Biblical World view Competences
Religion and spirituality are core aspects of many people around the world. Christian faith has a powerful influence in the world today. At the core of the Christian faith is the belief that God made humans in his own image. This doctrine affects how religious counselors interact with Christians and non-Christians. Incorporating this belief in religious counseling helps achieve therapeutic goals faster than eradicating or avoiding the doctrine.
Religious counselors face different scenarios depending on the client’s professed faith. Clients may hold the Christian doctrine as their spirituality or their religion. According to literature, spirituality focuses on the relationship with others and has three components associated with it: connection to God, sense of empathy/compassion for others, and a sense to contribute to a better world. A client’s experience of this belief at a social level is the religion while at an individual level is the spirituality. It is possible to have different clients at different levels of religiosity, which dictates counselor-client interaction.
Clients that are spiritual and not religious meaning they do not participate in the institutionalized practices of the faith they profess, experience a different interaction from those who are religious and not spiritual, which will be different from religious spiritual and/or those that are neither spiritual nor religious. Christian faith of man created in the likeness of God helps religious counselors support clients’ world view. This will help connect with a client’s social relations, community activities, and knowledge building activities. However, challenges come when faced with a client of different faith. Religious counselor will have to decide on whether to avoid, eliminate, or integrate those beliefs.
Avoidance
If a religious counselor holds the Christian doctrine while the client has a different faith, then the counselor may decide to avoid religious issues that may arise. The practitioner can steer the conversion in a different direction, postpone, or discourage the discussion. This may be done under the competence standard of American Psychologist Association code of ethics, which state that psychologist should not deal with issues outside their professional competence.
In such a case, the psychologist informs the client the purpose, reason, and nature of the session. This gives the client freedom of choice protected by American Psychological Association. It is important to openly share values with a client as this will deter the counselor from playing a role.
A counselor who holds Christian doctrines may be forced to avoid religious issues of a client if s/he has a certain attitude towards those beliefs. This brings a challenge if the practitioner fails to appreciate the support system of a client, which is vital in achieving therapeutic goals. In situations where a practitioner has difficulties with religious belief of a client, it will suffice to avoid discussing them in the sessions. Religious issues should be alluded to on need-basis. A religious counselor who is competent in religious and spiritual diversity will be able to integrate different beliefs from his/her own.
Eradication
The Christian belief that posits man is made in God’s likeness can lead a practitioner to eradicate other forms of a client’s beliefs. A counselor may be forced to compartmentalize or completely replace a client’s belief with that of Christians. This may occur if the client’s belief system is the cause of the psychological problems. Since it is hard to eliminate the values of the therapist, eradicating some of the client’s beliefs is unavoidable. This happens consciously or unconsciously during the treatment process.
Another scenario is where a client has a strong belief in this Christian doctrine that it makes him/her want to act like God. In such an instance, the practitioner will want to eradicate such beliefs since the lesser religious the client is the better he is emotionally. The counselor will be very careful not to impose his/her own beliefs as s/he tries to bring the client to a better belief system.
Integration
When a client hold the same Christian belief as the practitioner, it will be easy for integration of the doctrine in treatment. This is the best interaction and the most ethically right among all the possible interactions. Since Christian beliefs are held by most people in the country, this approach is applicable in many instances of religious counseling.
When integrating this doctrine into the goals of the treatment process, the practitioner should have enough information about the Christian faith. This will allow effective counseling take place. Integration should be done only if the client so wishes hence respecting the right to freedom of choice.
In conclusion, the foundational Christian belief of God making man in his own likeness is a religious issue that should be treated as a tool to achieve therapeutic goals by religious counselors. The practitioner should also be aware when his/her own beliefs may be in conflict with that of the client.
Bibliography
Celia B. Fisher. Decoding the Ethics Code: A Practical Guide for Psychologists. California: Sage Publication Inc., 2012.
Geri Miller. Learning the Language of Addiction Counseling. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2010.
Morrison, Julie Q., Stacy M. Clutter, Elaine M. Pritchett, and Alan Demmitt. “Perceptions of Clients and Counseling Professionals Regarding Spirituality in Counseling.” Counseling and Values 53, no.3 (2009): 183-194.
Rick Johnson. Spirituality in Counseling and Psychotherapy: An Integrative Approach that Empowers Clients. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2013.
