Lois A. Dodds, Ph.D.
Perhaps you have wondered
how to make sense of the plethora of approaches and theories of
counseling. One recent count brings the
number to 400. [i] Another
estimate is up to 800! New approaches
constantly spring up to compensate for oversights or inadequacies of
existing theories. If we see these as
isolated and unrelated it is, in fact, a perplexing prospect to attempt
to understand them and their usefulness. I
want to offer here a simple scheme for making sense of them by showing
how various approaches to psychotherapy relate to our natural,
experiential learning cycle--what I call the ABC’s of natural learning.
In
1980 I was teaching high school seniors about self-esteem from a
Biblical perspective. My class work with
them became an exciting project as I saw them grow from learning what
the Scriptures have to say about who they are. I
wanted a simple model to show them how they could live up to all that
God intends for them as His children, empowered by His Holy Spirit. I created my ABC’s for Change model at that
time. [ii] Later I
designed a similar model, the M&M Model for Change, as part of my
dissertation work in the role of the Holy Spirit in personality growth
and change. [iii] Both
of these, plus seeking a visual model to illustrate the relationship
between theories while teaching counseling, led me to placing them on
the natural cycle of learning. We live
this cycle repeatedly, from the time we begin to learn in infancy. In education we call it the experiential
learning cycle.
Let me illustrate how
experience leads us into a cycle of natural learning.
Chrissie is a three year old. At
supper she spills her milk. Mother is very
angry, screaming in her face, “You are so clumsy! You
make my life so difficult! Sometimes I
wish you hadn’t been born.” Terrified,
Chrissie feels the threat and pain of her mother’s anger.
She believes her words, and begins to feel dreadful,
knowing (mental construct) she causes her mother trouble and it would
be better if she didn’t exist. Her
thinking at age three is very literal; she takes the words at face
value, unable to differentiate her mother’s exhausted rage reaction
from her rational good times. Chrissie now
carries with her the feeling of being unworthy and shameful, guilt for
her clumsiness and very being. She
decides, “Mother doesn’t want me. I must
avoid her wrath by never being bad again!” Chrissie’s
future perceptions of her mother’s responses to her are based on this
experience and its outcomes in feelings and thoughts.
So too her behavior, which becomes perfectionistic. Later she will have to “unlearn” her beliefs,
or re-learn, discovering that mother really did love her but was
reacting in rage due to her own problems.
The same event, spilling
his milk, happens to Alex, also age three, but it brings about very
different outcomes. Also age three, Alex
spills his milk. Mother says, “Alex,
please put your cup away from the edge of the table, like this, so it
won’t spill.” Alex thinks, “I can put my
cup back here. I can be careful not to
spill.” He learns to place his cup
differently, and has no residual feelings or negative mental constructs
to undo later.
In my ABC’s of Change for
high school students I described action, belief and consequences as the
cycle we live out. By interrupting the
cycle through believing or acting differently, we create new
consequences. For example, if we don’t
like the guilt we feel after we are rude to someone, we decide to act
more graciously and then we achieve a better consequence (good
relationship, positive feelings.) In my M
& M Model for Change I describe motivation, means, and model as key
elements in the change process. In the
ABC’s of natural learning I identify affective, behavioral and
cognitive elements of change. These of
course fit on the same cycle as the ABC’s of Change.
The two models can be superimposed or placed one
inside another.
The affective
phase of the learning cycle includes emotions, attitudes and
motivations of the heart. Behavioral
includes our own actions and those of others, including events,
experiences and situations. Cognitive
includes beliefs, mental constructs derived from experience, worldview,
operating principles (both conscious and unconscious), automatic
thinking (though patterns and habits). In
the ABC’s of Change model, consequences includes affective, cognitive
and behavioral outcomes, such as changes in relationship. Consequences
are both the outcomes of experience and the originating influences in
later experience.
When
we are learning we naturally go through a round or cycle of experience,
altering some phase of the cycle by changing our feelings, thinking new
thoughts, gaining insight, or behaving to get a more desirable outcome. In education, we attribute theories or
principles as derived from experience--we “make sense” of our
perceptions by hypothesizing origins and reasons. Different
outcomes are discovered through trying different behaviors, such as a
scientific experiment. When we fail to
examine the outcomes of our behavior, no learning occurs.
We go on repeating a cycle with habitual elements of
feeling, thinking and behaving. When the
habitual elements are negative, we are “stuck” or in bondage to a
pattern.
In order to break free of
become “unstuck” we must be sufficiently motivated to introduce
something new into the cycle. For example,
pain may motivate us to want a different outcome. Motivation
(desire, affect) may prompt us to try new behavior.
Yet it alone is not sufficient.
We may want a different outcome yet fail to change
because we lack energy, power, or other resources (such as a better
model).
Recent research on the
effectiveness of psychotherapy indicates that various approaches are
about equally effective. [iv]
This makes sense if we relate them to the learning
cycle. Each one intersects the cycle of
pain or dysfunction at one or more phases and thus leads to change in
other phases. (See illustration on the
next page.)
Let’s look at how the
major approaches fit into the natural learning cycle.
Traditional psychotherapy assumes change occurs
primarily by intersecting the cycle at the affective and cognitive
phases, emphasizing the unconscious affect. Catharsis
unburdens the heart and mind, freeing it for the present.
Examining old experience (such as repressed events)
which created painful feelings and faulty
mental constructs leads to insight. It is
expected that one can change beliefs and behaviors, and obtain better
consequences (such as less painful emotions and healthier
relationships).
Roger’s person-centered
therapy operates with an assumption about the affective phase of the
learning cycle. If one is sufficiently
respected, loved and accepted by receiving unconditional positive
regard one will mobilize energy and other latent resources such as
inner wisdom. One can then change thinking
and action, which will in turn result in better feelings and
functioning.
Adlerian psychotherapy
assumes that the person’s positive life and growth forces (primarily
affective) can be identified and mobilized in order to allow him or her
to grow into healthier thinking and behaving. These
lead to more positive outcomes such as competence, mastery, and
enhanced self-esteem.
Existential psychotherapy
intersects the cognitive phase of the cycle as the most productive of
change. It assumes change occurs best when
the person finds, creates or discovers meaning and purpose (cognitive
constructs). These will lead to more
meaningful behavior and other fulfilling consequences, such as richer
relationships and more positive emotions.
Other
cognitive approaches also advocate change by intersecting the cycle at
the mental level. Discovering one’s
thought patterns, habits and operating principles or beliefs,
especially automatic thoughts, allows us to intercept the negative. This permits us to replace the unhealthy with
the healthy. We exchange painful emotions
and nonconstructive behaviors which are the outcome of the thoughts
with healthy thoughts.
Reframing is one method
of gaining a new perspective on an old mental landscape.
Reality therapy emphasizes consequences and
reshaping behavior to produce desired outcomes.
Transactional
analysis seeks to enlighten us (insight) about habitual (unconscious)
behaviors and thoughts which create less than ideal relationships (such
as when we respond in a judging, parental way or out of our childish
self rather than our adult self). Thus we
may choose to behave differently the next time we go ‘round the cycle.’ In Rational‑Emotive Therapy the therapist
works concurrently on both cognitive and affective.
Behavioral
theories and approaches emphasize behavior as the first step. Doing something different does appear
to be the fastest route to introducing other new elements into
the learning cycle. Behavior change has
immediate impact in consequences, such as feelings, relationships and
other outcomes. These outcomes lead to
more positive emotions.
Gestalt methods appear to
offer the most wholistic approach, best attending body, mind, emotions,
past and present. (Even though I don’t
embrace all of Perls’ philosophy about the psyche, I believe his work
has a great deal to offer us.) The Gestalt
approach works with both cognitive and affective, and through its
emphasis on responsibility, the behavioral. In
addition, emphasis on the body as a trustworthy expression of past
experience (body memory) and present affective states makes it unique. It best combines the past (historical, memory,
body memory, emotions) and the present outcomes, such as physical
health, non‑verbal, bodily expressions of pain, etc.
Gestalt stresses re‑learning. Taking
responsibility (I can choose, I can create better feelings, I can
achieve better consequences.) is one pathway. Re-experiencing
repressed feelings and recovering memories is another pathway leading
to insight, and thus to healthier mental life and freer functioning.
A Christian Perspective
When we assess counseling
in the light of our goal of growth into “the image of Christ” or
“fullness of Christ,” which the Scripture tells us is our ideal, the
experiential learning cycle sheds light on the process.
It illustrates why many educational and counseling
approaches do in fact produce some change. It
also shows us what is needed in order for change to best occur. The M & M Model for Change proposes that
we need not only motivation for change, but also means and models. The Holy Spirit supplies all of these. He gives us both the will (motivation) and the
power (means) to achieve His purpose (Phil. 2:13).
He provides abundant models for us.
We need not be stuck in the cycle, doomed to repeat
our sinful and unhealthy ways of life and continue in our pain!
The Holy Spirit is
involved in all phases of the experiential cycle. In
our drawing, we can visualize Him at the center, influencing all
aspects the cycle. His multiple roles within usperfectly meet our need
for new resources at each step of change.
The roles which the Holy
Spirit fulfills in our lives involve all aspects of our learning. He is the comforter (affective), the teacher
and counselor (cognitive), the empowerer of action (behavioral). In a host of other ways He influences the
body, mind, will, spirit, emotions. He
attends to our innermost being, even praying for us in times when we
cannot find expressions. He prompts,
enlightens, empowers, exhorts, instructs, convicts,
encourages, heals and even comforts us in our false guilt (I John 3:19). He enables us to overcome shame and to escape
guilt. He brings to light the hidden,
blind aspects of the self, so that we can be healed and become more
integrated. (Psalm 139:23, 24). (Integration means acknowledging all aspects
of self, rather than denying that some exist and operating
inappropriately out of denial. For example, to embrace our potential
for growth in Christ while recognizing our potential for sin and our
need for grace represents a proper integration of our duality as “saved
by grace,” as created in and restored to God’s image even though marred
by sin [I John 1]).
What makes counseling
“Christian” is whether it emanates from a Biblical worldview [v]
and is performed in partnership with the Holy Spirit.
With this foundation we can draw upon diverse
approaches in psychotherapy. We can
identify their merit from a Biblical perspective, understanding that
change at all phases of the cycle is advocated and illustrated in the
Scriptures. The first commandment itself
admonishes us to love God with heart, mind and soul (Matt. 22:38).
Cognitive change: “Be
transformed by the renewing of your mind...” we
are instructed (Rom. 12:2). The inference
is that changing our thinking through God’s Word, gaining the “mind of
Christ,” will result in transformed behavior. Yet
we are also warned that “faith without action is as dead as a body
without a soul” (James 2:26, PH), implying mental assent alone does not
produce godly behavior. Our beliefs must
be internalized, must become part of us (heart level attitudes), for
what we internalize is what we act out.
Behavioral change: Jesus Himself advocated
behavior change as a first step in growth.
He says,
“Come (behavior) to me” and tells us that if we believe we will have
rivers of living water flowing out of our souls (John 7:38). He begins with behavior, which leads to belief
and a changed affect. In many of His
healings or encounters with the needy He begins with telling them to
change a behavior. To the woman taken in
adultery He says, “Go home and do not sin again” (John 8:11). To the paralytic by the pool He says, “Take up
your mat and walk.” Because the man
obeyed, he was not only healed but became a believer in Jesus as sent
from God (John 5). To the blind man, He
says, “Go and wash...” The man later
recounted, “I went off and washed--and that’s how I got my sight!”
(John 9:11 PH) To the hungry 5,000 He
says, “Sit down...” and then he broke the bread and multiplied it. He tells us that if we are faithful in
obedience, we will know the truth and the truth will set us free (John
8:31). John reminds us “obedience is the
test of whether we really love God” (I John 2:3 PH).
However, lest we think behavior alone was Jesus’
teaching, remember that He also says “the work of God is to believe”
(John 6:29).
The epistles too put
great emphasis on behavior, on obedience. Paul
says the new life is expressed in heart, action and mind (Eph. 3:12,
3:15, 4:2). He repeats this triad of
affective, behavioral and cognitive many times. He
reminds us that in living out this new life (Change with a capital C!)
we have “boundless resources” provided in Christ (Eph. 1:11).
The Scriptures also make
it clear that behavior reveals our inner condition: “Out of the heart
flow the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). “Out
of the heart (affective, inner) the mouth speaks” (behavior) (Matt.
12:34) Jesus says, “Don’t lay up treasure
on earth...for where your treasure is (behavior) there will your heart
(affect) be also” (Matt. 6:21).
Affective
change: Throughout both Old and New
Testaments we are instructed to change our feelings about God to draw
near with our hearts. The Proverbs
are especially rich in admonitions of the heart. “Trust
in the Lord with all your heart” (Prov. 3:5). “Take hold of the words
(of God) with your hearts” (Prov. 4:4). “Guard
your hearts” (Prov. 4:23). The prophets
emphasized changing the heart too: “Wash the evil from your hearts”
(Jer. 4:14). “Turn to me with your hearts,
with fasting and weeping and mourning” (Joel 2:12).
The Scriptures make it clear that a changed affect
results in different behavior. For
instance, “...after we ourselves have been comforted
we will be able to comfort (behavior) others in
their sufferings” (I Peter 5:10 PH).
As Christian counselors,
we can assess an approach as helpful to the extent that it enable the
client to intercept the experiential cycle and thus promote change. I find it helpful to work with a person in all
three phases simultaneously, explaining that behavior change leads to
immediately improved feelings and other outcomes, meanwhile working to
change feelings and thinking, which takes longer.
We can rely on the Holy
Spirit to provide resources to support change throughout the whole
cycle. “God gives us everything we need
for life and godliness” (II Peter 1:3 PH). Research
confirms that the number one factor in counseling effectiveness is the
person’s desire and motivation to change. [vi] In this the Holy Spirit is the expert. He gives both the will and power for change. He transforms the mind, enabling the person to
recognize faulty thinking and revealing the truth (in one’s history and
one’s worth to God). In the second most
powerful factor of effectiveness, relationship with the therapist, the
Holy Spirit is also the master resource. He
loves the person through the counselor who is His channel.
Being loved is critical for the transformation of
the person. God IS love, and His love is
the healer. Is it any wonder that Carl
Roger’s described “unconditional positive regard,” no doubt the agape
of the New Testament as the essential resource?
The Holy Spirit provides
abundant models through the Word--in persons, ideas, standards of
behavior. These allow us to conceptualize
new ways of living, new outcomes to make our desires into reality. He provides us the power or energy for
re‑structuring thinking and changing
behavioral patterns so that we can break the bonds, even those passed
on from generation to generation. He
brings about the affective changes and the other desirable outcomes
which we seek through His partnership within us.
My research on how the
Holy Spirit shapes persons illustrates that He may do His healing work
with or without a human counselor. Most of
those whose lives I studied had both humble and traumatic beginnings. Only one of twelve had access to a counselor
to help with their pain and old chains of behavior.
Yet, through questing after God they became
singularly healthy and fruitful. They were
acutely responsive to God in letting go of old attitudes, thoughts, and
actions--that is, they were quick to learn from Him and quick to use
His resources. They experienced
abundant life and revealed God’s nature of love and self-giving. Their transformations came about through
partnering with God in their growth.
One
participant in my study was a man I’ll call Hans. His
life was marred by trauma from the beginning. His
father, a Nazi officer, was “vicious and cruel.” Hans
remembers his joy at age 5 when he heard his father was not going to
return from the war, since he feared retaliation from the Russians. At four Hans and his mother and brother were
evacuated to the countryside to escape the Allied bombings. By age 17 he had suffered many other severe
difficulties. He became a communist,
but was not impressed with communists, whom he found to be hypocritical. He went to a tent meeting.
Hearing the liturgy, he was converted, realizing God
would accept him in spite of his shame. He
managed to escape to the west, for he knew he would be denied education
as a Christian. He immediately sensed he
wanted to serve God and began an intensive quest after God, eagerly
applying what he found in the Scriptures, seeking fellowship with
Christians, and living out the vows he made, even in childhood, to
change the family patterns of violence and infidelity.
From his painful and inauspicious beginnings he has
risen to prominence in his profession. He
travels worldwide, consulting even for governments, and serving as an
unofficial pastor to missionaries around the globe.
He never had a human “counselor” to help in the
transformation, yet through the work of the Holy Spirit he has overcome
his shame, found emotional healing, broken the old chains, and
developed healthy relationships.
Suppose the child
Chrissie grew up and became your client. Without
the healing work of the Holy Spirit active in her, you would probably
meet an adult still feeling unworthy and ashamed, guilty for her own
existence, fearful, perfectionistic and perhaps seething with
suppressed anger. You would work with her
to re-process her experiences with her mother, help her to develop a
new perspective on her mother’s rage and screaming so that she might
gain insight that her mother did love her and want her, but was
immature and had her own problems which were the source of her rage. You might discover, with her, that her mother
did not want her or love her, and help her accept that truth. You could teach her that Abba Father loves her
and that his love never fails. You would
work with her to express the old hurts and anger, lead her to
confession of resentment and to forgiveness of her mother.
You would help her develop healthier ways of
feeling, thinking, relating and exemplify for her the resources she now
has available in Christ and through the Holy Spirit, the energizer for
a new life. You would be a channel for the
Holy Spirit’s transformation. She would be
a partner with Him as she consistently chooses to follow His promptings.
Our goal as Christian
counselors is to speed or further the work of the Holy Spirit in
others’ lives. We are privileged to
cooperate with Him, as His channels of love, wisdom, acceptance. Especially for sufferers who need a human
presence in order to experience God’s presence and love, we become
channels of God’s abundant resources, provided in Christ.
We are also mentors, coaches, disciplers in the
Christian life. We can share the joyful
reality that God gives us “everything that we need for life and
godliness” (II Peter 1:3 PH).
