Spirituality Assessment Methods
Spirituality Assessment Methods
John E. N. Daniel is a trained seminarian and an ordained pastor and hence is academically and professionally trained and spiritually equipped to assist you in meeting your individual pastoral counseling and spiritual needs.
At L.E.A.P.S. learning a client's spiritual history, faith preferences, and commitments is a critical assessment priority.
However, Plant (2009) asserts that most MHPs (mental health professionals) do not adopt a systematic protocol to gather religious information. But, without a solid grasp of the client's religious-spiritual history and recent habits obtain from intake forms, or interview queries; it is impractical to select an appropriate instrument of spirituality. In short, a clinical spiritual assessment must be conducted prior to the implementation of any prescribe treatment approach, if the intervention strategies are to have authentic and favorable outcomes.
John E. N. Daniel is a trained seminarian and an ordained pastor and hence is academically and professionally trained and spiritually equipped to assist you in meeting your individual pastoral counseling and spiritual needs.
Moreover, at L.E.A.P.S. we are committed to meeting not only the needs of the wider secular community, but also those of require brief therapy. As it relates to spiritual assessment, one basic information gathering tool used by L.E.A.P.S is the FICA tool: faith, importance, community, and address (Pulchalski, 2006).
Questions to Ask Yourself
Do you consider yourself to be a person of faith and how would you describe your faith tradition?
What importance does your faith have in your life?
Are you a member of a local church or faith community?
How would you like me to address these spiritual matters in your care?
Ready to Get Started?
Meeting Clients Expectations of Christian Counseling
Clients who express a clear intent for Christian counseling have extremely diverse perceptions about what constitutes Christian counseling. Some clients expect that all therapeutic interventions must exclusively be rooted in Scripture. Alternatively, another client may expect some level of integration of Holy Scripture and therapeutic modeling, others still might desire the grace associated with his or her therapist functioning predominantly in a priestly or pastoral role. Given the diversity of client expectations, L.E.A.P.S. is extremely sensitive and proactive in its approach to carefully assess individual expectations. Some of these expectations are determined based on skilled interview techniques. For example, some questions asked may include the following:
These are the Questions to Answer for Yourself
Given the importance of your walk with Christ, what hopes and expectations do you have at the conclusion of our counseling sessions?
Have you given any thought to what distinctively Christian counseling approaches will be used during our one-on-one sessions?
Do you believe that one's denominational affiliation can in any way influence the nature and content of our counseling sessions?
What are your views about the involvement of prayer and intercession before, during or after counseling sessions?
As it relates to mental health issues, do you believe that demons can be a contributory factor in unusual mental, emotional, and psychological behavior?
Do you believe that some maladies can sometimes be attributed to demonic oppression or suppression, and therefore deliverance ministry can be used as a viable intervention option?
The 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament are the only inspired books of divine Revelation and these 66 books constitute the completed Canon of Holy Scripture. No other religious writings (such as the Quran, the Book of Mormon, etc) are true revelation from God. (True or False)?
There is only one God from Whom are all things and for Whom all things exist in heaven and on earth. (True or False)?
Adam and Eve were created, not born, or evolved from simpler life-forms. Their disobedience brought sin and death upon the entire human family. (True or False)?
Satan was created, not born, and is an angel who rebelled against God. (True or False)?
Contextualization of Faith-based Professional Counseling
The Christian faith hold that God speaks through Scripture and in the Word of God having become human flesh. Such beliefs cannot be intellectually explained, but rather are accepted and believed based on one's faith. In other words, the triune God is not merely an impersonal force that controls the universe, but a loving God who manifested Himself as Jesus in the earth, lived, was crucified and buried, but rose from the day three days after being put to death. He sent His Holy Spirit to live with every one who would truly accept His life, death, and resurrection to be true. According to Greggo and Lawrence (2012) "The centerpiece of Christianity is a personal and self-revealing Creator who invites human beings, made in his image, into a transparent and authentic relationship with himself (Gen 1:26-27; Jn 3:16; Jn 10:10; Rom 1:16-17; I Jn 1:1-9). When the adjective Christian becomes the qualifier that defines counseling, there is an intentional linking between worldview, theological beliefs, psychological perspectives, and the values of living" (p. 255).
References
Greggo, S. P., Lawrence, K. (2012). Clinical appraisal of spirituality: In search of rapid assessment instruments (RAIs) for Christian counseling. Journal of Psychology and Christianity,31(3), 253-266.
Plant, T. G. (2009). Spiritual practices in psychotherapy: Thirteen tools for enhancing psychlogical health. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Pulchalski, C. M. (2006). A time for listening and caring: Spiritualityand the care of the chronically ill and dying. New Yory, NY: Oxford.
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