Page 49 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 24

Comment

Marie and Lowell Hoffman highlight the importance of the theology of
suffering for Chris�an counsellor. The disease classifica�ons familiar to
psychiatrists, psychologists and counsellors aim to describe a common
understanding of symptoms, the significance of which is then inves�ga-
ted in treatment. Classifica�ons designed for good purpose may over-
look human suffering in such a way that the experience of the person
being helped is not conveyed to the counselors, and the pa�ent bears
the suffering alone.
Over the years, more diagnoses have been added to disease classifica-
�ons in order to understand everything that is involved in human expe-
rience. Another direc�on of development is to combine diagnoses and
seek ways to encounter our inner world of experience. It has been sug- Akseli Mäkelä (Fi-
gested that the structures of the mind can be condensed into six basic nalnd), MA, is psy-
processes related to nega�ve emo�ons, posi�ve emo�ons, cogni�ve choanalyst (IFPS),
thinking func�ons, social func�oning, arousa regula�on and sensori- training psychothera-
motor func�oning. It´s clear that the experience of suffering manifests pist and clinical su-
itself in all of these, and yet we may s�ll fail to understand the experi- pervisor. He works in
ence of suffering. own prac�ce and ser-
Marie and Lowell Hoffman describe the understanding of suffering in ves as a pastor in the
the history of the church and God´s plan. In my therapeu�c work, I Finnish Pentecostal
o�en see how suffering separates people from one another. There are Church.
losses that we cannot repair. At the same �me, people are separated
from each other by suffering. There is not (yet) common understanding
of suffering between people. O�en, as counsellors, we also must seek
this understanding.
In God´s plan, suffering is not an obstacle. God has not distanced him-
self from people because of their suffering. Because of suffering, God
himself came to earth and was willing to suffer.
Understanding one´s own suffering is the key to even par�ally under-
standing the suffering of others. In therapy work (and training) the im-
portance of one´s own treatment is in increasing self-awareness and
the ability to tolerate and live together with others during suffering.
Only in this way can everything that the experience of suffering con-
tains be understood.
The ar�cle describes how we as counsellors tend to underes�mate the
prevalence of nega�ve treatment outcomes. Good treatment requires
more than just a good therapeu�c alliance. We also need space for our
own personal process throughout our careers as well as supervision in
which communica�on between counsellor and pa�ent can be discus-
sed as accurately and honestly as possible.
As Chris�an counsellors our a�tude toward suffering also depends on
how we think about God relates rela�ng to our suffering and how we
relate to God´s suffering. Just as caring for our own minds con�nues
throughout our lives so does caring for our rela�onship with God. We
need a rela�onship with God in our own lives that is honest and tolera-
tes suffering.

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