Psychology and the Doctrines of Devils
McMahon, T.A.
October 1, 2006
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of
devils.” —1 Timothy 4:1
In my two previous TBC articles this year (Mar and Apr ’06), I addressed
the destructive influence psychological counseling is having on the
evangelical church. Simply put, the church has turned from God’s Word to
man’s bankrupt theories in attempting to resolve mental, emotional, and
behavioral problems. The greater part of the church no longer believes
what the Scriptures proclaim: that God, in His Word, has given us “all
things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of
him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:3).
The results, sadly, are what one might expect: there is often little
statistical difference between those who profess to be Christians and
those who do not, regarding the number of divorces, the reliance upon
psychological counseling theories and methods, living together outside
of marriage, illegitimate childbirths, pornography, sexual and physical
abuse, and so forth.
Although such consequences are shocking, they shouldn’t be surprising to
anyone who believes the Bible. Twice in the Book of Proverbs we are
told, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12;
16:25). Death throughout Scripture implies separation, whether of the
soul and spirit from the body in physical death or, in another sense,
the separation of light from darkness and truth from error—and
ultimately, from God eternally. Just as the body without life corrupts,
so do one’s life choices result in corruption when they are separated
from God’s truth.
Psychology, with its psychotherapeutic counseling, has been embraced by
evangelicals more than almost any other unbiblical endeavor that has
entered the church in the last half-century. “Christian psychologists”
are generally more popular and influential than preachers and teachers
of the Word. What evangelical in America doesn’t know of psychologist
Dr. James Dobson? The psychologically oriented American Association of
Christian Counselors boasts 50,000 members. The evangelical church is
one of the leading referral services for secular counselors (whether
they claim to be Christians or not!). Like their secular counterparts,
the second-most popular career choice for students at Christian colleges
is psychology. What makes this information truly shocking is the fact
that the roots, concepts, and many of the psychological counseling
practices come from “seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.”
First Timothy 4:1
is a prophetic verse. It foretells that “in the latter times,” that is,
the time near the return of our Lord, “some will depart from the
faith.” This is supported by other verses such as Luke 18:8: Jesus asked, “...when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” The implied answer is no. Paul, in 2 Thessalonians 2:3,
declares under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that a “falling away”
from the faith will characterize the Last Days. But haven’t many
professing Christians departed from the faith since the time of the
Apostles? Yes. The rest of the verse, however, indicates a condition
that is unique to our present day. Those who profess to be Christians
will give “heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.”
Doctrines of devils are designed to undermine what is taught in the
Scriptures. They reflect the strategy that Satan instituted in the
Garden of Eden when he seduced Eve into disobeying God. The chief of the
seducing spirits began his direct communication with Eve by raising
doubts in her mind as to what God had commanded: “Yea, hath God
said...?” (Genesis 3:1).
The serpent’s dialogue with her led her to believe that God had lied to
her: “And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die.”
Although God instructed Adam and Eve that the punishment for disobeying
Him by eating the fruit of a certain tree in the Garden would be death (Genesis 2:17),
Satan twisted that around, making God not only a liar but also the one
who was withholding what they needed for their self-improvement and for
realizing a supposed higher potential.
Genesis 3:1-5
contains Satan’s basic strategy for the seduction and destruction of
mankind. His deception began by questioning God’s Word, and offering
tempting alternatives. Eve responded by believing Satan, rejecting God’s
Word, and turning to her own self-interests. The enticements were so
desirable to the flesh, including immortality, enlightenment, godhood,
and knowledge (Genesis 3:5),
that she eagerly embraced the lie. At that tragic moment in the history
of mankind, self became a god, an autonomous rebel bent on doing its
own thing. What Satan offered to Eve, he likewise has presented to all
of her descendants, with similar success. His deadly
allurements—immortality, enlightenment, godhood, and knowledge-—comprise
the foundational teachings of “doctrines of devils.”
Even in a cursory review of psychotherapeutic concepts, Satan’s primary
lies are clearly revealed. Teachings (i.e., doctrines) such as the
following are found in nearly all psychotherapeutic theories. Immortality:
There is no death in the sense that it should be feared. Materialist
psychotherapists teach a judgment-free mortality; spiritually oriented
counselors claim that we either evolve to a higher consciousness or
reincarnate to improve our next temporal state of being. Enlightenment: Knowing
the self, who we are, why we do what we do, and how we change, all open
the critical gate to establishing our mental wellbeing. Some
systems teach that our problems of living are determined by traumas
related to our past (including past lives), our parental upbringing, our
environment, or our having been oppressed by religious dogmas. Godhood: The solution to humanity’s problems is found within the self. Self is deified, whether directly or indirectly. For instance, psychology’s “self-actualization”
is a process that leads to self-deification, which ultimately replaces
any need for salvation outside humanity. Knowledge: The deification
process for humanity involves methods of plumbing the depths of the
unconscious, which is alleged to be the infinite reservoir that holds
all mysteries of life.
Sadly, these doctrines of devils now permeate “Christian psychology.” Few evangelicals realize that these demonic teachings were introduced to the “founding fathers of psychological counseling” literally by “seducing spirits.”
It was Sigmund Freud who declared that “religion is the universal obsessional neurosis of humanity.”
Furthermore, there is evidence that Freud hated Christianity, which he
erroneously regarded as anti-Semitic. How then would this atheistic
rejecter of organized religion advance doctrines of devils? By founding
the “religion” of psychoanalysis. None of Freud’s theories, whether
psychic determinism or psychosexual development or belief in the
unconscious, have any scientific validity; moreover, they are religious
beliefs that are antithetical to the doctrines of the Bible. Research
psychiatrist Thomas Szasz had Freud primarily in mind when he declared,
“...modern psychotherapy...is not merely a religion that pretends to be
a science, it is actually a fake religion that seeks to destroy true
religion.”1
Given the fact that psychoanalysis and its associated concepts are so
diametrically opposed to biblical Christianity, there’s no doubt that
Freud’s “fake religion” is the product of “doctrines of devils.” Furthermore, a strong case could be made that Freud’s theories came both directly and indirectly from “seducing spirits”
through the techniques he employed in analyzing his patients. He put
them into altered states of consciousness through hypnosis and the
highly suggestible technique of “free association.” Early
on, when he was formulating some of his theories, Freud was a regular
user of the mind-altering drug cocaine for his bouts with depression.2
Calling it his magical drug, “he pressed it on his friends and colleagues, both for themselves and their patients.”3
Psychiatrist and historian Henri F. Ellenberger’s classic work, The Discovery of the Unconscious, reveals, “Historically,
modern dynamic psychotherapy derives from primitive medicine, and an
uninterrupted continuity...through the exorcists, magnetists, and
hypnotists that led to the fruition of dynamic psychiatry in the systems
of Janet, Freud, Adler, and Jung.”4 Psychotherapy is a modern form of shamanism, which explains why psychiatrist E. Fuller Torrey rightly observes, “The
techniques used by Western psychiatrists are, with few exceptions, on
exactly the same scientific plane as the techniques used by witchdoctors
[medicine men and shamans].”5
Shamanism is all about contacting spirit entities to gain their help,
wisdom, insights, and so forth. In an interview with a former Yanamamo
shaman who resides in the Amazonian rain forest of Venezuela, I was told
rather bluntly that his spirit guides were liars and deceivers, from
his first contact with them through ingesting hallucinogenic drugs until
they left him when he turned to Christ. Their lies reinforced what he
wanted to hear. It seems the same for Freud, whose concepts were a
reflection not of science but rather removing his own guilt and
satisfying his flesh. Freud’s theories were based mainly upon his own
personal problems, most of which were sexual perversions.
In Freudian thought, the “unconscious” is a God-replacement realm
without laws and judgment; morality is an oppressive neurosis-generating
structure imposed by society and organized religion; sexual freedom
(including adultery, homosexuality, incest, etc.) is paramount for
normal mental health; dreams are symbolic messages from the unconscious
and can be scientifically interpreted through psychoanalysis. These
beliefs represent doctrines of devils. Although a materialist, Freud
acknowledged the existence of spirit entities. He was influenced from
that source, either indirectly, through his patients, or directly,
through his own drug use, the ancient statuettes he used to help him
write,6 and other techniques he used to explore the unconscious.
The life and works of psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung clearly reveal that
his psychological theories came directly from the “seducing spirits”
Paul warns about in 1 Timothy 4:1.
Jung is far more popular today among professing Christians than Freud
(the atheist) because of his perceived affinity for religion and things
spiritual. However, though his father was a Protestant pastor (who
seriously doubted his professed faith!), Jung was anti-biblical and
resentful of organized Christianity from his youth. His early symbolic
visions revealed Jesus as a Dark Lord and God defecating on a cathedral.
His mother’s side of the family was heavily involved in spiritualism.
His grandfather, pastor Samuel Preiswerk, conducted ongoing séances to
commune with his deceased first wife, with his second wife and daughter
(Jung’s mother) participating. The latter, who had bouts of insanity,
reserved two beds in the Jung home for visiting ghosts. Jung’s doctoral
thesis (published in 1902) was based upon séances conducted by his
13-year-old cousin, whom he placed in an altered state of consciousness
through hypnosis in order to contact his and her dead ancestors.
In 1916, Jung’s household experienced an assault by demonic beings who
claimed to be dead Christian Crusaders from Jerusalem. They were seeking
counsel on redemption and were greatly distressed that their
Christianity had left them in a hopeless condition. They would not leave
Jung’s home until he began writing advice to them, which he received
from one of his many spirit guides, his mentor Philemon, the “old man
with horns of a bull.”7
Richard Noll, a lecturer in the History of Science at Harvard University
and a clinical psychologist (who declares that he “is not a Christian
of any sort”), makes some stunning observations in his book on Jung
titled The Jung Cult. He argues that Jung’s “psychological
theories of the collective unconscious and archetypes are essentially
masks, a pseudoscientific cover to hide the practices of what was
essentially a new religious movement in which Jung taught people to have
trance visions and to contact the ‘gods’ directly.”8
Jung’s teachings are doctrines of demons, gleaned directly from seducing
spirits: the unconscious and the collective unconscious represent an
impersonal form of God; archetypes are viewed as psychological
rationalizations for demons, the anima and animus are terms for the
female and male entities within each person; psychological “types” are
determined characteristics within our make up. Jung promoted all things
occult, including astrology, alchemy, the I-Ching, mysticism,
necromancy, visualization, dream interpretation, the active imagination,
yoga, meditation, etc. Incredibly, his theories
and recommended practices are endorsed in the teachings of some of the
most influential people in evangelical Christianity. In many cases,
ignorance is the principle reason, yet the demonic lies are nevertheless
readily promoted and accepted among the sheep.
Rick Warren’s 30 million copies of The Purpose-Driven Life include Jungian concepts, such as psychological “types.”
Saddleback Church’s “Celebrate Recovery” program (see TBC Oct ’05),
which has been exported to 4,500 churches and Prison Fellowship
Ministries, is based on A.A.’s 12-Step principles. A.A. co-founder Bill Wilson received the 12 Steps during the time he was in contact with spirit entities. He later wrote a personal letter to Carl Jung thanking him for his influence:
...[A.A.] actually started long ago in your
consulting room, and it was directly founded upon your own humility and
deep perception....You will also be interested to learn that in addition
to the “spiritual experience,” many A.A.s report a great variety of
psychic phenomena, the cumulative weight of which is very considerable.
Other members have—following their recovery in A.A.—been much helped by
[Jungian analysts]. A few have been intrigued by the “I Ching” and your
remarkable introduction to that work.
Warren is not the only witting or unwitting promoter among evangelicals
of what Jung learned from demons. He is just the most successful and the
best known. Others include Christian psychologists, inner healers, and
pastors. Jung’s occult methodologies, especially his demonically
inspired techniques of visualization, guided imagery, meditation, and
working with spiritual directors, are foundational to the Emerging
Church interests of evangelical youth and the contemplative movement
supported by Richard Foster, Eugene Peterson, and a multitude of others.
This astonishing development in the evangelical church is symptomatic of
the abandonment of God’s Word. The result will be the advancement of
the apostate “Christian” church. The antidote is found in Isaiah 8:20: “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
http://www.thebereancall.org/node/2431
you know, when I was younger I wanted to
be a psychologist. I grew up trusting in psychology and psychiatry etc.
After all, they're part of "medical science" or so I thought then
anyway. Satan has been infiltrating the medical field ever since day
one just as he has infiltrated the church itself. Now things like
hypnosis, meditation, and yoga and reiki and all kinds of new age
techniques are also seen as just another part of "medical science". But
back to the subject. I've been to psychologists and counselors etc,
before I was saved. I studied psychology myself. I just praise God
that He protected me as much as He did when I did go through that, and
then after I was saved began to show me His Truth from His Word which is
directly against the vast majority of garbage taught in psychology
today. The more I learn about it
the more appalled I am that any Christian leader could be so mislead by
it. It's one thing for a layman who didn't know the bible well to be
mislead, but for a pastor who's supposed to be saved and being led by
the Holy Spirit and supposed to know their bible to be mislead by
psychology is just totally beyond my understanding.
The only way I can figure it is that they never really checked it out
against their bibles. They simply accepted that it was "medical
science" and decided that it wasn't something they should look into. Because of that though, or for whatever reasons it happened, millions have been misled by this wolf in sheep's clothing.
PSYCHOLOGY VS. SANCTIFICATION
The very fact that God's ways are higher than our ways has important
implications in both salvation (justification) and Christian growth
(sanctification). God's plan of salvation is an example of how His ways
are higher and therefore different from man's ways. His plan was the
sacrifice of His only begotten Son, which is quite beyond the
imagination and comprehension of the human mind. Human wisdom relies on
self-improvement, salvation by works, or some other such human
endeavor. God's ways are also higher and different regarding how
Christians are to think, speak, and act; how they are to relate to one
another; and how they are to handle problems of living.
Increasingly during the past 50 years, Christian sanctification has been
thwarted through psychological counseling theories and techniques.
Mistakenly supposing that psychotherapy (counseling psychology)
is science and that its findings concerning the human condition are
true, Christian leaders, pastors, teachers, and authors have embraced
this "enlightened" means of helping Christians deal with problems of
living and learn how to become better marriage partners and parents.
Gleaning from the wisdom of men regarding the hidden psyche, Christians
have sought to improve their lot in ways that are lower than God's
ways with ideas that often conflict with or undermine the revelation of
God's Word given in Scripture.
--Dr. Martin Bobgan
posted with permission from an email
1 IN 5 AMERICANS HAD MENTAL ILLNESS IN 2009
[TBC: We have noted in
past newsletters that the psychological industry is one of the most
lucrative fields to be found. The following article shows how judgments
are made that will inevitably increase the potential for further
earnings.]
Nearly 1 in 5 Americans had mental illness in 2009 [Excerpts]
More than 45 million Americans, or
20 percent of U.S. adults, had some form of mental illness last year,
and 11 million had a serious illness, U.S. government researchers
reported on Thursday.
Young adults aged 18 to 25 had the highest level of mental illness at
30 percent, while those aged 50 and older had the lowest, with 13.7
percent, said the report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration or SAMHSA.
The rate, slightly higher than last year's 19.5 percent figure,
reflected increasing depression, especially among the unemployed,
SAMHSA, part of the National Institutes of Health, said.
"Too many Americans are not getting the help they need and
opportunities to prevent and intervene early are being missed," Pamela
Hyde, SAMHSA's administrator, said in a statement.
"The consequences for individuals, families and communities can be
devastating. If left untreated mental illnesses can result in
disability, substance abuse, suicides, lost productivity, and family
discord."
According to the survey, 6.1 million
adults last year had a mental health need that went untreated, and 42.5
percent said it was because they could not afford it.
It found 14.8 million Americans had major depression last year, and 10
percent of the jobless did, compared with 7.5 of retired people or
those not in the job force, 7.3 percent who worked part time and 5.4
percent who worked full time.
(http://www.cnbc.com/id/40257359 - 2010 Reuters).
[TBC: More than one commentator has spoken of the "psychologizing of society."
Although this is an invented term, it illustrates well how older
groups have lower levels of "mental illness" while the proportion
increases with the young. It should as they have had more exposure to
psychological teaching. Finally, in the March 2006 issue of the
newsletter, we wrote, "The Bible teaches that reconciliation to God
through Jesus Christ is the only way for man to truly remedy his
sin-related mental, emotional, and behavioral troubles. 'And
you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now hath he [Jesus Christ] reconciled in the body of his
flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and
unreproveable in [God's] sight' (Colossians 1:21-22.)]
The Lord has blessed me by giving me all
my Biblical Counseling books in my Bible Library forum! He even got me
the books that I studied when I got my diploma as a Biblical Counselor
so now I can more easily refresh my memory with them! Thank You Lord!
Plus I can share a lot more with you guys! I am going to close this
thread though, at least for now, till I can post all that I want to on
it, which may take some time. I want people who need the information to
be able to get it. So it might be better if you want to discuss it, to
start another thread.
This first part is from a book my Godfather,
who is a biblical counselor, had me read when he first suggested that I
become a counselor too. He had no idea at the time that I myself and my
family had been through a bunch of pscho babel counseling and that I
already knew that it had hurt me and my family a GREAT deal. I didn't
know "why" it had hurt us, but I did know we would have all been much
better off without it. (I
started to include all the footnotes and citations, but there's just too
many and it would take too long, so I'm going to leave those out for
the most part)
Why Christians can't trust psychology
By E. Bulkley
The Myth That Psychology Is Effective
Harmful Therapies
The unpleasant truth is that psychology is
not only relatively ineffective in changing thought and behavior
patterns, but in many cases is also actually harmful to its clients.
Most laymen are unaware of Hans Eysenck’s 1952 study, which demonstrated
that recovery from neuroses is unrelated to whether a patient receives
any form of psychotherapy. Some researchers have challenged Eysenck’s
conclusions and have stated that there is general agreement that
psychotherapy is at least better than no therapy.
Additional research indicates the very opposite. To prove his point,
Eysenck did a second study in 1965, and according to Martin Gross,
Eysenck’s revision was—
a more extensive survey of published studies, with still more damaging
results for psychotherapy. He now claims that psychotherapy is a general
failure by the very nature of its being unessential to the patient’s
recovery. “We have found that neurotic disorders tend to be
self-limiting, that psychoanalysis is no more successful than any other
method, and that in fact all methods of psychotherapy fail to improve on
the recovery rate obtained through ordinary life-experiences and
nonspecific treatment,” Eysenck states.
Eysenck’s research is an explosive revelation that psychotherapy is a
failure and is absolutely unessential. It is not surprising that many
psychologists hotly dispute Eysenck’s conclusions. Gross points out that
“the mere act of testing the art’s effectiveness has raised a ground
swell of anger within the profession.…This defensiveness is a
professional trademark in the Psychological Society.”
As a result, Eysenck’s work has been reexamined. A review of Eysenck’s
research by Truax and Carkhuff claims to validate his conclusions. They
go even further when they state, “The evidence now available suggests
that, on the average, psychotherapy may be harmful as often as helpful,
with an average effect comparable to receiving no help.”
If it is true that standard psychotherapy is superior to biblical
counseling, how does one account for the Cambridge-Somerville Youth
Study reported in American Psychologist in 1978? The 30-year
study revealed that the men who had received an average of five years
of psychotherapy as boys were in worse shape, in view of alcoholism,
criminal behavior, and mental disorders, than those who had not
undergone psychotherapy.
In spite of the evidence that psychotherapy fails to change people’s
hearts and can even increase their “dysfunctions,” seminaries continue
to insist that pastors need psychological training to help people with
their problems. How can this be when there is no scientific evidence
that one form of psychotherapy is superior to other forms or is more
effective in achieving results? Why should pastors or parishioners have
confidence in any therapeutic system? And if long-term treatment does
not achieve superior results, as research indicates, what possible
justification is there for prolonged psychotherapeutic sessions?
Professional Versus Lay Counseling
The psychological industry has successfully concealed its
ineffectiveness from the general public. Pastors, churches, and the
laity have been brainwashed into believing that only psychologically
trained professional counselors are competent to deal with serious
problems. Christian colleges and seminaries have bought into this
incredible deception and now enthusiastically encourage Christians to
submit to the insights, methods, and findings of secular psychology.
Even when forced to admit the failure of psychology, Christian
mental-health experts insist that professional counselors are surely
more effective than untrained laypeople in helping to relieve psychic
distress. The evidence, however, does not support their claim.
Psychologist Gary Collins reports an important study done by J.A.
Durlack entitled “Comparative Effectiveness of Paraprofessional and
Professional Helpers”:
[The research] reviewed forty-two studies that compared professional
counselors with untrained helpers. The findings were “consistent and
provocative. Paraprofessionals achieve clinical outcomes equal to or
significantly better than those obtained by professionals.…The study, on
the whole, lent no support to the major hypothesis that…the technical
skills of professional psychotherapists produce measurably better
therapeutic change.”
Collins reluctantly admits, “Clearly there is evidence that for most
problems, laypeople can counsel as well as or better than the
professionals.” But he hastens to ask, “Is their success rate as good
with the more serious problems?” Professional counselors, in an
understandable defense of their livelihood, say that inexperienced or
untrained counselors can easily be fooled by counselees, while trained
professionals are more likely to detect and understand complex and
abnormal behavior.
If so, one would rightly expect that their diagnoses of mental disorders
would be consistently accurate and that they would readily perceive
when someone is faking a mental illness. Dr. E. Fuller Torrey and Dr.
Judi Striano, in separate books, describe an experiment at Stanford
University that revealed just how inaccurate psychiatric diagnoses can
be and how easily the experts can be fooled. A psychologist by the name
of D.L. Rosenhan, a professor of psychology and law at Stanford
University, had eight “perfectly sane people” (Rosenhan “himself, one
graduate student, three psychologists, a pediatrician, a psychiatrist,
and a woman who was a homemaker”) admitted to 12 different mental
hospitals. The attending psychiatrists were told that these “patients”
were hearing voices.
Otherwise, these normal people, mostly graduate students, gave
completely truthful histories to the psychiatrists. They were all
diagnosed as “schizophrenic,” except one who was diagnosed as
“manic-depressive.” Once admitted, they acted perfectly normally; yet
were held for 7 to 52 days (the average was 19) and were given over 2,100 pills total. The true patients on the wards often recognized them as pseudopatients but the staff never did.
Once labeled, the staff’s perception of them was apparently so
profoundly colored that normal behavior was seen as part of their
psychosis.
In an even more damning postscript to the experiment, Rosenhan told
one hospital what he had done. He then told them that he would try to
gain admission for another pseudopatient there within the next 3 months.
Ever watchful for the pseudopatient who was never sent, the staff
labeled 41 of the next 193 admissions as suspected pseudopatients; over
half of these were so labeled by a psychiatrist. The experimenter
concluded: “Any diagnostic process that lends itself so readily to
massive errors of this sort cannot be a very reliable one.”
In his succeeding pages, Torrey cites several other experiments which
underscore the low reliability of psychiatric diagnostic techniques.
Contradictions in Psychotherapy
Even in the face of secular criticisms, one Christian psychologist
states that it is “irresponsible to dismiss psychotherapy as a
pseudoscience riddled with contradictions and confusion,” and that such a
conclusion is “clear bias, not supported by research.” Yet the question
remains, How could psychological counseling be anything but confusing
when there are more than 250 competing and contradictory psychological
systems in America alone?
In their book The Psychological Maze, Otto and Miriam Ehrenberg list
just a few of the more prominent psychological systems: Freud and
Psychoanalysis, Adler and Individual Psychology, Jung and Analytic
Psychology, Reich and Vegetotherapy, Rank and Will Therapy, Horney and
the Cultural Approach, Sullivan and Interpersonal Relations, Rogers and
Client-Centered Therapy, Existential Analysis, Gestalt Therapy, Lowen
and Bioenergetic Therapy, Janov and Primal Therapy, Transactional
Analysis, Ellis and Rational-Emotive Therapy, Family Therapy, Child
Therapy, Group Therapy, Encounter Groups, est, Hypnotherapy, Behavior
Therapy/Behavior Modification, Sex Therapy, and Medical Treatment
(psychoactive drugs, electric shock, psychosurgery, and orthomolecular
psychiatry).
If this list is not confusing enough, remember that there are subgroups
within the major systems. For example, Torrey writes about
psychoanalytic therapies:
There are several different schools within this general group,
including orthodox Freudian, neo-Freudian, Jungian, and Adlerian. Each
of these schools is further broken down into subschools, e.g., the
neo-Freudians are divided into followers of Karen Horney, Erich Fromm,
Harry Stack Sullivan, and Frieda Fromm-Reichmann. Many of these schools
and subschools have their own training institutes. The outcome is a
panorama of parochialism and provincialism not seen since medieval
Europe.
A Christian psychologist and dean of the Graduate School of Psychology
at Fuller Theological Seminary admits being embarrassed by some of the
antics of psychology. “At times I felt ashamed to be identified with a
profession that merely used psychotherapy as a cover for carnality,” he
writes. “Every professional convention I attended contained booths
showing pornographic movies—under the guise of ‘sexual therapy.’ Many
private gatherings of therapists reeked of marijuana’s pungent odor.”
Feeling it necessary to defend his profession, he concludes,
“Fortunately, this has all passed.”
However, it has not all passed. While professional associations may have
clamped down on their peers and psychological conventions may have
banned the porno stalls, weird psychotherapies still abound.
Thomas Szasz, well-known to the psychological establishment for his
intense criticisms of psychotherapies, is a professor of psychiatry at
the University of New York at Syracuse. He has documented surrogate sex
therapy, nude therapy, divorce therapy, dance therapy, poetry therapy,
shopping therapy, scream therapy, rib-cage stimulation therapy, camping
therapy, pet-facilitated therapy, sailing therapy, skydiving therapy,
hydrotherapy, thumb therapy, and many other unusual techniques which are
recognized by the psychological establishment as legitimate treatments.
Therapies can become even more bizarre. Torrey points out that virtually
any activity can be labeled as therapy so long as a psychologist or
psychiatrist thinks of it. These include treatments such as
money-management therapy, punching therapy, kinky sexual therapies, and
more. “One common element is that they are all labeled as
‘psychotherapy.’ ”
Szasz refers to a Newsweek article to illustrate this point:
Sandi Enders, an attractive brunette of 26 who intends to become an
occupational therapist, is earning her way through San Jose State
University by working as a sexual therapist. She charges $50 for a
two-and-a-half-hour session—including love-making—in her sensuously
decorated apartment with its incense burner and heated water bed.
By relabeling her trade as a therapy, Ms. Enders made her prostitution
acceptable. I ask then, is it “irresponsible to dismiss psychotherapy as
a pseudoscience riddled with contradictions and confusion”? Not
according to the research —or common sense.
Listen to this statement, which is representative of the unscientific
and almost desperate approach that psychologists often take in
supporting their findings: “Many benefits can come from therapy, in
spite of its weaknesses. According to one review of the research,
therapy can help people feel better.” One review? And the astonishing
conclusion of this research? That therapy “can help people feel better.”
Of course therapy can make people feel better—temporarily. But does it
truly change them? Does it help them solve their problems? Do they
become more like Christ? Are they led into Christian maturity? Are their
thought and behavior patterns brought into conformity to God’s Word?
Those should be the tests of effectiveness for Christian counseling.
Though most people believe that professional counselors are more
effective in dealing with people’s problems than untrained laymen,
studies have shown that laymen are often more effective than
professionals. One does not need to study psychology to help other
people find God’s solutions for problems of living, for it is not as
hard to diagnose a person’s problem as the professionals would have us
believe.
There are only a few essential qualifications for a competent counselor:
One must have an extensive knowledge of the Scriptures (Romans 15:14), a good measure of divine wisdom (experience and common sense under the illumination of the Holy Spirit) (Colossians 3:16), goodness (consistent, righteous lifestyle with a humble attitude) (1 Peter 5:5), an ability to relate to others (Colossians 4:6), an ability to communicate (Titus 2:8), and a genuine desire to help others (1 Thessalonians 5:14).
Bulkley, E. (1993). Why Christians can't trust psychology. Eugene, Or.: Harvest House.
