Psychology, Theology And Spirituality In Christian Counseling Summary

Summary Mark R. McMinn is the author of Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling. He has revised his book in order to expound on the topics he has presented. According to McMinn (2011), “religion can be discussed in therapy, but the power of change is found in the therapeutic relationship” (p. 3). When counselors develop trust and rapport with their clients, true change will occur. Counselors face many challenges as they incorporate religion into counseling such as “moving from two areas of competence to three, expanding definitions of training, and confronting dominating views of mental health” (McMinn, 2011, pp. 9-20). Throughout the book, McMinn (2011) discusses ways in which a counselor and counselor trainee is able to work through these challenges, such as utilizing a theoretical map to help them work toward psychological and spiritual health (p. 39-73). In addition to incorporating religion into the counseling session, counselors need to learn about the different theoretical maps that bring psychological and spiritual health to the client. One theoretical map focuses on the client’s self-sufficiency, brokenness, and the healing relationship (McMinn, 2011, p.

328). Counselors learn to how to incorporate psychology, theology, and spirituality into the counseling session. They also learn how to practice the spiritual disciples, such as meditating on Scripture and spending time with God in prayer. Counselors also must learn about the various challenges they will face in utilizing scripture and prayer in counseling as well as the challenges they will experience in discussing sin, confession, forgiveness, and redemption with their clients. McMinn (2011) revised his book Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling to help his readers understand how they can effectively utilize these disciplines in