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Integrated Christian Family Therapy Essay

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Integrated Christian Family Therapy Mental and behavioral health are heavily reliant on the worldview, norms and spiritual tenants that an individual subscribes to or is raised in. This particular theoretical orientation relies heavily on the Christian faith to explain psychological phenomena. While all families have varying faiths and needs, counselors can identify how to individualize treatment plans to best serve the couple or family. Integrated Christian family therapy is best utilized with families who share a mutual Christian faith and believe in the Biblical family model, although counselors can pull from other theoretical frameworks to address treatment goals for those who prefer a secular treatment approach.
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Approaches such as integrative problem-solving therapy (considers object relations and problem solving) and narrative solutions therapy (draws from “theoretical assumptions found in narrative approaches”) are a few considerations when merging the theories (Yarhouse and Sells, 2017, p. 289). According to the text, there are six meta-frameworks: “sequences, organization, culture, gender, development, and internal family systems” (Yarhouse and Sells, 2017, p. 290). These meta-frameworks suggest that all family therapy work under the assumption that one or more of these are a point of concern for the family and will need to be addressed in treatment. Three tenants that first generation family therapy forms treatment plans around regardless of faith are family dysfunction, family functioning and suggested road map (Yarhouse and Sells, 2017). According to the text, there are ample models that can be applied to these tenants such as Bowenian, strategic and structural, and just as these models can be applied as needed, Christian family therapy can apply Biblical tenants and models as needed (Yarhouse and Sells, 2017). All families are different and require unique approaches to fit their needs. First-generation family therapy has ample opportunity to integrate Christian family therapy as long as their faith and desires for …show more content…

One way that I integrate the Christian perspective in the counseling field is by viewing each and every client as a child of God. Each client that I interact with I pray that I perceive them and treat them the way that God perceives them. Counseling is a form of ministry itself. We see this as Jesus is a counselor in the New Testament (Holy Bible, New International Version, 1973/2011, John 16:13). Each counseling session is an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to reach any client as this is a sacred interaction between the client and counselor. Specifically for families and couples, I use the Biblical model of the family order as a guide for treatment. For instance, Christian families typically follow the notion that the man is the head of the family who protects and provides. He leads the wife in spiritual growth, while the woman takes care of the family and teaches the children. Families vary on their perspective of the Biblical family order, however the counselor is able to decipher their needs based off of their intake assessments. For families who do not want to pursue a faith-based integration of family therapy, I honor their request and use fundamental Biblical core values that apply to all family systems such as sacrifice, service and

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