Page 105 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 5

Church Traditions for a Christian Psychology

compassionately curious about their reaction mand for a radical moral and ethical response
to these disruptions, such as when the therapist to God’s commands must come first” (Healing
takes a vacation and interrupts the treatment. Presence p. 111). There are critical moments in
the counseling process when our patient must
When a patient is late, cancels sessions, or is not make a choice and take an action that only they
keeping their financial agreements, we pay at- can accomplish.
tention to their symbolic communication.
Our patients also have access to profound he-
We listen to our patients’ behaviors and fan- aling through Christ’s readiness to stand with
tasies as expressing the symbolic confusion in them in bearing emotional pain. Where as hu-
the soul that is at the root of their difficulties. mans we can only offer sympathy that threatens
As we begin to understand the meaning of the to keep a patient identified with their wound
imagery of compulsions and fantasies, their po- and continuing as a victim of the pain, Christ’s
wer diminishes. We listen to the images of the presence offers true restoration. “See the Cross,
mind and heart symbolically (and often our pa- see yourself standing and hurting, acknow-
tient has been taking their images literally, con- ledging all these feelings, but this time let Christ
cretely, and acting on them as such). We listen take them into Himself. Let them flow into
to the symbols in the transference and coun- Him, just as you would do with sins, you have
tertransference, as well as the symbols presen- confessed” (Healing Presence p. 205). In both
ted in the patient’s content - the meaning they listening to confession of sin and repentance as
reveal through their word choice and cast-off well as acknowledgement of the sins committed
comments. We also pay careful attention to our against our patient, we proclaim the reality of
patient’s symbols of man and woman, for “inva- what Christ has accomplished in such a way as
riably when a soul needs healing there will be our patients can receive forgiveness and rise in
an imbalance within of the masculine and femi- newness of life. There are also occasions in this
nine” (Crisis in Masculinity p. 87). work when we must pray for the lifting of de-
monic oppression and teach our patients about
The Cross of Christ forgives sin and defeats the authority they have in Christ to send away
evil. I believe that I became a psychologist be- the harassing forces of evil (see chapter 12, Re-
cause of a deep ache to set right all that is wrong storing the Christian Soul).
in life. I have faced disillusionment time and
time again as I encounter my own impotence The true imagination in counseling. “The tru-
to do so, and the powerlessness of any human ly imaginative experience is… an intuition of
strategy to fully restore what has been damaged. the real… It is that which, when received, enlar-
My greatest joy in learning from Leanne may ges and completes us, for it speaks to and unites
be discovering the unlimited power of the Cross with some lonely facet of our own being” (He-
of Christ to right wrongs and miraculously re- aling Presence p. 164). We are humbly grateful
store what has been damaged beyond repair. for the true imagination, as we know oursel-
We make use of this power in our counseling ves to be creatures, intuiting an objective truth
work in two key ways: calling our patients to re- outside of ourselves. By inviting our patients
pentance, and teaching them how to yield the throughout the process of counseling to share
suffering caused by the effects of sin to Christ. their thoughts, feelings, and associations freely,
Discerning and acknowledging sin and assi- they experience that we honor their true imagi-
sting our patients in engaging their will to turn nation. This strengthens their trust in this God-
in a new direction is at the core of this Christian given faculty, and makes space for moments of
counseling. “In this day of great passivity and insight and revelation. These moments when
emphasis on counseling methods, the coun- our patient is suddenly flooded with meaning
selor or minister must distinguish between tho- are gifts of revelation imparted by God. A sym-
se places that are ready for God’s healing power bol, whether word or picture, unites thought
and grace, and the other places where the de- and feeling in a moment of truth that brings the
head and the heart together.

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