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Attitudes and Beliefs Reflection
Jero E Jenkins
Liberty University
Professor K Dumont
ADCN501: Ethical and Legal Issues in Addiction Counseling (C01)
09/27/2025
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Attitudes and Beliefs Reflection Paper: Examining Personal Values in Christian Marriage
and Family Therapy
Reaction
After completing the Attitudes and Beliefs Inventory, three questions were the most
responsive and the ones that were most difficult to respond to honestly. First, question 19
involves counseling a man who was convicted of pedophilia and ordered to undergo counseling
because the court created discomfort and internal conflict (Corey et al., 2011). This reaction
demonstrated that my Christian image of redemption and forgiveness, my myriad instincts of
protection, and my socialization about crimes against children conflicted. I felt that the question
was against my strongly held idea that everyone needs compassion, and the question was also a
step out of my comfort zone of dealing with people whose actions I regard as morally wrong.
Second, the question of having a couple believing that multiple partners are okay in sex
raised a lot of personal incongruency. This situation is in direct contradiction with my biblical
worldview about marriage and sexual intimacy as sacred in committed and monogamous
relationships. This question challenged me to explore how I could exercise therapeutic
neutrality, serving clients whose lifestyle preferences are essentially contradictory to my
interpretation of how God has designed human sexuality and relationships.
Third, the ethical issue associated with question 7 of how to counsel a woman who has
chosen to obtain an abortion, yet she wants to work through her feelings regarding the
abortion, created a complicated ethical dilemma (Corey et al., 2011). Despite my pro-life
conviction that is strongly opposed to abortion, the dilemma brought up the issue of conflicting
my moral principles and my professional obligation as a morally neutral professional helping
clients in crisis. This scenario made me have problems with switching out of my theological
perceptions of the sanctity of life, as well as my therapeutic involvement in helping someone to
navigate their feelings about a decision that has already been made.
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Response
These strongly entrenched values and beliefs were developed by various sources of
influence during my growth years. My objection to sexual offence on children was mainly due to
my early life safety education, by both the parents and the church, as well as my upbringing,
teaching on biblical teachings on the protection of the innocent and vulnerable (McDonald,
2022). Further reinforcement of this value came with exposure to media reporting of the cases
of abuse and educational resources during my undergraduate studies in psychology, which had
formed a powerful protective reaction that is not limited to the theological belief but consists of
the fundamental human dignity and safety issues.
My beliefs about sexual morality and sanctity of marriage have been influenced mostly
by a conservative Christian background whereby I was consistently given both biblical
perspectives on sexuality, marriage and relationship by my parents and church leaders. Lessons
in Sunday school, discussions about sex among the youth, and among the family during the
week reinforced the concept that sexual intimacy was established by God to be within marriage
between one man and one woman. These teachings were supported by the extensive biblical
interpretation of Genesis, Ephesians, and other scriptures that discussed how God wanted
human beings to connect and sexuality.
My pro-life attitude was developed due to a combination of church teachings, parental
guidance, and my individual research of the Bible in terms of the inherent value and dignity of
human life. I have never been told that I must not kill a fetus at an early age, since at this early
stage of development, life has begun, and that every human being is an embodiment of God,
abortion is therefore immoral. The beliefs that were being strengthened were through attending
church pro-life rallies, listening to testimonies of post-abortive women, and reading about the
biblical views on God knowing people before they were born, like Psalm 139 and Jeremiah 1:5.
Action/Christian World View
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To continue, considerable personal and professional growth should be underway to deal
with these pain points without compromising the effectiveness of his therapy and Christian
integrity. First, I will have to practice more in-depth theological research and reflection as to
how the grace, redemption, and transformative power of God can be extended even to the
hardest of situations, such as sex offenders. This means looking at the aspect of Jesus serving
the outcasts of society and how principles of restoration and healing found in the bible can
inform my therapeutic practice without affecting the safety or responsibility in any manner.
In terms of sexual ethics and lifestyle choices that do not coincide with my beliefs, I
should be able to build a higher ability to empathize with others therapeutically and continue to
remain personally convinced at the same time. This involves being able to learn to draw the
difference between accepting individuals as the image bearers who deserve our respect and
approving of actions that go against biblical teachings (McDonald, 2022). Additional teaching in
multicultural competency and ethics will enable me to negotiate such complexities without
making it seem like I am sacrificing conscience and without trying to instill values in the people I
work with.
In abortion related counseling, I would have to learn how to be empathetic with women
handling grief, guilt or confusion and remain a pro-life counselor myself.It includes the training
of skills of trauma-informed care and the knowledge of the multifaceted factors that contribute
to such decisions made by women.
The ethical concept of justice is in line with this action plan since the concept of justice
includes not only the virtue but also mercy. The hermeneutic of Divine relationship that was
developed by Johnson highlights that God seeks relationship even with the rebels of His love,
and that therapeutic relationships can reflect the character of God through radical love that
challenges the sin but provides hope to achieve change (Johnson, 2020). This principle of divine
relationship helps us to treat even troubled clients with the humility and graciousness that are
inspired by the realization of our need to be graced by God.
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The law of hope that is based on the triumph of Christ over sin and death is where the
belief that recovery and restoration can be attained even in the most difficult situations is
founded. The fact that Johnson focuses on current and future hope implies that therapeutic
work may contribute to the redemptive activity of God within the world and thereby give clients
the chance of undergoing reconciliation and transformation through the therapeutic
relationship
(Johnson, 2020).
Conclusion
This period of reflection has helped me to understand the profundity of my beliefs and
the aspects in which professional development is necessary in order to be a successful Christian
marriage and family therapist. Although theological integrity is accepted as the main priority,
the ability to become more proficient in the sphere of therapeutic love, which resembles the
character of God, should be developed on a personal, theological, and professional level. The
hermeneutic of Divine relationship offers a way of dealing with such challenges in humility,
hospitality, and radical love that aims to achieve the utmost good of all clients without losing
the biblical truth. In the future, I will continue working to help the integration process be
complete so that I can become an efficient therapeutic agent and also remain loyal to my calling
as a Christian professional who shares the love of God with all of mankind.
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References
Corey, G., Corey, M. S., & Callanan, P. (2011). Issues and ethics in the helping professions (p.
379). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Johnson, J. (2020). A hermeneutic of Divine relationship: Implications for the education and
training of Christian marriage and family therapists. Christian Higher Education, 19(4),
235-253.
McDonald, A. M. (2022). A Phenomenological Study Exploring Marriage and Family
Therapists’ Experiences in Sharing Their Spiritual/Religious Beliefs with Their Clients.
Nova Southeastern University.
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