In this self-reflection journal, I will address what I have learned from the article, what else I

wish to learn and/or any questions I have from the article, and how the article has personally
impacted my understanding of integrated counselling.
Firstly, the main theme of the article is how Christian counselling is different from regular
counselling. Since Jesus would typically tend to those who needed help, and as Christians are
supposed to model their behavior after God, we should try our best to help those in need.
Those individuals already are facing much stigma and suffering from society, so we should not
hold unnecessary prejudice against them and should treat them wholeheartedly. The world of
psychology and counselling has long forgotten the integration of spirituality and faith as it
concerns helping people with their mental health issues. Teachings which involved things such
as: caring for yourself, placing God first in life, chasing divine wisdom, addressing both aspects
of mind and body for healing, fasting, prayer, confessing, using social support systems,
developing discipline and accountability all seem to have vanished from modern day practices.
The modern-day world has become much more naturalistic in the sense that most people
believe in no ultimate meaning or purpose. Most believe in materialism, and the idea that
nothing lies outside the world experienced by the senses. True service is that which is not
motivated by personal or financial gains, but rather for God.
Secondly, there is plenty of what which I hope to learn from Christian counselling. Reading
this article has raised several fundamentally important questions in my mind. These questions
may not be popular ones, or even required for being a good counsellor, but I cannot read such
an article without my mind wandering towards these questions. One thing I wonder is how and
why exactly this shift in counselling philosophy occurred? Several decades, or perhaps some
centuries ago, the focus was more on faith-based help. More people in the past were religious
and used certain types of methods for helping people, which today would seem unscientific and
therefore, nonsense. Not only in the counselling field, or whatever field counselling was
considered as in the distant past, but this is also evident in the medical industry. Natural and
herbal remedies were relatively popular in the past but that slowly changed. I wonder what
types of developments and advancements influenced changes such as these. Another question
that arose was where exactly are we on the timeline of humankind? Throughout human history,
we have had numerous wars, conflicts, loses, triumphs, discoveries, and so on. People have
fought countless diseases, tamed nature to coexist with it, and learned, and evolved to what we
are today. Today we are universally, a society that values science and the
observable/quantifiable much more than the intangible/unobservable. I am aware that
throughout our history, we have had periods of time where our faith in God, as a society and
even as a civilization, wavered. But eventually, we learned from our unending arrogance, and
continued to live morally. However, the time we are in now is unique in the sense that we have
never seen such technological advancement in a two-decade span ever before, and the impact
the modernized world is having on the upcoming generations is far from little. The relevant
fields of psychology and counselling have also been affected by modernism. We no longer, as
servants of society, place high value on having empathy for others, and helping for the sake of
helping. Things are usually accomplished for direct or indirect personal gain. Perhaps the fact
that I’m young is the reason I cannot see how society may escape from the potentially
dangerous aspects of this modern-day world, like it has before. However, it is almost impossible
for me to imagine how humanity as a whole, can once again adopt faith while maintaining a
technologically advancing society. I wonder if our ability to have faith will survive this phase
that humanity is currently undergoing in this step of our evolution.
Lastly, this article has personally impacted my understanding of integrative counselling
because counselling is not simply a one-step or a unimodal way to solve problems. Mental
health issues are among some of the most complex issues that human beings experience. Many
aspects of their health are impacted by their issues, and there are typically many different
reasons for those issues in the first place. There may be biological, social, and even
psychological factors which contribute to someone’s mental health issues, and so they must be
approached with a multi-faceted view. People are not simply their biology or psychology, as
they are mush more than that. Counselling people from a spiritual view involves all the aspects
of psychology that are involved in traditional counselling, as well as spirituality. It is not enough
to treat people as patients, because many times it is that “detached” feeling which can lead to
many mental health issues. As a Christian or spiritual counsellor, it is our duty to maintain a
sense of professionalism, but at the same time be sensitive to the idea that people lack genuine
connections. It is very possible to be a good, professional counsellor, and at the same time to
do it in a way which is considered friendly, warm, accepting, considerate, and compassionate
for the client. I believe this is the way to integrate spirituality in counselling, and that this would
result in better treatments for clients.