The purpose of this research is to examine a theoretical orientation toward counseling that is consistent with a commitment to Christian belief. The plan of the research will be to set forth a general foundation for psychological counseling and then to discuss ways in which it is possible to derive a model of psychotherapy that includes spirituality.
How individuals perceive their place in the world and their ability to deal with the wash of experience, as well as their status vis-à-vis other individuals, is of special concern to any psychotherapist. Such perceptions have relevance to religious experience because rationalization of the connection between self and other so frequently places the individual in the position of having to sort out his or her concept of God's role in human experience. Frequently how the individual deals with what could be called the problem of God, or connects with (or does not) God informs individual experience of the physical world and/or the common experience of human-ness. This is not to say that religion has a corner on explaining the tension between self and other or indeed between self and self; however, spiritual experience may be as relevant as "secular" psychological experience to the health and well-being of the individual organism.
Human nature, whether secular or spiritual, entails concerns about the individual's place in the scheme of existence. Spiritual experience in the Christian formulation is significant insofar as it finds connection between self and God, self and cosmos, self and other. But psychological theory also deals with how the self perceives its place in the universe and in the community of mankind. Thus psychological theory that makes spirituality relevant to therapeutic practice requires explanation and justification. Fortunately for such an enterprise, religious thought appears to have already influenced secular theory. For example, Corey (2000) explains that Rollo May, ...