Plenary Presentation
Descriptions

The doctrines of sin and grace are intricately interconnected in a Christian view of persons. This lecture will reframe sin, moving beyond distorted views that keep it from being an entrance to healing. Summarizing preliminary data, the lecture will explore how perceptions of sin relate to shame, guilt, depression, and religious strain. In response it will show how, rather than producing shame—as is often assumed—a proper view of sin may promote healthy empathy in psychotherapy.

Much has been said regarding “integration” of psychology and religion, but this consideration has frequently lacked adequate theological reflection on the ends to which such an integration should be directed. This presentation will consider the possibilities for alternative paradigms of engagement in the service of faithfulness and human flourishing. This engagement and its formation will be explored in the context of communities of faith nurtured in practices of caring and virtues formed in a common life of worship, sacrament, and service.

Many psychotherapists find themselves treating clients who are very religious and/or spiritual while they themselves are spiritually illiterate. This talk will provide a series of suggestions for responding to and with the religious/spiritual client in a productive fashion. Translations between various religious and non-religious language systems will be discussed. Specifically, it will address contemplative practices common to both eastern and western spiritual disciplines and to the emerging scientific knowledge about the benefits of “allowing” experiences rather than suppressing or avoiding them.

Popular and professional opinions have long held that there is a strong inter-relationship of addiction with spirituality and recovery. While interest in spirituality has remained high within the addiction field, psychology in general has had a more ambivalent relationship with religion. This lecture will describe how even simple measures of religiousness often show significant relationship to health outcomes. It will also discuss the measurability of spirituality as well as discuss spiritual interventions in addiction treatment. The phenomenon of quantum change will also be discussed.

In addition to offering a theological response to the other papers, this presentation will explore the role of the human fascination with (and fear of) the sacred in a psychotherapeutic context. Tending to this delightful terror implicit in religious life provides a shared conceptual (and existential) space for interdisciplinary discourse between theologians and psychologists. Some concrete implications for understanding and facilitating the goal of psychotherapy from a Christian perspective will be outlined.