Statement of Theory and Faith
Prior to beginning this PhD program at Regent University my exposure to persons with a strong presence of faith has been fairly limited. In my twenty-eight years of life thus far I have not ever had the experience of meeting and working with a group of people as vocal and passionate about their faith as I have at Regent University. The experience has been at times uncomfortable, awkward, and overwhelming; when these feelings of discomfort arise, it has been the shared faith I have in God, the loving support of my cohort members, as well as my belief as a counselor in the need to continuously grow as a person and challenge myself that have kept me from resisting.
It has taken a lot of courage and personal strength thus far to persist through my spiritual journey and I do not think I would have even been able to attempt it without having established some basic foundation of my faith before I set out on it. There are elements of many different counseling theories that I agree with and that I incorporate in my practice as a counselor; however the foundation of all of my counseling is built upon Carl Rogers’s person-centered counseling. In congruence with Rogers’s theory, I believe that the client is most likely to experience positive personal growth through counseling when the counselor facilitates a therapeutic environment (Corey, 2001). Corey (2001, p. 173) wrote that in person-centered counseling “it is the relationship with a counselor who is congruent…accepting and empathetic that facilitates therapeutic change for the client.” Just as I firmly believe that it is the presence of these three attributes in a counselor’s relationship with his/her client that creates the greatest opportunity for positive change within the client to occur I also believe that it is the presence of these three attributes in my cohort mates that has allowed me to grow in my understanding of faith and its relationship to counseling.
As a Christian I share with my cohort members a belief in God and of Jesus’ self-sacrifice to save our souls, however as a Roman Catholic of Irish, German and Italian descent my practice and expressions of faith feels very different than that of the majority of my cohort members. In my experience, discussions of religion and faith have been very private and formal in nature: feelings and thoughts about such things have been reserved for church or academic settings. This program, and more specifically this course, has pushed me to re-evaluate my understanding of faith and counseling and my ability to do so has been inextricably tied to Rogers (2001) basic tenets for a therapeutic environment. Whether it is in a religious setting or in a therapeutic setting I believe that the most crucial elements of a relationship that seeks to foster personal growth are: congruence, unconditional positive regard, and empathy (Corey, 2001).
References
Corey, G (2001). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy (6th ed.). Stamford, CT:
Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
It has taken a lot of courage and personal strength thus far to persist through my spiritual journey and I do not think I would have even been able to attempt it without having established some basic foundation of my faith before I set out on it. There are elements of many different counseling theories that I agree with and that I incorporate in my practice as a counselor; however the foundation of all of my counseling is built upon Carl Rogers’s person-centered counseling. In congruence with Rogers’s theory, I believe that the client is most likely to experience positive personal growth through counseling when the counselor facilitates a therapeutic environment (Corey, 2001). Corey (2001, p. 173) wrote that in person-centered counseling “it is the relationship with a counselor who is congruent…accepting and empathetic that facilitates therapeutic change for the client.” Just as I firmly believe that it is the presence of these three attributes in a counselor’s relationship with his/her client that creates the greatest opportunity for positive change within the client to occur I also believe that it is the presence of these three attributes in my cohort mates that has allowed me to grow in my understanding of faith and its relationship to counseling.
As a Christian I share with my cohort members a belief in God and of Jesus’ self-sacrifice to save our souls, however as a Roman Catholic of Irish, German and Italian descent my practice and expressions of faith feels very different than that of the majority of my cohort members. In my experience, discussions of religion and faith have been very private and formal in nature: feelings and thoughts about such things have been reserved for church or academic settings. This program, and more specifically this course, has pushed me to re-evaluate my understanding of faith and counseling and my ability to do so has been inextricably tied to Rogers (2001) basic tenets for a therapeutic environment. Whether it is in a religious setting or in a therapeutic setting I believe that the most crucial elements of a relationship that seeks to foster personal growth are: congruence, unconditional positive regard, and empathy (Corey, 2001).
References
Corey, G (2001). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy (6th ed.). Stamford, CT:
Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.
