Page 76 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 1

Christian Psychotherapy

Comment on Anna Ostaszewska
“The Integrative Psychotherapy:

a Christian Approach to Anxiety
Therapy”
by Wolfram Soldan

Giving a Christian therapeutic approach a place within logy. The pursuit of healing and happiness would then be,
integrative psychotherapy, according to the definition psychologically and spiritually, the defined aim, however
Anna has used, provides a worthwhile framework for with overlappings in content and also contrasts with the
considering a Christian therapeutic approach as funda- usual psychological or psychotherapeutic designs. Ac-
mentally part of integrative psychotherapy. In these re- ceptance of, and even giving a meaning to, inevitable suf-
marks I would like to look more closely at this task, lea- fering would in turn be one specific aspect of (spiritual,
ving aside the aspect of anxiety therapy, especially since holistic) health or healing.
neither the article nor the real-life case focused on anxi-
ety therapy alone.
My thanks to Anna for this stimulating article!
I find a fascination in the implicit working with both
possible definitions of integrative therapy offered there:
first, the theoretically-based combination of two or more
specific approaches or, second, an independent metathe-
oretical model of integration.

As I understand it, Anna’s article is orientated at the anth-
ropological integration level on a Christian meta-theory
within which everything else is to find its place. On the
practical and therapeutic-personal-level the combining
of approaches predominate – of course under the meta-
theoretical roof of a Christian anthropology.

It was not quite clear to me here to what extent her own
Christian approaches, which are only indicated, are com-
bined with secular (particularly depth psychology and
cognitive behaviourism), or whether secular ones were
selected and, so to speak, adapted into a Christian meta- Wolfram Soldan, Germany,
roof. is a Physician, psychothe-
rapist and one of the main
Basically the meaningfulness and the necessity of an in- lecturers for clinical psycho-
tegration, bearing a Christian hallmark - whether in the logy at the IGNIS-Institute.
form of combination or meta-theory - came out very He worked 1wo years in the
clearly in the article. DE‘IGNIS-Hospital, about
five years as head of the for-
Personally, I am convinced that a Christian integrative mer IGNIS-Therapy-Center.
approach can provide an independent (meta-)model for His main topics include for-
integration, a point which seemed to me to receive too giveness processes, dealing
little attention in the article and which I therefore wish to with the Bible in counsel-
illustrate with an example: ling, sexuality.

In the article, it was suggested that a fruitful combination
was possible between the pursuit of health and happiness
on the psychological level, and the acceptance of inevita-
ble suffering on the spiritual level. This is an interesting
integration in the sense of combination.

I would prefer to derive a holistic definition of health (the
NT term soteria, which integrates salvation and healing!)
and happiness (“Blessed are...”) from a biblical anthropo-

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