Page 51 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 8

Christian Psychology as a Challenge

Nicolene Joubert

Christian Community Nicolene Joubert
(South Africa)
Psychology psychologist,
and
Founder
head of the In-
stitute of Chri-
‘n Christelike benadering tot Gemeenskapsiel- stian Psycholo-
kunde gy (ICP) near by
Johannesburg,
Gemeenskapsielkunde is ‘n relatiewe, nuwe to- C o un s e l lin g
epassingsdissipline in die veld van Sielkunde, Psychologist in
toegespits op die welsyn van die individu, ge- private prac- tice, Ph.D. in Psychology
meenskappe, kultuurgroepe en die breë same- from Northwest University ZA. Specialized
lewing. Dit verskil radikaal van die individueel- in trauma therapy and the development of
gerigte Sielkundige benaderings in verskeie dissociative identity disorder. Prof Joubert
opsigte, inter alia, die onderliggende filosofiese is the founder and chairperson of the South
aanname wat postuleer dat gedrag en geestes- African Society for the Study of Trauma and
gesondheid ‘n uitdrukking van ‘n kontekstuele Dissociation. Her home language is Afri-
probleem is, eerder as bloot ‘n intra-psigiese caans.
worsteling. Intervensies moet gevolglik die njoubert@icp.org.za
konteks (gemeenskap) se behoeftes en dinami-
ka betrek ten einde waarlik effektief te wees. Die
doelstelling van intervensies is op voorkoming
gerig, eerder as behandeling.
Hierdie konseptualisering van geestesgesond- In contrast to this view, Community Psycholo-
heid sluit goed aan by ‘n Christelike lewens- en gy upholds the perspective that personal issues
wêreldbeskouing, waarin liefde teenoor die naa- are best understood as part of a shared problem
ste deur Christus self as ‘n opdrag beklemtoon within a certain context, and therefore inter-
word. Sosiale aktiewe optrede word van Chri- ventions are created to align with the needs of
stene vereis om verligting te bring aan diegene the community at stake.
wat in nood verkeer, as gevolg van sosiale, po-
litieke en kulturele omgewings wat ‘n destruk- Community Psychology developed in the USA
tiewe uitwerking op geestesgesondheid het. during the 1960 when civil rights were fought
Hierdie artikel brei uit op die wyse waarop Ge- and a realisation for the social needs of mar-
meenskapsielkunde vanuit ‘n Bybelsgefundeer- ginalised and under-privileged groups became
de perspektief beoefen kan word, om sodoende apparent. This development led to social action
Christus se opdrag tot naasteliefde uit te leef. and social change agendas. In South Africa the
same concerns for expanding access to social
and health care services and the need for social
Introduction action emerged. This led to the development of
Community Psychology is a relatively new Community Psychology as a practice of Psy-
branch of psychology that is concerned with the chology.
wellbeing of the individual, societies and com-
munities. This is significantly different from Community Psychology is now being taught at
mainstream psychology, where the emphasis is all major universities in South Africa with the
on understanding and treating mental health aim to equip learners with the perspective and
issues as experienced and expressed by the in- skills necessary to work with personal difficul-
dividual. ties as an expression of community difficulties.

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