Page 94 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 8

Christian Psychology alive

those they face in counselling sessions, also health. The problems addressed in this artic-
that general principles were not enough. Often, le focus on “little or no mental health care for
churches and pastors are unable to adequately the poor, disparities in health between African
and appropriately address the deepest hurts of American and Whites, and the alarming rates
modern man without the use of secular psycho- of sexual assault” within the city. The discussion
logy techniques. follows how the wealth of skills and knowledge
that mental health practitioners have can be em-
In South African study by Glanville and Dreyer ployed for the benefit of the local churches and
(2013): “Spousal Rape: A Challenge for Pasto- the communities in which the churches serve.
ral Counsellors”. These authors highlight the Looking at the problems addressed one can see
importance of the pastoral counsellor’s unique the similarity to our situation in South Africa
skills in light of spiritual gifting and how these and the after effects of Apartheid still lingering
contribute toward wellbeing in victims. A num- as well as statistics relating to sexual assault and
ber of women that were interviewed felt that other prevailing issues.
the church played a positive role in their lives
but did not feel that the church was effective in Lyon (2010) discusses the effects of the abuse
dealing with issues of violence against women. and how victims relate to the church in relation
They expressed that pastoral counsellors so- to their trauma. This trauma has physical and
metimes perpetuate cultural attitudes that en- spiritual effects within the person. This type
courage shame and silence regarding rape. The of abuse is often found in children and many
researchers of this article found that victims of adults have been victims of sexual abuse as
rape had negative perceptions of pastoral coun- children. Trauma and the effects of this are one
sellors and reported that they received little as- of the areas that counselling within the church
sistance. Furthermore, pastoral counsellors do can benefit from more specific skills. Even in
have a vital role to play in their healing process, relation to South Africa and the many instances
however to be effective they should have a tho- of violence and crime, many South Africans at
rough knowledge of the dynamics of rape and some stage have suffered trauma and many have
spousal rape in particular. not dealt with this effectively. The article recom-
mends programs to be implemented within the
An assessment of the attitudes and beliefs that church setting where victims can heal relatio-
mentally ill Christians encountered when they nally for example art projects, playing music to-
sought counselling from the church was done gether or singing as a group. They also suggest
by Stanford (2007). It showed that 30 % repor- support groups for these victims to talk about
ted a negative interactions including ‘abandon- their experiences with others who can relate.
ment by the church, equating mental illness The church should create a “nurturing environ-
with the work of demons and suggesting that ment for the lost and suffering among us” just
the mental disorder was a result of sin’. It also as Christ came to “heal these lost and forgotten
showed that women were more likely to have persons, who have become the Body of Christ
their mental illness dismissed by the church must carry on His work” (Lyon, 2010, p.246).
and/or be told not to take psychiatric medica-
tion. Stanford (2007, p. 445) maintains that the Bergin & Jensen (1990); Shafranske & Malony
“religious support system can play a vital role 1990 (cited in Tan, 1996,p.366) stated that “pro-
in the recovery from serious mental disorders, fessional therapists, including clinical psycho-
these results suggest that continued education logists are more spiritually orientated today but
is needed to bring Christian and mental health religion did not factor as an important role for
communities together”. them as much as the general population”. That
71% of the clinical psychologists indicated that
Galloway (2003, p.343-347) focuses on how they belonged to a religious group and 41 % at-
the church can bridge gaps within the commu- tended services. However 85% had little or no
nity to bring emotional, physical and spiritual training in the area of psychology and religion.

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