Session Eight Introduction to Biblical Counseling

Transcription

1 Session Eight Introduction to Biblical Counseling Holistic and Contextualized Understanding By Jeremy Lelek, Ph.D., LPC I. Nature vs. Nurture See Heart of the Matter Handout A. Nature B. Nurture a. Neurological systems b. Biological systems c. Genetic Factors d. Brain Function (see handout) e. Brain Development f. Brain Pathology g. Thyroid h. Sleep Apnea i. Allergies (Dr. Mary Ann Block) a. Pre-natal development i. Mother s nutrition ii. Mother s stress levels iii. Mother s emotional states iv. Exposure to certain chemicals (i.e., pesticides, anti-aging or acne creams containing retinoids, fertilizer, etc.) v. Ingesting certain medications (i.e., thalidomide, certain antibiotics, lithium, etc.) vi. Drug or alcohol consumption vii. Smoking b. Post-natal development i. Infants interaction with parents (i.e., touching, talking, holding) ii. Parental style (authoritarian, neglectful, indulgent, authoritative) iii. Social and peer networks iv. Mental, physical, or emotional abuse

2 v. Trauma (PTSD) vi. Educational opportunities vii. Socio-Economic status viii. Religious influences (or no religious influences) ix. Cultural norms (The Terrorist Identity) x. Ethnic group c. Prominent Social Scientists* i. Man has no nature; what he has is history. (Jose Ortega y Gassett) ii. We are forced to conclude that human nature is almost unbelievably malleable, responding accurately and contrastingly to contrasting cultural conditions. (Margaret Mead) iii. Much of what is commonly called human nature is merely culture thrown against a screen of nerves, glands, sense organs, muscles, etc. (Leslie White) *(Steven Pinker, The Blank Slate (New York, Viking, 2002), II. Possessing an Essential Epistemology for a Holistic and Contextualized Understanding a. When the philosophy of man (his nature, his goals, his potentialities, his fulfillment) changes, then everything changes, not only the philosophy of politics, of economics, of ethics, and values, of interpersonal relations and of history itself, but also the philosophy of education, of psychotherapy and of personal growth, the theory of how to help men become what they can and deeply need to become. (Abraham Maslow, Toward a Psychology of Being, 2 nd ed. (New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1968), 189. b. The distinction between the true science and the false science lies not in the arena where people perform their investigations, but in the manner with which they investigate, and the principle from which people begin to investigate. Sin has not only corrupted our moral life, but has also darkened our understanding. The result can only be that anyone attempting to reach scientific knowledge with that darkened understanding is bound to acquire a distorted vie of things, and thereby reach false conclusions [emphasis added]. Abraham Kuyper, Wisdom and Wonder: Common Grace in Science and Art (Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Library Press, 2011). 52

3 c. Secular Science s Epistemology How do we know what we know? i. The Theory of Materialistic Evolution Introductory psychology textbooks commonly emphasize the empirical methods of study used in the field One subtle but important perspective offered throughout the field is the importance of analyzing all mental and behavioral phenomena in terms of the function; it is vital, it is argued, to analyze human phenomena in terms of their contribution to adaption to the environment (survival) and to genetic propagation. Such as strategy is directly related to a Darwinian understanding of life, as Darwin emphasized natural selection of characteristics that served functional purposes. Stanton Jones, Psychology: A Student s Guide (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014), 33 ii. Presuppositions of Secular Social Science Drawn from its Epistemology 1. Nature/Nurture: Humans are nothing more than the product of their synapses: Synaptic connections hold the self together in most of us most of the time. Sometimes, though, thoughts, emotions, and motivations come uncoupled. If the mental trilogy breaks down [thoughts, motivation, and emotion], the self is likely to begin to disintegrate and mental health to deteriorate. When thoughts are radically dissociated from emotions and motivations, as in schizophrenia, personality can, in fact change drastically. When emotions run wild, as in anxiety disorders or depression, a person is no longer the person he or she once was. And when motivations are subjugated by drug addiction, the emotional and intellectual aspects of life suffer You are your synapses. They are who you are. Joseph LeDoux, Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are (New York: Penguin, 2002), Nature/Nurture: Humans are basically nothing more than a hunk of matter: The Computational Theory of Mind The computational theory of mind does more than explain the existence of knowing, thinking, and trying without invoking a ghost in the machine (though that would be enough of a feat). It also explains how those processes can be intelligent how rationality can emerge

4 from a mindless physical process. If a sequence of transformations of information stored in a hunk of matter (such as brain tissue or silicon) mirrors a sequence of deductions that obey the laws of logic, probability, or cause and effect in the world, they will obey the laws of logic, probability, or cause and effect in the world, they will generate correct predictions about the world. And making correct predictions in pursuit of a goal is a pretty good definition of intelligence. Steven Pinker, The Blank Slate (New York, Viking, 2002), Nature/Nurture: The self is a developed construct born out of interaction between the brain and environment. Self and identity theories converge in asserting that self and identity are mental constructs, that is, something represented in memory (p.75)...they also assert that the assumption of a stable self is belied by the malleability, context sensitivity, and dynamic construction of the self as a mental construct. Identities are not fixed markers people assume them to be but are instead dynamically constructed in the moment (p. 70). Dr. Daphna Oyerserman, Kristen Elmore, and George Smith of the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. 4. Nature/Nurture: Identity is determined by social roles. Identities are self-cognitions tied to roles and, through roles, to positions in organized social relationships. Sheldon Stryker, Indiana University, Bloomington 5. Nature/Nurture: The self is an illusion. This core self, wandering down the path of development, enduring things that life throws at us is, however, the illusion. Like every other aspect of human development, the emergence of the self is epigenetic an interaction of the genes in the environment. Bruce Hood, The Self Illusion: How the Social Brain Creates Identity (New York, Oxford Press, 2012), Phenomenology Experience is the final and ultimate truth. Experience is, for me, the highest authority Neither the Bible nor the prophets neither Freud nor research neither the revelations of God nor man can take precedence over my own direct experience. Carl Rogers, On Becoming a Person: The

5 Therapist s View of Psychotherapy (New York: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1989), Biblical Tension: Given the intent of modern psychologists to come up with a universally agreed upon science of individual human beings, it is understandable that they have been content with studying human beings solely in terms of the biological and psychosocial orders. However, important aspects of human nature are left out. Where, for example, is the human Subject? At its best, a focus on the psychosocial domain leaves us with nothing but empty structures and organismic, adaptive processes there is no person in the whole realm. Eric Johnson, Foundations of Soul Care (339). III. Biblical Counseling s Epistemology The Bible i. All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ii. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone own interpretation. For no prophecy was every produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:19-21). iii. Our world is a world that is exhaustively meaningful, because it is the expression of God s wisdom. Among human beings, interpretation is not the work of trying to assess for the first time the significance of interpreted facts. Rather, ours is a work of secondary interpretation, interpreting God s interpretation. (John Frame, The Doctrine of God: A Theology of Lordship (Philipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2002), b. Presuppositions of Biblical Counseling drawn from its Epistemology i. God is there. ii. God has spoken. iii. God s words are true. iv. God created man and woman as living souls.

6 v. Humans are created in the image of God. vi. Humans are designed for a purpose (to glorify God and enjoy God). vii. Humans are utterly dependent on God for all things. viii. Humans are responsible to God. ix. The world is fallen. x. The Fall fractured the human body and environment. xi. Humans lives transpire within the Meta-Narrative of the Gospel (Creation, Fall, Redemption) c. Biblical Implications for Holistic and Contextualized Understanding i. God and the Brain ii. Scripture and Personal History

7 Presented by Jeremy Lelek, Ph.D., LPC Contextual and Holistic Understanding Brain Diagram

8 Session Eight Introduction to Biblical Counseling Holistic and Contextualized Understanding By Jeremy Lelek, Ph.D., LPC Nurture Nature Soul Heaert Psyche