Page 8 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 19

Dr. Fernando Garzon (US) is the Associate Dean for the College of
Health and Behavioral Studies at Regent University. A licensed
psychologist and professor in Regent’s PsyD program in clinical
psychology, Dr. Garzon’s research and wri�ngs focus on spiritual
interven�ons in clinical prac�ce, mul�cultural issues, and lay
Chris�an counseling approaches. His clinical experience encom-
passes outpa�ent prac�ce, managed care, hospital, pastoral
care, and church se�ngs.

Introduc�on to the main ar�cles to Spiritual Forma�on

This edi�on of Chris�an Psychology Around the Marcin Gaja follows with an in-depth explora�-
World explores Chris�an spiritual forma�on. on of prayer in his clinical work. His statement,
Spiritual forma�on goes beyond proper theo- “Very few people really pray” (p. 7) startled me
logical beliefs and moral conduct. While these out of a spiritual slumber. He invites us to con-
are important and included, spiritual forma�- sider how the prac�ce of contempla�on can
on traverses deeply into the profound experi- expose our false self. The journey con�nues to
en�al aspects of our rela�onship with God, a deepened love of God and rediscovery of our
ourselves, and our neighbor. It has been prac�- real or authen�c self in the clinical recovery
ced in Judeo-Chris�an history for thousands of and healing process.
years and defined in many different ways. In a
basic sense, spiritual forma�on begins as a re- V. Rev. Gregory Jensen’s third ar�cle examines
sponse to God’s generous invita�on (Merton, the work of “a keen psychologist of the spiritu-
1987). It includes a variety of inward, outward, al life” (p. 14), Bernard of Clairvaux in regard to
and communal prac�ces (Foster, 1998), and its the intricacies of love of God, neighbor, and
goal is Christlikeness (Willard, 2002). It is consi- ourselves. Jensen describes St. Bernard’s four
dered a central theme across Protestant, Ca- stages of love and connects this spiritual deve-
tholic, and Orthodox faith tradi�ons (Moon & lopmental process to the work of psychothera-
Benner, 2004). The current issue elaborates py. An end goal is that “the soul comes to un-
further on Chris�an spiritual forma�on and fo- derstand the eschatological nature of love” (p.
cuses on three important areas. 14).

In Nicolene Joubert’s opening ar�cle, she ad- In addi�on to these three ar�cles, we recogni-
dresses a cri�cal need—the applica�on of spi- ze the importance of community dialog in spi-
ritual forma�on principles in the lifelong deve- ritual forma�on. Accordingly, Sam Berg (Cana-
lopment of leaders. What phases do leaders go da), Tomasz Niemirowski (Poalnd), and Janet
through and how does spiritual forma�on rela- Warren (Canada) interact in their commentari-
te to these areas? Nicolene Joubert gives us a es with themes from the three ar�cles. Their
sense of how spiritual forma�on principles can discussions deepen our understanding and
help a leader progress from “commitment to challenge us to careful, prayerful examina�on
maturity to finishing well” (p. 5). of this journal edi�on’s content.

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