After Adam and Eve rebelled against the directions of God to
not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, everything
changed for them. They foolishly hid from God and, aware of their guilt and
shame, they vainly covered themselves with fig leaves. We have been doing
likewise. However, we no longer cover ourselves with fig leaves but with social
approval, accomplishments, popularity, power, and wealth – whatever it takes to
feel that we are okay and entitled.
Psychotherapy addresses consumer demand for more of the same
– positive affirmations, self-esteem, self-confidence, and various strategies
to address our discomforts. This institution has also provided alternative ways
to hide from God and from his moral requirements. Psychiatrist G. Brock
Chisholm, a former president of the World Federation for Mental Health,
stated in 1945:
·
“The re-interpretation and eventual eradication
of the concept of right and wrong which has been the basis of child training,
the substitution of intelligent and rational thinking with faith in the
certainties of the old people, these are the belated objectives of practically
all effective psychotherapy.
·
The fact is that most psychiatrists and
psychologists and other respectable people have escaped from these moral chains
and are able to observe and think freely.
·
If the race is to be free from the crippling
burden of good and evil, it must be psychiatrists who take the original
responsibility.”
Was Chisholm speaking only for himself? Probably not! “In a
1976 survey of members of the APA, 95% reportedly admitted to being atheists or
agnostics.”
How might this impact the Christian who sees a
psychotherapist? There is evidence that, to be helped by psychotherapy, the
client must be ready to absorb the perspective of the helper:
·
“The ideal patient must be suggestible. He
should be able to easily absorb dogma and ideas of the most abstract, even
outlandish dimension. He should be philosophically adaptable and able to ape
the therapist’s value system and biases. The more he agrees with the therapist,
the better his chances of being helped. This conditioning process is at the
core of all faith healing, magic and religion. Psychologist David Rosenberg
checked out the connection between improvement and value-conditioning in
psychotherapy. He found that those rated as ‘improved’ had changed their moral
values in sex, aggression and authority in the direction of the therapist’s own
prejudices. Those who had been rated ‘unimproved’ had tended to hold out.” (The
Psychological Society, Martin L. Gross, 48)
Perhaps even more concerning, according to Al Parides, Prof.
of Psychiatry, UCLA:
·
“If you look at the personal lives of all Freud’s
followers—his initial disciples—these people certainly have an unbelievable
amount of particular problems in the sexual area…The amount of deviancy as far
as their sexual behavior and so forth is enormous. If you are saying that
psychiatry promotes a certain form of morality that is a deviant morality in
regard to many areas including sexual behavior—yes, I would agree.” (Psychiatry:
The Ultimate Betrayal, Bruce Wiseman, 12-14)
It is inevitable that lifestyle effects attitudes, and
attitudes impact relationships, even psychotherapeutic ones. Nevertheless, many Christians speak well of
their psychotherapists and claim to have been helped by them. I cannot deny
their experience, but perhaps they were merely “helped” through a caring
relationship. Perhaps they have grown in self-confidence. However, while this
might feel like an improvement, it works against God-confidence:
·
For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers,
of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened
beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we
had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on
ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a
deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he
will deliver us again. (2 Corinthians 1:8–10)
Or perhaps they remain unaware of the impact of the process
upon their beliefs and attitudes. However, the Scriptures assure us that God,
working through His Word, gives us everything that we need. Just consider a few
verses:
·
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said,
"If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will
know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32)
·
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable
for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that
the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2
Timothy 3:16–17)
·
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for
you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the
more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For
the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships,
persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2
Corinthians 12:9–10)
To be confident in our Lord is to be strong. Eventually,
self-confidence, the goal of psychotherapy, will bring us down (Jeremiah
17:5-7).
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