As you peruse this blog you will see it is a mix of my thoughts from a background of professional counseling and psychology as well as my personal ideas and my experiences as a Christian. I have spent the past 40 years as a committed Christian and an educator and counselor.
When I was getting ready to leave teaching elementary school and pursue a masters degree in counseling college students I was warned by some well meaning friends to avoid psychology at all costs lest it destroy my Christian faith. I can safely say that reading the research and outcomes from psychology actually strengthened my faith in God and the Bible. Some of my professors challenged my beliefs as did some of the conclusions authors and psychologists drew from their work. However, the research itself elevated the power and insights of the Bible and I became more committed to finding out how to integrate it with helping people grow in grace.
For example, my last post was about the research of one of my mentors and friends, Dr. Richard Walters. He found that the passage of scripture found in Proverbs was literally true. I understand that much of scripture is metaphorically true; the hills do not actually clap their hands, but Rich found that when the inspired writer of Proverbs 18:21 said,
Death or life are in the power of the tonguehe was factually and metaphorically right.
Karen, my wife of 48 plus years, is a very wise person. She has often said, "Gary has job security. The world, the flesh and the devil are messing people up faster than he can put them back together." Wars, rumors of wars, dysfunctional families and destructive diseases all conspire to bring shock, trauma and abuse to people and they leave their trail of tears all over the earth. This is why I have spent most of my adult life training Peer and Professional Helpers in several nations how to be more effective in health prevention, promotion and healing.
So, feel free to leave me a message or two that will edify all of us. Blog and media comments are full of hatred, anger, bitterness and attacks that demean and destroy and I will not allow those to show up. However, I would love to hear your insights, additions, corrections and challenges offered in faith, hope and love.
Gary Sweeten
1 comment:
hi Gary,
your sharings and writings on this blog is life affirming. i like your post "How to Promote Healing and Growth". The message about Love is simple. But simple does not mean easy.
In the field of psychotherapy/counselling, pastoral care, it is so easy to get lost in the schools/methods/theories of practice. At the heart of it all, it is about the agape form of love, isn't it?
One of the non-spiritual type of books that affirmed my role as a helper is The Heart of Being Helpful, by Peter Breggin. Even though some might comment about his position w Scientology, I found him take on how we can be nurturing and loving, dare i say, spiritual.
Last, i thing psychology has alot to give credit to religious traditions, besides the buddhistic philosophy that led to the hype of mindfulness practices, but also to the contemplatives like Thomas Merton, St Ignatius of Loyola (founder of the Jesuits), and the likes of other religious practices.
Once again, thank you for your life giving sharings through your the gift of words.
Blessings,
Daryl C
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