In the case of Mary, I would not use scripture in our first sessions. Mary acknowledges that she reads the bible on regular base, and is a believer but still feels God is distant. By using scripture with Mary may cause unintentional rational problems (McMinn, p. 136) which would not help in establishing a healing relationship. However, I would pray for Mary before meeting with her in my private devotional time. “Even without scientific proof, we can assume that praying for clients outside of sessions helps counselors maintain a ministry focus and helps counseling clients in their spiritual and emotional healing” (p. 84).
According to our lecture, there are potential problems in using scripture in counseling. Looking and studying Mary’s case, I would not want Mary to see me as a church sister/friend, but as a professional Christian counselor (Peters, n.d.). Mary grew up in church, and her father who molested her was a pastor, therefore I do not want to be perceived as being “preachy and overbearing” (Peters, n.d.) Because of Mary’s history with the church, I want to focus more on a counselor client relationship. “By fostering a healthy Christian-counseling relationship, with or without the explicit use of Scripture, we provide clients with a glimpse of God’s grace” (p. 138).
The use of scripture at this time in our session may not be beneficial in moving Mary to a psychological and spiritually healthier person (McMinn, p. 131). Although I do believe that the answer can be found in God’s word (p. 122). There is evidence that “when clients mediate on scriptures, it can modify faulty core beliefs that have contributed to poor self-awareness and unnecessarily painful emotional experiences. Meditating on Scripture can help Christian clients change these beliefs” (p. 122). With Mary’s tentative diagnosis of DID and the abuse she has already suffered, scriptures may be “unnecessary and probably damaging, to use” (p. 135).
McMinn’s (20011, p. 124) stated, “Knowledge of self, God, and Scripture are intertwined.” In order to know scripture we must have some understanding of ourselves, but we cannot fully understand ourselves without understanding God (p. 124). As Mary’s Christian counselor I would want to share some scriptures with her such as, “God is our present help in time of trouble” (Psalms 46:1) and God is never far from us, however, I do not want Mary to feel as if I’m lecturing her and thus causing her to become distance from the counseling process (p. 136).
“Scripture was given to help transform our lives. It is powerful, active, and useful for training ourselves to be righteous” Hebrews 4: 12; 2 Timothy 3:16 (p. 139). According to the lecture (Peters, n.d.), informative reading, and formative reading of the bible are not the same. Although Mary is reading the bible in a session, I would want to focus on the transforming powers of scripture.
Reference
McMinn, M.R. (2001). Psychology, theology and spirituality in Christian counseling (Rev. ed.). Carol Stream. IL: Tyndale House.
Peters, C. (n.d.). COUN 506 Week Five, Lecture One: The Bible in Christian counseling. [PowerPoint]. Lynchburg. VA: Liberty University Online.