Theistic Reflections on Counseling and Psychotherapy

Abstract

Although religion and science share many similar goals, as evidenced by several philosophical and theoretical studies, there are also many points where they diverge. In this context, ensuring individuals’ psychological well-being is the purpose of both religion and science. However, the effort of psychology to become a scientific field has blocked the use of religious material for the purpose of protecting and improving psychological health for a long time. In this point, P. Scott Richards and Allen E. Bergin’s book, A Spiritual Strategy for Counseling and Psychotherapy, shows that it is possible to integrate these two fields to serve a common purpose by expressing in scientific terms the contributions that monotheistic religions may provide for individuals’ psychological well-being. The main purpose of the book is to describe the concepts and interventions that will help mental health professionals implement theistic psychotherapy (p. 11).