Page 156 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 4

Can Neuropsychology Find a Jason Kanz is a board
certified clinical neuro-
Meaningful Place in Christian psychologist practicing
in Eau Claire, Wiscon-
Psychology? sin, USA. He is also the
editor of Soul & Spirit,
Jason Kanz the newsletter for the
Society for Christian
As a practicing clinical neuropsychologist and the editor Psychology.
of the newsletter for the Society for Christian Psychology,
Soul & Spirit, I am uniquely interested in the question
“can neuropsychology find a meaningful place in Chris-
tian psychology?”. Before identifying where neuropsy-
kanz.jason@marshfieldclinic.org
chologists might fit in Christian psychology proper, it is
appropriate to suggest possible barriers.
The first potential barrier is that the field of neuropsycho-
logy as it is routinely practiced in the United States where not only can Christian neuropsychologists proceed from
I work, is often much more akin to medicine than to what a Christian psychology framework, I think they should
is traditionally thought of with regard to psychology. Cli- consider doing so. The person who works from an overly
nical neuropsychologists evaluate the brain functions of medicalized perspective of human behavior is truncated
patients so that they may comment upon impaired ver- in their understanding of human flourishing and dys-
sus preserved skills. This information may provide dia- function. Let me briefly suggest several areas where I can
gnostic clarification for referring providers and also give envision an overlap between Christian psychology and
patients a sense of strengths and weaknesses, which can neuropsychology.
guide rehabilitative or compensatory efforts. Research First, neuropsychologists may be uniquely qualified to
neuropsychologists also evaluate brain function or brain offer some insight into the area of mind/brain distinc-
disorders so as to better understand the link between tions. Neuroscientists typically maintain a physicalist
brain functioning and brain disorders. For many neuro- perspective such that what we think of as the mind is me-
psychologists then, the need to reference or draw upon rely the outworking of cerebral processes, whether those
their faith in their work is often seemingly superfluous. processes can broken down to basic physical properties
I suspect this is also why, in my observation, Christians (reductive physicalism) or not reducible (nonreductive
who are neuropsychologists often find themselves in the physicalism). This may also be associated with property
levels-of explanation camp. dualism, such that the mind is a property of the brain.
The second barrier is that perhaps more than in other are- Philosophers, and particularly Christian philosophers,
as of psychology, there is a drive to provide a materialist may be more likely to hold to substance dualism where
explanation for all human behavior. Neuropsychologists’ the brain and mind are separate “substances”. One of the
primary role is to identify links between how the brain is benefits that the Christian psychology paradigm offers
functioning and how a person behaves. Taken to the end here is that it draws not only from recent advances in
point, theassertion couldbe madethat allhuman behavi- neuroscience, but from philosophy as well. Moving bey-
or is predictable and biological. Certainly, vocal atheistic ond the limitations imposed by drawing only from the
neuroscientists such as Sam Harris posit that all behavior relatively young world of neuropsychology, the Christian
is determined and that free will is a delusion. psychologist in neuropsychology may have a richer his-
This medicalization and deterministic view that charac- tory from which to explore questions of the relationship
terizes most neuropsychologists today has had certain between the brain and the mind.
effects. I think it has been possible for clinical neuro- A second, though related, question has to do with the no-
psychologists to proceed without much thought to their tion of free will. Again, it is widely held in neuroscience
Christian faith. If the ultimate goal is to characterize that free will does not exist. Though people may believe
cognitive strengths and weaknesses or to identify brain- they possess free will, in truth, all behavior is reducible
behavior relationships, it perhaps may be done without to basic physical properties and is, therefore, predictable.
reference to faith. The lack of an ongoing therapeutic Yet the notion of completely determined behavior runs
relationship for many neuropsychologists also seemin- counter to human experience. In this regard, Christian
gly minimizes the need to delve into spiritual matters. neuropsychologists can draw from our growing under-
Therefore, it seems possible, I think, to be an intellectu- standing of how brain functioning contributes to the pre-
ally fulfilled neuropsychologist without much reference dictability of behavior, yet are not limited by neurosci-
to Christian psychology. ence. Importantly, much important work regarding free
Even though neuropsychologists who are Christians can will has already been done and continues to be done that
proceed through their day to day work without much re- can inform our understanding of free will. The theolo-
ference to their faith, the question above remains—can gically rich ongoing conversations between Calvinists
neuropsychology find a meaningful place in Christian and non-Calvinists, for example, may shed light on our
psychology? I believe the answer to that question is yes; understanding of human free will and God’s sovereign-

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