Page 31 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 20

Michael A. Stra�ng, Ph.D., C.Psych., (Canada) is a clinical psychologist and
assistant professor of psychology at Redeemer University. In addi�on to
teaching, Dr. Stra�ng maintains an ac�ve clinical prac�ce conduc�ng psy-
chotherapy. His main clinical and academic interests revolve around the
role of emo�on change processes in psychotherapy and soul care, with
specific interests in Chris�an Psychology, emo�onal awareness and pro-
cessing, cardi�ve therapy, anger, forgiveness, spiritual disciplines, and
spiritual forma�on. He’s married to Katelynn, who together have been
blessed with four children; Melody, Willem, Zachary, and Micah. Outside
of work, he enjoys playing goalie in ice hockey.

Michael Stra�ng Former contribu�ons:

(Canada) h�ps://emcapp.ignis.de/7/#p=8
h�ps://emcapp.ignis.de/10/#p=34

Comment to

„Rela�onship with God and Well-being: The Role of Character Virtues“

Paul Loosemoore has provided an excellent ex- nous, mul�cultural replica�on study, it is not
ample of a Chris�an Psychology approach to unreasonable to think that these findings
research, combining theological insight with could be universally true for all Chris�an belie-
empirical observa�on. He presents a sta�s�- vers.
cally sophis�cated study that empirically vali- Earlier this summer, I had the privilege of joi-
dates Chris�anity’s long-held belief in the im- ning a small group of Chris�an Psychologists
portance of rela�onship with God for the deve- who read, reflected on, and discussed Robert
lopment of character virtues and psycho-spiri- Roberts’ (2022) recent book Recovering Chris-
tual well-being. He observes that, un�l recent- �an Character: The Psychological Wisdom of
ly, the role of spirituality and religion – and, Søren Kierkegaard. I found that Kierkegaard
more specifically, character virtues – in mental makes an excellent conversa�on partner with
health has been largely neglected in contem- this study, with many of the findings in this stu-
porary psychology and that the posi�ve psy- dy resona�ng with much of what Kierkegaard
chology movement has contributed to rene- has to say about virtue and character forma�-
wed interest in these topics. He asserts that “if on.
a rela�onship with God does increase charac- One of the dis�nc�ve features of Kierkegaard’s
ter virtue and well-being in Chris�ans, these conceptualiza�on is that virtuous character is
prosocial changes are per�nent to the science defined and developed vis-à-vis one’s rela�-
of well-being in the US.” I believe that Loose- onship with God (and, by extension, others).
moore has made a valuable contribu�on to For example, Kierkegaard defines faith as “the
this under-appreciated and neglected area of self in being itself and in willing to be itself
inquiry. While acknowledging the rela�ve ho- rests transparently in God” (as quoted in Ro-
mogeneity of the current sample, it seems un- berts, 2022, p. 32). Loosemoore makes a simi-
likely that these findings are limited to the U.S. lar point when asser�ng that “[secular] posi�-
context only. Un�l we have a more heteroge- ve psychology can individualize the pursuit of

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