcome to successfully help a person with an addiction. One is to make it clear that the client needs to be honest with the counselor. At the time he worked with Don, Dobbins was still pastoring and Don went to his church. Dobbins has found that this kind of situation makes it even harder for people to be honest to a counselor. He bases this on the notion that most people think they can hide things from God and those who represent God. Dobbins shares that no one can really hide anything from God and it is not necessary to hide anything from the counselor to have his/her love, compassion and respect. In fact, as in Don's case, Dobbins will tell a client that he is going to respect him/her more if he/she is painfully honest with him.
Secondly, Dobbins underscores that realistic expectations need to be set. He will tell the client that though it would be wonderful if, after the first session, he/she quits using pornography, it is highly unlikely for him/her to really be able to do that. In fact, Dobbins lets the client know that he is not going to expect that.
Finally, Dobbins always stresses that breaking free of pornography will be like a battle, which he is willing to go through with the client until he/she has conquered it. This ties back into the first hurdle, the need for the client to be honest, which he points out again when discussing the struggle of overcoming a compulsive behavior.
The regular format of these sessions (i.e., when the client is married) is to have both the husband and wife come. However, Dobbins sees the husband first for most of the session, then there is time when he meets with just the wife, and finally he ends the last five to seven minutes with the couple together.
At the close of the first session, Dobbins gave Don the homework he normally gives to anyone addicted to pornography--have him burn his magazines. This was done at home with Michelle, his wife, present. Such an action serves as a form of religious symbolism, much like in Acts 19:19. Dobbins says he also finds this method useful because the individual can remember a specific time and place as a symbolic beginning of a breaking away from pornography.
After the first appointment both Don and Michelle were very excited, thinking that pornography was out of their lives forever. Even though Dobbins knew that this was probably not true, he did not destroy that excitement. Because the pleasure involved in the addiction forms a strong bond, he believes that an individual will succumb to the temptation again.
The next several sessions were good. However, between the third and fourth meeting the wife called, she was in tears. While moving the dresser as she was cleaning, she found a copy of the most recent issue of Playboy underneath. She was very upset when she made this discovery. She asked if it would be best for her to confront him, or to wait until the next session. Dobbins suggested they wait until the next session and said he would first give Don a chance to be honest about it when he met with him alone. That way, if he is honest about it, everyone involved would feel better about it. If he is not honest about it, then when it comes time for Michelle to have her part of the session with Don, Dobbins would say something like, "There are some things you need to tell Don that he does not know you know." Before ending the conversation he prayed with her over the phone.
The time for that next session came. When Dobbins had Don by himself he inquired, "How are things going?"
"Oh, fine, everything is going fine."
"No problems?"
"Oh, no problems. It is just amazing how easy it is for me to live without pornography."
Dobbins then reminded him of what they had discussed at the first session by saying, "Remember, you do not have to pretend with me. You can be honest with me. Remember what we said . . ."
"Oh, I know that, I am being honest. Nothing is going on," Don replied.
After this point of the conversation Dobbins went to some other issues. Then it came time to bring Michelle in with Don present. Dobbins said to her, "I think there are some things you should tell Don that you know and he does not know you know." At that point she started to cry. From the expression on Don's face, one could tell he knew she knew.
Michelle said, "I found the latest issue of Playboy under the dresser when I was cleaning. Why could you not have told me?"
Don is very embarassed at this time. He is slumped over the chair with his head hanging. Dobbins (1987e) said to him softly:
So, you were not really being honest with me, were you? I am really sorry about that. I am sorry
that I have not been able to convince you that it is really safe to be honest with me. I want you to
know, though, I really do understand how difficult it is. Remember, if we are going to win this battle,
you have got to have someone you can trust and I would like that one to be me. Just say it like it is.
After sending Michelle out of the room, Dobbins asked him, "What is it about pornography that is so appealing to you? What do you get out of it that you could not get out of marriage?"
Don said, "There are times when I do not want to go through the whole act of intercourse, I just want to pet and reach a climax by petting."
"What is such a big deal about that? Can you not tell your wife that?"
"No," he replied.
"Well, unmarried people do that all over the place. You mean married people cannot do that if they want to?"
Don came back with, "I could never tell her that, she would think I was perverted."
"Really, she would think you were perverted? Are you sure?"
"Oh, yes! I could never tell her, never tell her that."
At this point, Dobbins began to remind himself of the fact that addictions such as these breed on secrecy. Thinking about this he said to Don, "Let me talk to her."
"Oh, no I do not want you to talk to her. I would not even want her to know that the thought ever came into my mind. She feels bad enough about me now; she would really think I was a pervert."
Knowing his wife would not think this, Dobbins replied, "Well, let me try."
After a few more minutes, he finally got his permission. Then he sent Don out into the waiting room and brought Michelle in.
Dobbins (1987e) said to her:
You know, you strike me as a woman who is pretty comfortable with yourself, pretty comfortable
with marriage, and pretty comfortable with your sexuality. One of the big deals with your husband
about pornography is that there are times when he would rather not go through the entire act of intercourse--he would rather be petted to a climax. Of course, he would rather have you pet him,
but he was afraid you would think he was some kind of pervert for wanting that."
She started to laugh and said, "He said that? Is that not funny? There are times when I do not want to go through the entire act of intercourse."
Dobbins said, "Well, is that not neat? I will call him back in and tell him that."
When he came back in Dobbins (1987e) told him,
You know I was telling your wife what you told me. You know what her reaction was? [At this point the wife started to laugh.] She started to laugh, just like that and said there were times when she did not want to go through the whole rig-a-marole either, and that would be just fine with her.
He looked at her with shock all over his face and said, "You did?"
Michelle said, "Sure, honey."
Don started to laugh, like someone had lifted twenty tons off of his shoulders. That broke the back of that pornography addiction.
Fortunately, both partners already had adequate healthy views of sex to make the therapy time relatively short--only about four to six months.
(Summary)
In this section of the criterion of a counseling theory, on supportive evidence of the theory, Dobbins offers illustrative case material to show how his theory operates in the counseling setting.
In summary of this chapter, Dobbins addresses the issue of assumptions regarding the basic nature of people. Human personality results from an interaction among four sources of power; God, Satan, nature and man. Dobbins states that acknowledging the existence of supernatural powers avoids simplistic explanations of life and uphold its complexity. He also sets forth 12 suppositions which are critical in understanding his views on human nature, as well as the rationale for the remainder of his beliefs. Dobbins deals with the question of how people learn by discussing Jeremiah 17:9. He sees the writer of Jeremiah 17:9 as describing the developmental and environmental hurdles in peoples' lives.
Change in people's behavior is discussed in light of several models, the Wheel of Experience, Healing of the Mind, Praying Through and Putting Off the Old Man/Putting On the New Man. Goals in counseling, the third criterion of a counseling theory set forth by Burks and Stefflre (1979), are addressed by an elaboration of seven goals; (a) "how-to's" for "ought- to's", (b) wiser decisions, (c) productive self-talk, (d) salubrious interpretation of the past, (e) healthy God-concept, (f) wholesome self-image, and (g) overcome compulsive behavior.
Dobbins defines the role of the counselor by discussing the communication skills one would use while counseling and the initial interview process used to define and diagnose the client's problem which is done to develop ways to define goals and implement treatment. Then various additional means by which Dobbins sees the role of the counselor as being defined are discussed. Actual cases of three individuals are presented to illustrate how his theory functions in the counseling setting. This is done to address the fifth criterion, which is evidence supporting the theory.
Abstract | Chaper 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 4 |
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