LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
4MAT Book Review of Psychology, theology, and spirituality in Christian counseling
Submitted to Dr. Eric Scalise
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for completion of the course:
PACO 506
Integration of Psychology and Theology
by
Harold Hanson
September 26,2021
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Summary
The book “Psychology, theology, and spirituality in Christian counseling" was originally
published in the year 1996 ,but, the present updated version was published in 2011, which
includes the updated research findings and additional information related to the use of spirituality
and theology in the Christian counseling psychological processes. The author did progressive
research that talks about Christian counseling and its importance. Moreover, the author has
given the focus on the psychological treatment of the clients where Christian counselor plays an
important role1. The author has highlighted some specific tools and necessary definitions that are
required for the Christian counselor to maintain the profession and ethics. He also explained the
book’s biblical viewpoint by involving the student’s collaborative research efforts.
In the book's introductory part, the author has discussed Christian counselor's role who need to
give more focus on faith and spirituality by implementing strategies for psychological treatment.
In this part, McMinn (2011) and James Wilhoit also highlighted to give fewer preferences on the
integration of psychology and theology. Additionally, they also talked about the growing
spirituality and theology challenges that can be experienced in the counseling sessions and how
to deal with these situations.
McMinn (2011) has addressed the characteristics of humanity that include three fundamental
areas such as awareness of needs, self-awareness, and developing an intimate relationship with
human beings and God. Moreover, the author has discussed the functional elements of
spirituality, theology, and psychology in an instructional manner. Additionally, it can be said that
the book is the complete version of the foundations of Christian living, which includes
developing a prayer habit, experiencing and dealing with sin, reading scripture, forgiveness,
making confessions, and helping the Christian counselors to treat the clients. The author has
explained Christian counselors need to understand how to pray the God and when to pray the
God and understand the payer's impact in their life before treating the clients with the effect of
prayer.
McMinn (2011) has mentioned the necessity of scripture usages and their implications in the
payer sessions in the next part. He says the scripture should be utilized in terms of selected
1 McMinn, Mark R.BPsychology, theology, and spirituality in Christian counseling. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2012.
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situations and the needs of each client. This scripture must be helpful for the clients to identify
sin in their daily life without developing a sense of shame and quilt. It is important because a
client can go into depression rather than faster healing. According to McMinn (2011), the
scripture must bring changes from inside, not only changes in their behavior.
In the final parts of the book, McMinn (2011) has given the focused on three core topics that
discuss forgiveness, redemption, and confessions. According to him, self-disclosure or
confession should be compassionate and empathetic2. The confession is very important to
maintain by the counselor as it is the springboard to forgive someone. Here, Katheryn Meek and
McMinn have mentioned specific methods that can help Christian counselors help the client
obtain a spiritual, healthy psychological, and emotional perspective about their life. After that,
the counselor can introduce redemption to the client, which is the desire and purpose of all
Christian counselors.
Concrete Responses
One day my college friend asked me about my father as he was talking about his parent's love
towards him. I told him that I never met my father. At that time, I cried a lot as always. I missed
my father. Also, I felt unaccepted, abandoned, and not loved by my father. Whenever I used to
ask my mother about my father, she refused to say and sometimes avoided my questions. But, I
repeatedly began to search for my father. At last, I got to know some information about him, and
I was happy. But, it was the bad news; he was no more in this world. He left us one year before.
At this time, I was very lonely and became very depressed to know about his death. I started
alcoholic drinks and smoking daily to feel relaxed, but it did not work. I suffered from sickness
for a long time due to this. However, if I could have known about the Christian counselor before,
I could have gotten their help and benefited from their assistance.
In this book, I could relate myself in part, Towards Psychological and Spiritual Health. When I
was reading this part, I realized several reasons associated with my inability to understand self-
needs, healthy views of self, and associate limitations to connect with God. I never came across
expert counseling, but the unfortunate situations or events made me realize accepting Jesus
Christ. At this time, I also realized that my past difficult experiences could be avoided if I chose
a Christian counselor to a healthy self. As the Christian counselor is actively following the
2 McMinn, Mark R.BPsychology, theology, and spirituality in Christian counseling. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2012.
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principles of the Christian faith and practicing regularly, they could have suggested me the right
path.
Reflection
When I read the outlined in McMinn’s (2011) book, I found the book is completely instructional.
So, I do not have more questions about composition for McMinn (2011) and his collogues.
Additionally, I found that this therapy level must have fueled the adult generation, but I was
curious and wondering that how the Christian principles will effectively work in the case of
individuals with mental illnesses as well as the children and teenagers' mental illnesses. So, here
are my specific questions for McMinn and his colleagues that bothered me.
Question-1: As we know the difficulty level of getting clients to make them understand and
realize the importance of scripture and prayer due to sin, in such case, how would you apply
instructional tools for treating clients who are suffering from mental illness or cognitively
challenged?
Question-2: Are these integrative measures are beneficial in treating teenagers and children? If
not, would you update your integrative measures specific to these age group people?
Question-3: As we know, the bible has different versions in circulation. However, the specific
King James Version is broadly used by most Christians, which is very difficult for a newcomer
to understand Christianity. So, which version of the bible would you suggest using for Christian
counselors in such a case?
My questions towards McMinn and his colleagues are completely relevant as they did not
specifically cover this information. Overall, this book has given ideas about spirituality and
theology, focusing on several aspects of human nature, important tools for integrating
psychology, important topics associated with Christian counseling, spiritual development, and
the implementation of scripture and prayer in sessions3. Apart from that, this book is the
complete guide for Christian counselors to go through the right steps to treat the client.
Applications
3 McMinn, Mark R.BPsychology, theology, and spirituality in Christian counseling. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2012.
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After reading this book, I have developed faith in the resource guide of Christian counseling that
explains the integration of spirituality, psychology, and theology to treat the client. Further, I
have the plan to implement the same tool in the counseling sessions to treat the client in a better
way. Moreover, this book has made me learn to follow ethics in an appropriate way. And, the
solid instructions of the author related to integrating scriptures and prayer made me confident
and developed my faith in treating the client4.
McMinn (2011) mentioned that Christian counselors who perform scripture and prayer in
sessions must follow the treatment methods. So, I have the plan to continue the same to improve
my prayer life and my knowledge of scripture. Also, I believe this book has helped me
personally, and I would follow up its path whenever unhealthy feelings and thoughts come to my
mind. In addition, McMinn mentioned the sense of compassion and humility within the
counselor. So, I will take it to serve the same to my clients.
Bibliography
McMinn, Mark R.BPsychology, theology, and spirituality in Christian counseling. Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., 2012.
4 McMinn, Mark R.BPsychology, theology, and spirituality in Christian counseling. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2012.
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