Worldview and Psychotherapy An Analysis of the Christian Integration Debate Summary

The subject of inquiry in this thesis is the interface between worldview and psychotherapy. My interest in this topic was raised by the tension I observed between secular psychotherapy's focus on autonomy as a primary value in human functioning, and traditional religion's emphasis on external authority guiding people's choices. How should religious people benefit from psychotherapeutic care without getting confused about their religious views? Conversely, how should psychotherapy respect patients' or clients' traditional beliefs without compromising its own professionalism? The relationship between worldview and psychotherapy is investigated by means of an analysis of the Christian integration debate that has been going on for more than forty years, 1973 being the birth year of the Journal of Psychology and Theology, one of the professional journals on the subject. A similar foundational debate of this extent is lacking in the Netherlands and in Europe at large. A first orientation took place with the help of a summary description of the debate in five views (Johnson, 2010). The first view argues that psychology and religion are on different levels. Consequently, a purposeful tuning of the two is not appropriate; the second view argues that psychology and the Bible (or theology, or faith) should be integrated; the next one assumes the priority of psychological notions in the Bible and Christian tradition, and states that psychological research should be sub-servient to this primary source of knowledge; the forth view thinks of a transformation of psychological processes in spiritual experiences through the agency of God's Spirit. Finally, there is a view that deems secular psychology and psychotherapy reprehensible on biblical grounds.