Counseling Commons^™

Our Teens Are Not Okay, But They Can Be: An Application Of The Family Firo Method To Improve Parent-Adolescent Communication About Suicide, Janene Pack Lpc, Cmhc, Peder Schillemat

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

This article explores the critical role of parent-teen communication in the mental well-being of teenagers, with a particular focus on its connection to suicide risk. A particular focus is on teens who live in Utah as the suicide rate for Utah teens and young adults is almost twice the national average. Despite the focus on families and religion in Utah, a significant number of teens continue to struggle with loneliness, hopelessness, and even thoughts of suicide. One key contributing factor to this struggle is the lack of open, supportive communication between Utah teens and their parents. The absence of effective …

Parental Grief And Loss After Gender Transition: Navigating Ambiguous And Disenfranchised Loss In Latter-Day Saint Families, David Haralson, Chelsea Johnson, Jeff Bennion, Orion Maxfield

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

Parents of transgender or gender nonconforming children sometimes experience profound grief and loss, particularly within religious communities that hold specific doctrines regarding gender. This article examines the unique challenges faced by parents in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) when a child undergoes gender transition. By exploring the concepts of ambiguous loss and disenfranchised grief, we aim to provide a framework for understanding these parents' emotional experiences. The intersection of LDS doctrines and policies on gender with contemporary gender theories creates complex emotional environments for families to navigate. We present the Integrity and Investment Model as …

Helping Clients Grieve The Loss Of Their "Happily Ever After", Karen J. Gilmore, Joseph Chamberlain

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

ABSTRACT

Helping Clients Grieve the Loss of Their “Happily Ever After”

One of the most prominent attacks on marriage comes in the form of pornography and sex addiction. In this article I will explore what pornography and sex addiction is, why it can be highly addictive, how pornography and sex addiction can impact the marriage and lead to betrayal trauma, and how to understand the losses that can come from this type of trauma as well as the ensuing grief which may accompany this process. Additionally, I will identify ways to understand how grief presents in betrayal trauma, how to …

The Healer's Call: Helping Clients In A Secular World With Spiritual Problems, Brent Taylor

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Issues In Religion And Psychotherapy Volume 42 Number 1

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

President's Message: An Eternal Perspective, David T. Seamons

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Editorial Message

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Review Of Tyler Lefevor And Lisa Tennsmeyer-Hansen Presentation, Peder Schillemat

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Review Of Wendy Ulrich's Presentation, Joseph Chamberlain

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Review Of Stacy Jones, Spencer Bradshaw, Rodney Limb Presentation, Brianna Holmes

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Review Of Alan Hansen's Presentation, Jacob Larson

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Finding Peace After Betrayal By Healing Shattered Trust Schemas, Ashly Leavitt

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Review Of Terry Warner's Presentation, Jacob Tubbs

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Ethically Managing Theories Of Agency In Counseling And Psychotherapy, Jeffrey S. Reber, Jacob D. Tubbs, Jacob A. Larson

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

Informed by personal and professional cultures, clients and therapists inevitably hold various assumptions and attributions about the possibility of free will. Given that these “theories of agency” may not always align, and in light of the ethics codes for psychotherapists and counselors, it is imperative, as a matter of cultural competence and responsivity, that therapists seek training in understanding different cultures of agency. To that end, and to help therapists navigate cultural differences and mitigate the risk of personal and professional values imposition, this article provides a conceptual framework for organizing the common formal and informal theories of agency that …

Review Of Christy Kane's Presentation, Benjamin Chamberlain

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Internal Family Systems (Ifs) Therapy: Non-Pathologizing Healing For Inner Peace, Sylvia Hill

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy is a new approach to healing of the wounds and burdens caused by trauma, neglect and other relational injuries. The history of the development of IFS is outlined. The basic assumptions of IFS are shared. The roles parts take on in response to trauma are explained. The process of working with parts to bring about healing are described. Research on IFS is listed followed by a brief discussion of how IFS can fit within a Christian framework. Two case studies are provided to illustrate IFS being used in conjunction with Christian beliefs.

The Effects Of Relational Poverty: Healing Our Culture, Jenet Erickson

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

One of the most vexing challenges of our day is a profound hunger for connection, evidenced by an epidemic of loneliness, violence, relational poverty, and increasing mental health challenges. We are born to be in deep connection with others. As German analyst Frieda Fromm-Reichman wrote, “The longing for interpersonal intimacy stays with every human being from infancy through life, and there is no human being who is not threatened by its loss.” A radical cultural focus on autonomy with the associated ruptures in family stability, decreased religiosity and community engagement have increased loneliness in spite of the seeming “connectivity” of …

Cover

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Naturalism, Theism, And The Risks Of Professional Values Imposition In Psychotherapy With Theistic Clients, Jefrey S. Reber

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

The codes of ethics guiding the work of counselors and psychotherapists state that ethical practitioners pursue training in areas where they are at risk of imposing values. While training in the potential imposition of personal values is pervasive, training in the potential imposition of professional values is rare. Naturalism, the guiding worldview of science and psychology excludes theism, which is the guiding worldview of many people. Consequently, naturalism is a professional value that may be imposed on theistic clients in psychotherapy. The exclusion of theism from psychology and psychotherapy along with the naturalization of theistic experiences and concepts and the …

Table Of Contents

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Help Thou My Unbelief: Exploring The Secular Sources Of Our Clients' Doubts, Edwin E. Gantt, Madeline R. Christensen, Jacob D. Tubbs

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

Issues of faith and doubt are often at the heart of religious clients’ psychological and emotional suffering. As such, they are a topic of genuine therapeutic interest. Latter-day Saint therapists have a unique responsibility to help our religious clients work through their psychological concerns, as well as help them address their religious doubts when relevant in the therapeutic setting. We argue that many of the concerns fueling client faith crises spring from taken-for-granted assumptions absorbed from our larger secular culture. Further, these assumptions are radically different from – indeed, typically antithetical to – the premises upon many of our fundamental …

A Sacred Trust, David T. Seamons

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

Being invited into the innermost intimate parts of a person’s life is a sacred trust. As such, it is one for which we must be personally prepared. Having an understanding that those in our care are sons and daughters of Heavenly Father must ground our approach to our clinical work, constantly guiding us as we assist them through the healing process.

Agency, Atonement, And Psychological Theories Of Change: A Latter-Day Saint Christian Perspective, Richard N. Williams, Edwin E. Gantt

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

This paper interrogates the relationship of the hard determinism inherent in the theories and models currently on offer in mainstream psychology and the current trends in psychotherapeutic approaches. It foregrounds the seeming contradiction between the emphasis placed on mastering and incorporating discipline-specific knowledge – which clearly assumes scientism and hard determinism – and the emphasis placed on practitioners to develop a coherent theory of change as part of their approach to effective clinical practice. We argue that hard determinism and strategies for facilitating genuine therapeutic change and transformation are incompatible where there is no clear, coherent view of human beings …

Full Issue

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

A Synopsis And Extension Of Thayne And Gantt's Who Is Truth? Reframing Our Questions For A Richer Faith, Lane Fischer

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

Thayne and Gantt’s recent book, Who is Truth?: Reframing Our Questions for a Richer Faith, presents an ancient but revolutionary conception of truth. They compare the ancient Greek conception of Idea-truth with the ancient Hebrew conception of Person-truth. They explore the implications of Person-truth for our faith. They use Person-truth to reframe questions. This article presents a synopsis of the book and extends its implications around the issue of suffering and psychotherapy.

How Radical Are The Implications Of Properzi’S Christ-Centered Perspective On Emotion For Psychology And Psychotherapy?, Jeffrey S. Reber

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

Properzi offers a perspective on emotion that is radically different from traditional secular theories of emotion and the psychotherapy approaches associated with those theories, but perhaps his Christ- centered perspective is even more radical than he perceives it. If it is strongly theistic and strongly relational, as it appears to be, then its implications would significantly alter the psychology of emotion and psychotherapy. These implications need to be explicated so it is clear what a Christ-centered per- spective on emotion would mean to the discipline. I have fleshed out three radical implications regarding scope, relational ontology, and mastery discourse to …

A Brief Response To “Between Identity And Truth”, Terryl Givens

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.

Cover

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

No abstract provided.