1
The Integration of Christianity and Psychology
David Cullen
Liberty University
PSYC 520-D04
2
Abstract.
Recent research is dedicated to understanding the role of religion in psychology and also the
integration of these two areas. This essay evidence different perspectives and opinions about
integration and the positive or negative effects of this practice. The influence of religion as a
culture in the human being is essential to understand the phycological aspects associated.
Christian colleges and in general schools and colleges have decreased the effectiveness of
integrating spirituality into their practices. Descriptive analysis shows how emerging adults and
millennials are a current difficult challenge of integration; also art and sports can be influenced
positively by these practices. Findings reveal that emerging adults recognize the importance of
spirituality in their lives because it improves their general and personal convivence and
relationships. Some overarching themes emerged: (a) morality in therapeutic practices, (b)
psychology as an expression of Christian faith (c) empathy, (d) value of integration.
3
Introduction.
There has always been a controversy between spirituality and science, about beliefs, and
proved facts. Some people have the opinion that religion has a negative impact when it comes to
understanding the functionality and behaviors of the human being. On the other hand, some
religious communities view psychology as unneeded as all the questions can be resolved through
the Bible. It is a fact that mental health is not a “quarrel” with science and spirituality.
In the last years, there has been a trend related to practicing introspection, meditation, and
other related tools in order to construct spirituality. Psychologists have recognized the relevance
of spirituality in the lives of human beings due to the positive impact that this kind of practice
brings to the emotional self. The Cristian religion has its approaches to certain relevant topics of
the humans, since themes as a creation to more recent topics such as abortion.
The majority of Church ideals are not related to psychology science. Since ancient times
the perspectives of each one have generated a large number of disputes. Church generally rejects
the theories and findings of clinical psychological science. Despite this, in the last few years, a
discussion about the integration of these two has araised. Church and psychology have in
common the constant search about the origin of behaviors, experiences, and interpretations of the
human being; the questions what we are? and how we should be? unify both of them (Warren,
2014).
The value of the human is recognized as essential for psychology and religion. Some
agreements of these pairs are the right of choice or free will, the concepts of morality (wrong and
right), the relationship with the people to heal them, and the concept of community. One and the
other admit that their objective is to heal and accompany the processes of each individual to
4
obtain better self-relationships, admit wrong, and generate loving relationships. The general aim
is to encourage the unconscious knowledge of the self to develop a conscious self (Warren,
2014).
Psychology as a science has its theoretical models and theories with different approaches
and views compared to those of Christian religion, the most classical ones are based on
naturalism theories. Despite the differences in beliefs and points of view both psychology and
religion, on the whole, can generate positive inertia to take advantage of the helpful aspects of
each one of them (MacMinn, 2014). The integration of Christianity and psychology can be
productive when it comes to achieve better results and learn from each other concerning human
spirituality and the link with the soul, mind, and body.
Their integration of Christianity and psychology at some relevant points in psychology
practice or therapy could be beneficial. In psychology, the use of both gospel and scriptures can
generate better results by empathetic with the patients to achieve an atmosphere where scriptures
become a medium for curing the clients at the same time that Jesus is glorified. Also,
professionals of psychology according to Rainer (2014) can integrate these two areas to manage
the complexities of all individuals by adopting a middle position between depravity as humans
and dignity, due to pathology can not be dived just by morality or sin.
Rainer (2014) also mentions that the practice of secular techniques could cause a
favorable effect on patients and that this kind of method can be successful in the reduction of
symptoms. Additionally, the constant secular research about social, biological, and psychological
mental illness could increase empathy and better results for the clients. Also, according to this
author, it is important to mention the role of Christian psychologists far beyond their original
5
professional labor because the difference that can be made by them increases the opportunities of
creating a change for institutions, communities, schools, among others. When it comes to
helping, it is important to be aware of the situation in order to applicate the best practice for the
patient, for example in who provides emotional care has a direct effect on the patient (Schruba,
2018).
In sports, the combination of Christianity with psychological practices gives favorable
results in the performance of the players. It is a complex phenomenon in the integration of sports
and spirituality. Sport psychologists are dedicated to regulate emotions, to improve the players'
concentration and their levels of confidence. This type of psychologist can treat emotional and
mental disorders (Egli & Fisher, 2017).
Christian faith generates certain controversy and reaction in the emotions of Christian
players, this happens because their beliefs and the culture of sport sometimes does not have the
same direction. For example acts of violence in games could or could not be acceptable for
Christian players depending on their commitment to one or other, as a consequence players
experiment a diversity of role-identities. Christian players that implement integration with more
maturity incorporate the sports and their faith more easily than immature players (Egli & Fisher,
2017).
The experimentation of some difficulties in Christan-athletes is common due to their
position about faith and sports. Some struggles like social status, the price of winning,
relationships with opponents, coaches, teams, and also social status generate episodes of crisis for
the players. It has been studied the engagement of spirituality and sports consultation in order to
6
integrate and remark the concept of culture in psychologists dedicated to improving the sport
experience (Egli & Fisher, 2017).
Some important aspects to increase the integration of psychology and Christianity in
sports according to Egli & Fisher (2017) are education for the psychologist to increase cultural
knowledge, practice flexibility, and encourage spirituality in sports; diminish communication
bridges to establish a convenient conversation about religion with the players in order to give
them the opportunity of expression and also to be aware of the role of faith in their lives; the
integration of Christianity into mental skills training; and the collaboration of sports chaplains
and psychology professionals.
In schools where Christianity is taught, the spiritual formation has as purpose to enable
and train youth to make smart decisions about the challenges that will be presented in college
grade. This formation includes rational, self-analytic, and life-long transformational practices to
create a conscious relationship with God, all these have the objective of increase and
strengthening the faith of students for the rest of their lives (Horan, 2017).
The attendance at a religious school is not a guarantee of spiritual and Christian formation
in students. The last generations have presented an unconcern about religion due to the lack of a
spiritual formation journey. Moral relativism is present in the millennial generations because of
the redefined rules and ways of living. According to Horan (2017), it is demonstrated that people
with spiritual formation exhibit pro-social behaviors, have fewer risk conducts, and participate
actively in community service.
In millennial students it has been identified a diminish in Christian faith, the integration of
both psychology and Christianity in the education has been failing in the last few years. The
7
combination of knowledge has been generating controversy in the ideas giving as consequence a
constant questioning about the implications of faith. Psychology students used their professional
education to approach religion through alternative ideas and methods. It is reported that the last
modern generations present lower rates of religious faith compared with previous ones (Eck,
White & Entwistle, 2016).
In contemporary generations, it is difficult for the young community to adopt a dominant
belief or religion, because they have a tendency of choosing their own guidelines about faith.
These individuals, develop the funds of their faith-based in their moral convictions, and their
concept of good and bad, they are more likely to choose and pick their beliefs. This method of
election is known also as “moralistic therapeutic deism”, this name reflects the assumption of
what is correct or incorrect according to God, what God wants you to do, and the therapeutic
effect of happiness under the theory that Gods intention is to create a fulfilling life for their
believers (Eck, White & Entwistle, 2016).
Millennials that described themselves as atheists, find the structure of the church “old-
fashioned”. The Church's position about growing controversial topics generate a negative impact
on the adoption of the Christian religion, the opinions about this institution include words like
judgmental, hypocritical, anti-gay, anti-abortion. The differences in ideals related to spirituality
and faith of the ultimate generations and church have caused a great bridge between these two.
Most of the children educated under this religion has abandoned their practices (Eck, White &
Entwistle, 2016).
This integration has been disrupted due to some important variables, the first one is
related to the course content, this because the methods of teaching and the literature used has not
8
changed suggesting a change in pedagogy to achieve learning integration; the second one is the
faculty due to the diminishing diversity of professors and role models; the third is the faculty
perception of students, meaning that the approach of millennials to religion and church has
changed and for that, it is required and adaptable and flexible program in order to integrate their
doubts and psychological knowledge, and the fourth one is related to the course content because
the topics and material offered do not encourage the integration and interest of students (Eck,
White & Entwistle, 2016).
The professionals in psychology and educators must be focussed on constructing one-on-
one relationships with young students to boost their spiritual formation, to create more effective
guidance, and improve the formation. This generation is considered as rational so mentors
approach has to be through communication, and a flexible understanding of concerns and doubts
to have a greater probability of success. The integration of psychology could be very useful in
these types of processes as effective mentoring can create a better environment and experience
for the students.
In the United States, the emerging adults are the population with less link to religion, the
practice of faith, and attendance to religious services. This stratum of the population identified
themselves as not believers due to religion is not a priority in their lives. These individuals adopt
integration through attachment with couches who are in charge to create and design their relation
with God and religion. Some professionals in psychology have encouraged integration, for
example, Cosgrove (1995) published an article related to the exploration of integration in
pedagogy practices to connect psychological data with a Christian view and discuss the
contemporary religion with psychological controversies.
9
The study made by Jackson et al. (2016), it is illustrated how students indicate the benefits
of spiritual growth in their lives as a consequence of professor involvement because it provides
them the opportunity to enhance their relationships and stimulate critical thinking. In general, all
undergraduate students value integration according to the results of the author, due to the caring,
self-revealing, open-minded, and dedicated experience. On the other hand, some others are sure
that actions are more important than beliefs and words indicating a social trend of rationalism and
favoritism of psychology over religion (Oman, 2019).
Grego (2016) describes the importance of the role of counselor educators in faith-based
institutions, he established that the mission of these individuals is to increase introspection and
internalize in deep phycological and spiritual aspects of the students. Art and specifical
metaphors can create an experience in where imagination and reasoning could create a great
environment for integration and to reconcile the dual identities of the human being.
The creation of new conversations about the relationship between psychology and religion
allows a deeper understanding of these two areas. It is recognizable that religion has an essential
role in culture and that it can be a viable source of knowledge. Different perspectives and ways of
knowing are the results of the integration of psychology, theology, and philosophy, there is an
elimination of the concept of primitive ethnicities or cultures. Empathy in psychotherapy is
essential to create a hospitable environment for the client where their religious experience is not
judged on the contrary is the job of the psychologist to try to understand the vision of each patient
(Strawn et al., 2019).
A lot of academic content is available to acquire information about various models of
integrating psychology and faith. There are examples of models used by cognitive behaviorists,
10
family systems, and psychoanalytic specialists to integrate religion. In order to help people to
become more flourishing, productive, and healthy researchers in these areas can help each other.
A lot of professional therapists that are dedicated to seeking social justice and the people's
welfare are not aware that some theories practiced by them are focused on individualistic
theories. “Morality is not just a concern of religious people. There is secular morality” (Strawn et
al., 2019).
Conclusion.
The present study offers a perspective about the integration of psychology and
Christianity, the arguments presented reflect the importance of creating new conversations and
practices to achieve a better understanding of these two areas. The perspectives of integration
indicate that it is beneficial to the professionals of psychology to approach different perspectives
about cultures and ethnicities to have better results with the patients. The importance and the
complexities of integration for contemporary generations is a real problem for docents, the
pedagogy has to change and become more flexible to be able to inculcate spirituality in students.
Self-consciousness and spirituality are important to the millennial generations due to the positive
effects in their lives. Perception and morality are crucial to promoting integration. Empathy also
is important to create convenient atmospheres in psychotherapy. In general, the objectives of
theology and psychology are alienated to improve the human wellness. Further research could
explore the situations and reasons where psychologists have negative approaches to the religious
beliefs of their clients, and also characterize the change of behaviors of undergraduate students
about religion.
11
Bibliography:
Cosgrove, M. P. (1995). The fruit of integration: Results in the teaching of psychology.
Journal of Psychology and Theology, 23, 289-295.
Eck, B. E., White, S., & Entwistle, D. N. (2016). Teaching integration to postmodern and
millennial students: implications for the classroom.GJournal of Psychology and Christianity,G2,
125.
Egli, T. J., & Fisher, L. A. (2017). Christianity and sport psychology: One aspect of cultural
competence.GJournal of the Christian Society for Kinesiology, Leisure and Sports Studies,G4(1), 3.
Greggo, S. P. (2016). Counselor Identity and Christian Imagination: Striving for
Professional Case Conceptualization and Artistic Contextualization.GJournal of Psychology &
Christianity,G35(1).
Horan, A. P. (2017). Fostering spiritual formation of millennials in Christian
schools.GJournal of Research on Christian Education,G26(1), 56-77.
12
Jackson, E. A., Entwistle, D. N., Larson, K. L., & Reierson, L. (2016). Undergraduate
Psychology Majors' Faith and Views of Integration.GJournal of Psychology & Christianity,G35(2).
MacMinn, M. R. (2014).GPsychology, theology, and spirituality in christian counseling.
Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House.
Oman, D. (2019). Introduction to the special section: Psychology of Indian spirituality and
religion, emerging perspectives.GPsychology of Religion and Spirituality,G11(2), 87.
Rainer, S. (2014). The Integration of Christianity and Psychology: A guest post by Sarah
Rainer. https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2014/september/concerning-psychology-
and-christianity-guest-post-by-sarah-.html
Schruba, A. N., Davis, E. B., Aten, J. D., Wang, D. C., Entwistle, D. N., & Boan, D.
(2018). Psychological First Aid and the Role of Scientific Evidence in Christians’ Provision of
Disaster Spiritual and Emotional Care.GJournal of Psychology and Christianity,G1, 74.
Strawn, B. D., Bland, E. D., & Flores, P. S. (2018). Learning clinical integration: A case
study approach.GJournal of Psychology and Theology,G46(2), 85-97.
Warren, J. (2014). Psychology and Christianity: Friends or Foes? - The Canadian Scientific
and Christian Affiliation. https://www.csca.ca/2014/03/25/psychology-christianity/
