Page 139 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 6

Christian Psychotherapy

Heather Gingrich (USA)

Comment to

“Mission Possible: A

Presentation of the

Therapeutic Process of

Adult Victims of Child

Sexual Abuse.“

As Tarja Vilppola has so ably pointed out, se- Heather Gingrich, Ph.D., is Pro-
xual abuse is a huge problem throughout the fessor of Counseling at Denver
world. It was, therefore, wonderful to hear of Seminary. She is Canadian, spent
training for Christian counselors that is being several years in Pakistan, eight
done in Europe, and to get a glimpse of what she years in the Philippines, and
is doing in Finland. has also taught in Singapore, Sri
Lanka, and Guatemala. Her area
Vilppola has covered a lot of ground in her ar- of clinical, research, and writing
ticle. It is to her credit that she recognizes the specialization is the treatment of
complexity of helping survivors of sexual abuse complex trauma and dissociative
heal, which necessitates delving into many areas disorders.
that are relevant to the treatment of this popu-
lation. This strength, however, is also one of the Christ including the connection among other
article’s chief weaknesses in that Vilppola intro- people.” Again I have the sense that Vilppola is
duces interesting topics, but does not explore making a good point here, but I am left having
them in the depth that would allow the reader to extrapolate her meaning and would rather
to fully grasp her concepts. Space does not per- that she had been more specific as to how the
mit me to comment on all of the areas that Vilp- concepts are related.
pola addresses in her article. I have, therefore,
chosen to reflect on the specific areas of body/ Powerful Peace of God
boundaries, the “Powerful Peace of God,” and While I assume that Vilppola integrates the to-
the ”Inner Wall.” pics she addresses in this article into her clinical
work in a cohesive fashion, I do not get a clear
Body/Boundaries sense for what that looks like in practice. This
It is unclear exactly how the therapist’s connec- is true in her discussion of the “Powerful Peace
tion with her own body makes the “work more of God.” She states, for example, that “Powerful
secure” and “protects me as well as my client du- Peace of God supports the client´s stability, au-
ring the therapy process.” My intuitive sense is tonomy, involvement and her relationship with
that this is true, but I am left not knowing exact- God during all phases of her recovery process
ly how Vilppola sees this working theoretical- – even in the crisis of faith.” But I am left won-
ly. In the same section she also introduces the dering how the interventions she alludes to in
concept of boundaries, but I am left wondering this section are integrated into each of the four
about the nature of the connection she is ma- phases of counseling with trauma survivors. For
king between awareness of “body” and “boun- instance, how does using the “Powerful Peace
daries.” Similarly, Vilppola states that “when a of God” apply to developing safety in the thera-
person learns to accept, cherish and love her- peutic relationship in Phase 1, or the processing
self and her own body that creates the need and of abuse memories in Phase 3? If counselees are
the possibility to be connected with the body of experiencing a crisis of faith, how is the “Po-

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