Psychology Commons^™

Faithful Integration: The Importance Of Worldview, Hermeneutics, And Theology For Christian Counseling, Nicole C. Biller

Salubritas: International Journal of Spirit-Empowered Counseling

Efforts to integrate faith with psychological science and counseling have been present within Christian graduate programs for decades; however, questions remain about how to do this effectively. A brief review of integration efforts and a survey of the experience of graduate students within these programs reveal a desire to further model this practical integration within the classroom. Possible solutions emphasize a biblically informed worldview, intentionally crafted hermeneutics, and well developed theology, which can lead to faith-informed counseling practices.

New Commandments, Jacob Sussman

Masters Theses

I reach into the earth, pull out mud-encrusted objects, and recombine them to define new meanings. With every object transposed, the past breaks down; new potentials form. “New Commandments” recombines historical symbolism through an intuitive building, destroying, and merging to reimagine or re-establish meaning.

The work critiques rites of passage, masculinity, and stereotypes by deconstructing how histories, ideologies, and preconceptions form.

As a queer person raised in-between Judaism and Christianity, social preconceptions and religious expectations festered my formation. Our choice is taken away at this moment of conception. To take back autonomy, I reimagine historical, and religious symbolism and transmute …

Unveiling God In Counseling: The Compatibility Of Christian Theology And The Modern Therapeutic Process, Kelvin Jamaal Mack

Senior Theses

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the compatibility of Christian theology and a modern therapeutic process informed by secularism. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate that the conceptualization of an active God in the therapeutic process is essential for counselors and clients who adhere to the Christian faith. This conceptualization is either missing or altered by therapeutic processes that operate under the worldview assumptions of secularism. This is what is described as the veiling of God. To explore this issue, a four-tiered analytical approach has been invoked. First, a brief history of secularism and its major …

The Impact Of Lyric Choices On Spiritual Edification, Hanna Jane Byrd

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Modern Christian worship music has gained influence within the evangelical community. The words of these songs, sung corporately, have the potential to influence the spiritual lives of church congregants, making it important for worship leaders and songwriters to identify the most beneficial lyrics. Despite numerous opinions about theological and personally relevant lyrics, little research has been conducted on the spiritual effects of lyric content within the lives of Christian believers. Diminutive scholarly inquiry has been limited to historical, theological or qualitative methodologies. Utilizing the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and the Spiritual Transcendence Index (STI), this quantitative quasi-experimental study …

The Abusive Implementation Of Biblical Sexuality: The Not So Pure Purity Movement, Paige Huggins

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Words like “virginity”, “sex”, and “sexuality” hold a good deal of weight and importance inAmerican society and in the Church, but are Christians actually approaching them theway God intended? While the purity movement arose out of good and biblical intentions, the way it has been implemented through the use of guilt and shame-driven techniques has hurt just as many people as it has helped, if not more. Even those who feel it has helped them in many ways are walking around with underlying scars that can affect their friendships, dating relationships, marriages, or even the way they raise their kids. …

Millennials Leaving Religion: A Transcendental Phenomenological Research Study On Religious Disaffiliation, Elizabeth Ann Rainwater

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Religious disaffiliation among Millennials has increased significantly in the past decade alongside rapidly changing social relationships amplified by social media applications. In the United States, many Millennials claim no religious identity with many leaving their religion for a variety of reasons. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of religiously disaffiliated Millennials regarding their psychological health and well-being. Self-determination theory fulfilled the theoretical framework for examining the lived experiences of young adults regarding their well-being after religious disaffiliation. A purposive sample of 12 male and female religiously disaffiliated Millennials was recruited for semistructured interviews. …

Perspectives On Adoption From Christian Adoptive Parents: A Qualitative Study, Ruth L. Markham, Kelley C. Pugh, Valerie A. Sohn, Emily N. Gentry

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Although adoption has long been studied, the rising current evangelical trend of adopting has brought about a new series of questions, mostly pertaining to, “What is it like to be a Christian adoptive parent?” The research goals were to understand how faith motivates one’s decision to adopt and the assimilation of the adopted child into the family, to examine the parallels between theological adoption and human experience adoption, and to see if parents have a qualitatively different kind of bonding or affection for their biological and adoptive children. This qualitative research study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with practicing Christians …

Comparison Of The Use Of Gendered Language In Discourse On Christian Theology And Psychology, Chloe Ackerman

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

The English language has historically reflected the sexist principles of Western culture. Common examples include the use of sexist pronouns and nouns such as policeman, businessman, or servicemen to represent men and women. Research in the last 50 years revealed the detrimental effects of sexist language, and the English language was accordingly altered. However, sexist language is still used colloquially and in settings such as Christian theology. This study explored differences in the use of gender language between the discourse on Christian theology and psychology, and tested a method of promoting inclusive gender language in Christian discourse. One hundred thirty-nine …

Conservative Holiness Pastors' Ability To Assess Depression And Their Willingness To Refer To Mental Health Professionals, Andrew Graham

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate the willingness and ability of Conservative Holiness pastors to assess depression and their willingness to refer to mental health professionals. Eighty-six pastors completed a four-part survey that measured diagnostic accuracy, willingness to refer, attitudes toward mental health, perceived competency to assist, recognition of need for help and confidence in mental health professionals. Demographic characteristics and case study responses were investigated through analysis of frequency data; relationships with demographic variables were analyzed using Spearman's rho and independent t-tests; relationships with variables derived from the scales were analyzed using Pearson Product-Moment Correlation. Analyses found …

Easy Effective Counseling: A Strategy For Busy Pastors, Benjamin Karner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Pastors are expected to counsel various people with various problems. However, in most circumstances, pastors have little time to prepare for counseling sessions and cannot be long-term therapists. Therefore, it is critical for the pastor to be able to quickly and effectively give substantial guidance to counselees. The purpose of this project is to develop and implement a pastoral counseling program with a decision management focus. A survey will be conducted with at least one hundred (100) pastors who engage in counseling as part of their regular ministry duties. This project will develop and communicate a practical counseling approach for …

From Evangelistic Preaching To Mentoring: A Model For The Local Church, Seunghyun Yoon

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Throughout Christian history, biblical and historical figures have used strategic invitation methods that focused on the needs of the people who were listening to their evangelistic appeal. This demonstrates that evangelism and the invitation process is relevant to those who respond to the message.

Racial Prejudice, Homophobia, And Sexism As A Function Of Right-Wing Authoritarianism, Religious Values, Religious Pressures, And Religious Orientation, Dixie Turner

Doctoral Dissertations

Past literature is ambiguous regarding relationships among different religious variables and prejudice. The purpose of this study was to clarify complicated relationships among religious pressures, religious fundamentalism, Christian orthodoxy, intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientation, quest orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, and the outcome variables of racial prejudice, homophobia, and sexism. Two models, a developmental model and social learning model, were proposed in this study and were tested using structural-equation modeling. Participants were 310 self-identified Christian students. Several predicted paths were deleted in both models because they did not contribute to good fit. Three predictor variables: Christian orthodoxy, extrinsic religious orientation, and religious …

Constructing A Neuroscientific Pastoral Theology Of Fear And Hope, Jason C. Whitehead

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary therapeutic circles utilize the concept of anxiety to describe a variety of disorders. Emotional reductionism is a detriment to the therapeutic community and the persons seeking its help. This dissertation proposes that attention to the emotion of fear clarifies our categorization of particular disorders and challenges emotional reductionism. I propose that the emotion of fear, through its theological relationship to hope, is useful in therapeutic practice for persons who experience trauma and PTSD.

I explore the differences between fear and anxiety by deconstructing anxiety. Through this process, I develop four categories which help the emotion of fear stand independent …

Educating Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisors: A Grounded Theory Study Of Supervisory Wisdom, Judith R. Ragsdale

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is an 80 year old education modality that provides professional education for students of pastoral care. Supervision is central to the CPE process. Pastoral supervisors in the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) have done little writing about their work educating Students in Supervisory Education (SSEs). The purpose of this dissertation is to identify and interview those practitioners in ACPE who have been identified by their peers as excellent in practice, and to cull their wisdom by listening to and categorizing their experience of supervising SSEs. The research question to the supervisors was: What is your …

Invitation To The Table Conversation: A Few Diverse Perspectives On Integration, Natalia Yangarber-Hicks, Charles Behensky, Sally Schwer, Kelly Schimmel Flanagan, Nicholas J.S. Gibson, Mitchell W. Hicks, Cynthia Neal Kimball, Jenny H. Pak, Thomas G. Plante, Steven L. Porter

Psychology

This article represents an invitation to the "integration table" to several previously underrepresented perspectives within Christian psychology. The Judeo-Christian tradition and current views on scholarship and Christian faith compel us to extend hospitality to minority voices within integration, thereby enriching and challenging existing paradigms in the field. Contributors to this article, spanning areas of cultural, disciplinary, and theological diversity, provide suggestions for how their distinct voices can enhance future integrative efforts.

Religious Involvement And Dispositional Characteristics As Predictors Of Work Attitudes And Behaviors, Tami Leigh Knotts

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to empirically examine the effects of (1) religious involvement on job attitudes, (2) dispositions on job attitudes, and (3) religious involvement on workplace behaviors. This study also assessed whether job attitudes mediated the effect of religious involvement an workplace behaviors or the interaction effect of religious involvement and dispositional characteristics on workplace behaviors.

Higher levels of religious involvement were hypothesized to lead to more positive work attitudes and behaviors. Conservative and self-transcendent values along with positive well-being were expected to lead to positive attitudes at work. The effect of religious involvement on work behaviors …