A Combined Treatment Approach: Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy and Spiritual Dimensions.

Charcot (1893) reported on the miraculous cures of 'women of a certain temperament' and urged the prevailing medical community to exploit therapeutically the 'faith which heals'. A century later the religious- psychological literature emphasised the same beliefs, calculating that 2-6% of the variance of adult subjective well being is accounted for by religious belief, i.e. its predictive power is as large as, marital or economic status. Many behavioural and analytical psychotherapists agree that religious belief may have strong healing power.

Cognitive Therapy, which is based on a scientific investigation of problems, and religion, which is based on faith, initially appear to be incompatible. Although faith is required to accept a religion, once accepted, that religion is actually based on knowledge and concepts that have been derived from examining the holy scriptures, and have their own frame of reference.

Similarities of the Combined Treatment Approach

Any form of successful counselling requires a healing atmosphere that generates hope and growth in clients. Cognitive therapy is used most effectively in Christian counselling in the following ways (Probst, 1988):

1. Giving the patient a rationale for treatment procedures.
2. Changing clients self-awareness by challenging should's, must's, and ought's. Cognitive therapy helps clients to be freed from unrealistic expectations by understanding and revising the unnecessary demands they place on themselves.
3. Teaching meta-cognition so patients can think about their thinking, to understand and control their thought processes, and to replace inflexible and destructive thoughts with adaptive ones.
4. The emphasis on truth rather than happiness. Critical thinking skills encourage clients to confront the truthfulness of their thoughts and beliefs in therapy.
5. To change client's underlying beliefs about the world, to gain a new set of assumptions about themselves, others, and God. As long as effective treatment is designed which is sensitive to religious convictions there is no conflict between Cognitive Therapy and Christian counselling.

Differences in Theistic and Clinical Humanistic Beliefs (PDF - 95Kb)

Goal of Christian Counselling

The ultimate purpose of Christian counselling is to love God with all the heart, mind, and soul. The goal of the therapy 'IS' Christ. Compared to belief and schema modification, which is the goal of Cognitive-behavioural therapy, for the Christian the purpose of treatment is to reveal a new source of being for those who are "In Christ".

Bringing Christian clients into their spiritual inheritance is the meaning of the therapy ("I labour until Christ be formed in you", (Gal.4. 8))

Values are an inevitable and pervasive part of psychotherapy. In Figure 2.12 two broad classes of value are defined by Bergin (1997), Theistic versus Clinical Humanistic values. By identifying the distortions in the patient's process of interpreting and understanding religious principles and teaching and leading to behaviour associated with the faulty assumptions, alternative religious concepts can be examined and tested by life experience to leave the patient to choose consciously the beliefs by which he will live.

Recent research has demonstrated that religion provides patients with better coping strategies, and also that by including religious concepts in the treatment strategy improves the outcome of the treatment in terms of better recovery and lower relapse rate.

For those looking for a Christian retreat, we offer courses of between one and three weeks in partnership with Oasis Resort on the beautiful island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean.

We also offer a number of courses in Christian counselling using CBT, spiritual welfare (Watchman Knee) and intersessory prayer.

  

   

website - www.oasisretreatsvg.com   Tel: (784) 458 0180 / (784) 456 9373 - St. Vincent, West Indies

Please contact us for information on course dates and availability.