Pub Date : 2021-10-19DOI: 10.31380/salubritas1.0.29
Bill Buker
Using the image of a fractal, a Spirit-centered approach to counseling is proposed that conceptualizes the Spirit’s activity as seeking to replicate the patterns of God’s redemptive story throughout creation by facilitating deep second-order change. Involving an epistemological shift from ways of knowing shaped by the conventional wisdom of culture to a renewed mind grounded in the transformative wisdom of Jesus, this deep change is explored from the perspectives of science and Scripture. Integrating findings from systems theory with the ministry and message of Jesus, this approach to counseling emphasizes relational premises and values believed to be characteristic of the mind of the Spirit. Defined as the capacity to know and see in ways that are consistent with the passion and purposes of God, cultivating the mind of the Spirit is viewed as the essence of Spirit-centered counseling. Presumed to be seen most clearly in the life of Jesus, this model focuses on his distinctive way of knowing and seeing by examining what can be learned about the epistemological facets of perception and meaning-making when comparing his Way with the patterns of this world. It is proposed that Spirit-centered counseling is guided by the premises and patterns contained in Jesus’ transformative wisdom.
{"title":"Expanding God’s Redemptive Fractal: Spirit-Centered Counseling and the Transformative Wisdom of Jesus","authors":"Bill Buker","doi":"10.31380/salubritas1.0.29","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31380/salubritas1.0.29","url":null,"abstract":"Using the image of a fractal, a Spirit-centered approach to counseling is proposed that conceptualizes the Spirit’s activity as seeking to replicate the patterns of God’s redemptive story throughout creation by facilitating deep second-order change. Involving an epistemological shift from ways of knowing shaped by the conventional wisdom of culture to a renewed mind grounded in the transformative wisdom of Jesus, this deep change is explored from the perspectives of science and Scripture. Integrating findings from systems theory with the ministry and message of Jesus, this approach to counseling emphasizes relational premises and values believed to be characteristic of the mind of the Spirit. Defined as the capacity to know and see in ways that are consistent with the passion and purposes of God, cultivating the mind of the Spirit is viewed as the essence of Spirit-centered counseling. Presumed to be seen most clearly in the life of Jesus, this model focuses on his distinctive way of knowing and seeing by examining what can be learned about the epistemological facets of perception and meaning-making when comparing his Way with the patterns of this world. It is proposed that Spirit-centered counseling is guided by the premises and patterns contained in Jesus’ transformative wisdom.","PeriodicalId":320901,"journal":{"name":"Salubritas: International Journal of Spirit-Empowered Counseling","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126490184","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-19DOI: 10.31380/salubritas1.0.103
R. McBain
This article explores the silent nature of depression in the local church and suggests that developing Jesus-style friendships can break the silence. It adapts the author’s Doctor of Ministry (DMin) research project, which explored the silent nature of depression in the local church and Christianity’s interpretive healing qualities. This article argues that the church has a rich history of helping sufferers interpret their experiences of depression, but changing worldviews, the growth of the modern medical model, and the effectiveness of pharmaceuticals monopolized health and shoved the church to the periphery of the conversation. Silence became the church’s typical response, which promoted an attitude of stigma and avoidance. The article suggests that developing Jesus-style friendships can help break the silence because social or religious barriers do not restrict such friendships. This model of friendship is crucial for giving depression sufferers a sense of identity, meaning, and purpose within the church community.
{"title":"Breaking Depression’s Silence within the Church through Friendships","authors":"R. McBain","doi":"10.31380/salubritas1.0.103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31380/salubritas1.0.103","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the silent nature of depression in the local church and suggests that developing Jesus-style friendships can break the silence. It adapts the author’s Doctor of Ministry (DMin) research project, which explored the silent nature of depression in the local church and Christianity’s interpretive healing qualities. This article argues that the church has a rich history of helping sufferers interpret their experiences of depression, but changing worldviews, the growth of the modern medical model, and the effectiveness of pharmaceuticals monopolized health and shoved the church to the periphery of the conversation. Silence became the church’s typical response, which promoted an attitude of stigma and avoidance. The article suggests that developing Jesus-style friendships can help break the silence because social or religious barriers do not restrict such friendships. This model of friendship is crucial for giving depression sufferers a sense of identity, meaning, and purpose within the church community.","PeriodicalId":320901,"journal":{"name":"Salubritas: International Journal of Spirit-Empowered Counseling","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134404653","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-19DOI: 10.31380/salubritas1.0.129
Melinda G. Rhoades, Andrea C. Walker
This article examines spiritual struggle in bereft Christian evangelical students and how struggle might potentiate spiritual growth. The death loss of a close person can result in shattered assumptions about the world that trigger spiritual questions and struggle and spiritual struggle can be a catalyst for growth. To our knowledge, spiritual growth has not been measured utilizing the actual voices of those struggling with the loss, nor has it been measured in Christian evangelical populations who may find it more threatening to yield to spiritual questioning. The Spirit-centered Change Model guides our conceptualization of spiritual growth from a Christian evangelical perspective. Utilizing a mixed methods design, bereft college students (n=161) at a Christian evangelical university answered questionnaires about religious coping, daily spiritual experiences, meaning in life, and open-ended questions about their spiritual growth and how students’ beliefs about God had changed after the loss. Compared to non-bereft peers, bereft students reported higher daily spiritual experiences, but bereft students who struggled spiritually reported less meaning and daily spiritual experiences than bereft students who did not struggle. Narrative responses indicated that spiritual struggle simultaneously tended to reflect more expansive beliefs around God and a deepened spirituality, according to the Spirit-centered Change Model. Results reflect a first empirical step toward measuring spiritual growth as epistemological change.
{"title":"Spiritual Struggle and Spiritual Growth of Bereft College Students in a Christian Evangelical University","authors":"Melinda G. Rhoades, Andrea C. Walker","doi":"10.31380/salubritas1.0.129","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31380/salubritas1.0.129","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines spiritual struggle in bereft Christian evangelical students and how struggle might potentiate spiritual growth. The death loss of a close person can result in shattered assumptions about the world that trigger spiritual questions and struggle and spiritual struggle can be a catalyst for growth. To our knowledge, spiritual growth has not been measured utilizing the actual voices of those struggling with the loss, nor has it been measured in Christian evangelical populations who may find it more threatening to yield to spiritual questioning. The Spirit-centered Change Model guides our conceptualization of spiritual growth from a Christian evangelical perspective. Utilizing a mixed methods design, bereft college students (n=161) at a Christian evangelical university answered questionnaires about religious coping, daily spiritual experiences, meaning in life, and open-ended questions about their spiritual growth and how students’ beliefs about God had changed after the loss. Compared to non-bereft peers, bereft students reported higher daily spiritual experiences, but bereft students who struggled spiritually reported less meaning and daily spiritual experiences than bereft students who did not struggle. Narrative responses indicated that spiritual struggle simultaneously tended to reflect more expansive beliefs around God and a deepened spirituality, according to the Spirit-centered Change Model. Results reflect a first empirical step toward measuring spiritual growth as epistemological change.","PeriodicalId":320901,"journal":{"name":"Salubritas: International Journal of Spirit-Empowered Counseling","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125543840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-19DOI: 10.31380/salubritas1.0.117
Karuna Sharma
Nepal is a country with cultural and religious diversity. This country has gone through much turmoil and many crises. Since the time of the Maoist insurgency up to the recent pandemic situation, people have faced various emotions, feelings, and thoughts. These sudden devastating moments have not only affected their physical wellbeing, but has in turn affected the whole being of a person. These experiences of accusation, suffering, violence, and pain have led many to sadness, worry, anger, and fear resulting in various mental disorders. Therefore, the ministry of counseling is very important in order to help people get connected to their feelings and to understand their problems. It enables people to express their emotions freely and bring a sense of positivity to their lives. For effective counseling, there is always a need for the guidance and support of the Holy Spirit. Human beings are very limited in their own ways, and it is only through the presence of the Holy Spirit that a person can be transformed and changed. Therefore, it is important for the churches in Nepal to preach and teach about the Spirit who is a helper and brings healing and wholeness through comfort and counsel. It is the Holy Spirit who is the ultimate agent of transformation to lead people into all truth.
{"title":"The Holy Spirit the Ultimate Counselor and Transformer for Healing and Wholeness","authors":"Karuna Sharma","doi":"10.31380/salubritas1.0.117","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.31380/salubritas1.0.117","url":null,"abstract":"Nepal is a country with cultural and religious diversity. This country has gone through much turmoil and many crises. Since the time of the Maoist insurgency up to the recent pandemic situation, people have faced various emotions, feelings, and thoughts. These sudden devastating moments have not only affected their physical wellbeing, but has in turn affected the whole being of a person. These experiences of accusation, suffering, violence, and pain have led many to sadness, worry, anger, and fear resulting in various mental disorders. Therefore, the ministry of counseling is very important in order to help people get connected to their feelings and to understand their problems. It enables people to express their emotions freely and bring a sense of positivity to their lives. For effective counseling, there is always a need for the guidance and support of the Holy Spirit. Human beings are very limited in their own ways, and it is only through the presence of the Holy Spirit that a person can be transformed and changed. Therefore, it is important for the churches in Nepal to preach and teach about the Spirit who is a helper and brings healing and wholeness through comfort and counsel. It is the Holy Spirit who is the ultimate agent of transformation to lead people into all truth.","PeriodicalId":320901,"journal":{"name":"Salubritas: International Journal of Spirit-Empowered Counseling","volume":"30 3","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131545939","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}