Spiritual Growth in Counseling and Supervision

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Spiritual Growth in Counseling and Supervision

• Dana Wicker, Ph.D.
• Lori Moore, Ph.D. Candidate
• Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort
  Worth, TX

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Religion versus Spirituality

• Religion beliefs, values and practices of
  various established religions (Shafranske
  Malony, 1990)
• Spirituality a relationship of our embodied
  selves to God that has the natural and
  irrepressible effect of making us alive to the
  Kingdom of God (Willard, 1990)
• While these terms are not interchangeable, they
  are not mutually exclusive.

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The Christian Counselor

• A deeply committed, Spirit-guided (and
  Spirit-filled), servant of Jesus Christ
• who applies his or her God-given abilities,
  skills, training, knowledge, and insight

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• To the task of helping others move to a personal
  wholeness, interpersonal competence, mental
  stability and spiritual maturity.
• (Collins,1993, p. 21)

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• The counselor has a deep faith counsels with
  excellence holds a Christian world view is
  guided by Christian values in choosing the means,
  goals, and motivations of counseling actively
  seeks the presence and work of God and actively
  utilizes spiritual interventions and resources
  within ethical guidelines.
• 
  (Bufford, 1997)

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• Clinton and Ohlschlager propose that
  Christian counselors have a Paracentric focus.
  Counselors need to yield to the Paraklete of God,
  the Holy Spirit, and be single-mindedly focused
  on Christ.
• (Competent Christian Counseling)

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Christian Counseling

• Unique Assumptions
• Unique Goals
• Unique Methods
• Unique Counselor Characteristics
• (Collins, 1988)

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Supervision

• An intervention provided by a more senior
  member of a profession to a more junior member or
  members of that same profession. This
  relationship is evaluative, extends over time,
  and has the simultaneous purposes of enhancing
  the professional functioning of the more junior
  person(s), monitoring the quality of professional
  services offered to the client(s) she, he, or
  they see(s), and serving as a gatekeeper of those
  who are to enter the particular profession.
  (Bernard and Goodyear Fundamentals of Clinical
  Supervision, 1998)

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Christian Supervision

• An additional purpose for a Christian supervisory
  relationship is to mentor the junior member by
  modeling a spiritual walk and aiding the
  supervisee in his or her spiritual walk and
  growth.

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Learning Objectives

• Identify spiritual growth themes relevant to the
  Christian counselor and supervisor.
• Learn to apply specific exercises of spiritual
  growth themes in counseling and supervision
• Develop supervisory or counseling strategies to
  balance clinical competency and spiritual growth.
  

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SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND COUNSELOR SUPERVISION
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What is Spiritual Growth?
Spiritual Growth as the Process of Sanctification
Romans 122 Colossians 19-12
I Thessalonians 43-9
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Sanctification
FUTURE We Will Be Completely Sanctified 1Thess
523 1 John 32
PRESENT We are Being Sanctified Phil
312-14. PROGRESSIVE SANCTIFICATION
PAST We Were Sanctified 1 Cor.
6 11
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Progressive Sanctification
DEFINED
The concept is not of sin being totally
eradicated or merely counteracted, but of a
divinely wrought character change freeing us from
sinful habits and forming in us Christlike
affections, dispositions, and virtues. J. I.
Packer
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The Growth Process
Coral Reefs
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Sanctification
Goal of Sanctification The Model of Christ
The Profile of Christ Galatians 522
Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness,
Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self
Control
Sanctification Joined by Love 1 Thess. 47-10 I
Cor. 134-10 Patient and Kind
Not jealous, bragging, arrogant, unbecoming
in action, self seeking, provoked, or rejoicing
in unrighteousness
Forgiving Rejoices
with truth Perseveres, Hopes, and
Endures
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Means of Sanctification

• Divine Grace
• The Cross
• Gods Power
• Phil 212-13
• Gods Truth
• John 1717
• Holy Spirit
• Gal 517-22 Rom 82

• Human Pursuit Phil 312-17
• Appropriation
• Pursuing Gods Truth
• Self-examination
• Following the model of others
• Yielding self to God

(Evans Coder, 1998)
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FACILITATING SPIRITUAL GROWTH

• Relationship is Crucial to Effective Supervision

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Characteristics of Christ

• Loving
• Joyful
• Peaceful
• Patient
• Kind
• Good
• Faithful
• Gentle
• Self Controlled

• Not jealous, bragging, arrogant, unbecoming in
  action, self seeking, provoked, or rejoices in
  unrighteousness
• Forgiving
• Rejoices with truth
• Perseverant, Hopeful, and Endures

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7 Types of Supervisees

• Blessing
• Perfectionist
• Anxiety Prone
• Bull in China Cabinet
• Laissez Faire
• Under No Authority
• Eager Beaver

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Human Divine Shaping
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Human Divine Shaping
Honed
Stretched
Into the Image of Christ
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Every Supervisee is Uniquely Created in Gods
Image

• Spiritual Mapping
• A Chronological Timeline
• Symbolizes positive and negative spiritually
  significant events that may impact the
  therapeutic process
• Narrative Approach

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Spiritual Mapping Example
Began Dealing with Abuse Issues
Married Children
Dad Died
Closer Walk with God
Saved
Healing
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Balancing Spiritual Growth Competence
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Supervision A Paradigm Shift

• Maintaining a Counselor Versus
  Client Mentality
• Pitfalls of a client mentality
• Missing growth opportunities
• Overwhelming the counselor with instruction
• Unethical focus on the counselor as a client

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Bernards Discrimination Model

• Advantages
• Addresses Supervisee Uniqueness
• Shared Supervisory Language
• Accommodates Theory Spirituality
• Means of Evaluation
• Direction Purposeful Supervision

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Supervisory Focus Roles

• Foci
• Conceptualization Skills - underlying processes
  related theory
• Intervention Skills - what the counselor does in
  session from start to finish
• Personalization Skills- Personal contributions
  traits, history, beliefs, culture, etc.

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Supervisory Focus Roles

• Roles
• Teacher - Determines and fulfills educational
  needs
• Counselor - Addresses interpersonal meaning of
  session events or personal issues influencing
  therapeutic process (i.e. anxiety or doubt)
• Consultant - Shared Responsibility/Resource
  Brainstorming

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Conceptualization Skills Spiritual Growth
(Adapted from Polanski, 2003)

• Essential spiritual growth themes
• Integration of spiritual growth themes, history,
  current functioning
• Influence of spiritual beliefs on current issues
• Client spiritual growth, theological
  understanding, counseling theory
• Ideological consistency
• Intervention formulation

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Intervention Skills Spiritual Growth
(Adapted from Polanski, 2003)

• Spiritual growth assessment
• Level of engagement
• Skills employed to establish therapeutic
  relationship
• Use of self
• Type and execution of interventions
• Ethical practices sensitivity

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Personalization Skills Spiritual Growth
(Adapted from Polanski, 2003)

• Competency to handle personal reactions
• Self awareness of spiritual events or beliefs
  that hinder or enhance therapy
• Self awareness of unique expression of Christs
  character
• Identification resolution of resistance,
  anxiety, or avoidance
• Continued personal spiritual growth

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Practicing the Presence of God

• being aware of the constant companionship of God,
• Hebrew lif-nei to the face of, Greek
  en-o-pi-on in the face
• The abstract concept of presence is conveyed in
  the concrete image of facing another. (Words of
  Worship, iWorship Daily Devotional Bible p119)

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• Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to
  face, just as a man speaks to his friends.
• Exodus 3311 NAS

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Reasons to Practice the Presence of God

• Reality is God is with us.
• God is omnipresent 1 Kings 827, Psalm1397-10,
  Isaiah 661, Jeremiah 2323 Acts 748, 1724
• As Spirit-filled Christians God is with us,
  individually and personally John 1416-17, John
  16-7

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• We are always in the presence of God. We never
  leave church. There is never a nonsacred moment.
• Max Lucado in iWorship Daily Devotional Bible

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Reasons to Practice the Presence of God

• Through practicing Gods presence we experience
  Gods wisdom, guidance, power and comfort.
• Experiencing Gods presence is not just head
  knowledge.
• Wisdom - John 1426

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• Guidance - Romans 814
• Power - I Corinthians 24, 2
  Corinthians 317, Luke 2449, Act 18
• Comfort - Acts 931.

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Reasons to Practice the Presence of God

• Through practicing Gods presence we more easily
  hear Him during our counseling sessions. By
  practicing Gods presence we are already tuned to
  hearing Him throughout the day not just when we
  counsel.

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Reasons to Practice the Presence of God

• Practicing Gods presence is a way of showing God
  our love for Him.
• Matthew 2237 You shall love the Lord your God
  with all your heart, and with all your soul and
  with all your mind.
• Believe me count as lost each day you have not
  used in loving God. (Brother Lawrence p. 35)

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Ways of Practicing Gods Presences

• Journaling - keeping a record of times when one
  was particularly aware of Gods presence, or
  answering a series of questions designed to aid
  in personal exploration.
• When was a time that you were particularly aware
  of Gods presence?

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• Describe a time when you questioned Gods
  presence or felt that you were alone.
• What was different between the time that you were
  aware of Gods presence and the time you were not
  aware of this presence.
• What can you do to be more aware of Gods
  presence?

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• Are there times when you do not want to be in
  Gods presence?
• Describe a time in counseling or ministering that
  you were aware of the Holy Spirits guidance.
• Describe a time this week that you were aware of
  Gods presence

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• Meditating
• On Gods Word - Psalm 12
• On Gods Works that you observed - Luke 251
• Pray without ceasing - 1Thessalonians 517

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• We should establish ourselves in a sense of
  Gods presence by continually conversing with
  Him. It is shameful thing to stop conversing with
  God to think of unimportant things and
  foolishness.
• Brother Lawrence

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• For me the time of activity does not differ from
  the time of prayer and in the noise and clatter
  of my kitchen, while several persons are together
  calling for as many different things, I possess
  God in as great tranquility as when upon my knees
  at the blessed Sacrament
• Brother Lawrence, p16

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• Singing or listening to Christian music
  Ephesians 512
• Spending time in solitude Matthew 41, Mark
  135, Matthew 2638-42
• To hear the voice of God better
• To express worship to God
• To express faith in God
• To seek the salvation of the Lord
• To be physically and spiritually restored
• To regain spiritual perspective
• To seek the will of God (Whitney,1991)

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Questions to Ponder

• Am I religious or spiritual in the supervisory
  process?
• Have I taken the time to develop a theology of
  spiritual growth?
• Have I constructed a theory of counseling that
  aligns with my theology?
• Are there events in my own life that have drawn
  me to God grace or hardened me to sin?

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• Am I pursuing the active practice of
  sanctification by both human and divine means?
• What current events is God using to produce His
  character in me?
• Am I modeling the image of Christ to those God
  has brought into my life?
• Am I actively practicing the presence of God?

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Supervision is a Privilege