Page 61 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 7

Foundational Discussions in Christian Psychology

including: emotions, relationships, personality, personal history. In order to maintain integrity,
environment, life history, and the communities some people will have to grow in complexity at
in which we construct our understandings of a very slow pace, and this is ideal for them. Big-
reality. Our unique paths are based on our self- ger is not morally or essentially better, though it
organizing tendencies to seek new, emerging re- may have a practical bearing on one’s role in a
sponses to this dynamic system of interactions. community. For example, communities are pro-
For some, particularly for personalities or bably best led and advised by those who are able
communities tending toward openness and to grow into a significant degree of complexity.
flexibility, this process of increasing complexi- Thus maturing, increasing complexity with in-
ty could be relatively smooth and continuous. tegrity, becomes shorthand for a very complex,
Since change and newness are embraced, small non-linear process with many overlapping and
opportunities for growth are frequently appro- mutually responsive processes at work. Forcing
priated and maturing moves steadily forward. this complexity into structural stages – espe-
Perhaps there are moments when “sideways” cially beyond adolescence when neurological
routes or even doubling back are required in or- changes no longer give a measure of credence
der to correct for unhelpful choices. to cognitive or even emotional capacity chan-
For others, whose personalities and/or commu- ges – cannot help but do violence to our under-
nities favour stability and self-protection, many standing of how this developing maturity takes
opportunities for growth are at least initially place. Oversimplifying the process, by creating
resisted until a pressure builds up that requires stable structures out of certain chosen themes,
a sudden step forward. There may be moments will force narrow expectations on people and
when a deep awareness of the failure of one’s will blind us to the many aspects of maturity
attempts at self-protection lead to moments of that are not well captured by stage language.
“conversion.”
This journey toward increasing complexity with Dimension Two – Free-flowing “Facets” or
integrity has a backbone of cognitive develop- Themes
ment with its commonly understood processes Avoiding stages does not necessitate jettisoning
of assimilation and accommodation (the latter what has been appreciated through the years
required to grant appropriate integrity to new when structural stage theories such as Fowler’s
information and experience). There is much have proven their intuitive and practical wor-
more to maturing than this cognitive expansi- th. For this reason, I propose a second dimen-
on, however. There are also important proces- sion of cross-cutting “facets” – key themes or
ses of healing (facing, accepting and integrating domains which become highlighted, “figure”
wounds and trauma) and broadening our re- in Gestalt terms, for a season. I believe that
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pertoire of emotional and relational skills, espe- much of the value of Fowler’s stage theory has
cially including empathy. been its attendance to certain important themes
Maintaining our own personal integrity in the in development which fit into a larger pattern
midst of expanding complexity will also ne- (largely layered over a base structure of cogni-
cessitate interlocking skills of narrating our li- tive development), most notably such themes
ves and discerning what kinds of engagement as seeking individual integrity by questioning
with the world are life-giving and which are
life-negating. We need to be growing in our abi- 3 What I envision is somewhat similar to Streib’s (2001)
lity to harmonize our inner thoughts, feelings, reference to styles in light of Loevinger’s (1976) “miles-
perspectives and worldviews with our outward tone model” which “draws the respective style as a rising
actions lest we become deeply fragmented or curve that descends again after a culminating point and
persists on a lower level, whereas the subsequent styles
hypocritical. attain their own climaxes. From such developmental
This understanding of spiritual maturity, then, perspective, there are no plausible reasons, either, why
does not construe the universal ideal as being a certain style should not, at least as precursor, develop
the “biggest” or most complex, but as finding earlier than structural-developmental theories normally
the best fit given one’s personality and one’s assume, but especially that a potential relevance of a cer-
tain style continues after its biographical peak” (p.149).
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