CHRISTIAN HUMANISM AND PSYCHOTHERAPY: A RESPONSE TO BERGIN'S ANTITHESES

Abstract. Secular and religious values of psychotherapists influence the process of psychotherapy. The psychologist Allen Bergin has pointed out several major antitheses between values of secular psychotherapists and their religiously oriented clients. The present essay is a response to Bergin's antitheses, on the one hand, and to humanistic psychology, on the other, from the point of view of a Christian humanism. Karl Rahner's theological anthropology is proposed as one possible foundation for an explicit articulation of the relationship between psychotherapy and religion, and as a means to address apparently divergent values of psychotherapists and religious believers.     

BELIEFS OF A CHRISTIAN MINISTER IN LIGHT OF CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE

Abstract. This paper states the author's understanding of the doctrines of the Christian faith in the light of her scientific background and her interpretation of current evolutionary, neuropsychologi–cal, and other scientific theories. It contains the actual ordination vows and her response to them, based upon an outline of questions suggested by the United Church of Christ.     

“God is My First Aid Kit”: The Negotiation of Health and Illness among Christian Scientists

Christian Scientists’ rejection of conventional medical practices has generated considerable controversy. Using insights from theories of subcultural identity and cultural repertoires, we analyze elite discourse and adherent narratives from 20 Christian Scientists to examine how this nonmedicalized religion engages the challenges posed by the highly medicalized character of American society. The writings of Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy primarily exhibit a critical posture toward conventional medicine, although conciliatory language is also evident in these same works. These discursive nuances provide Christian Science adherents with latitude in negotiating health and illness in their everyday lives. Interview data reveal that negotiated health practices are particularly evident in three domains: using prayer as a means of seeking divine guidance, developing metaphysical competency as a healer, and weighing options based on legal mandates for seeking medical treatment. We conclude by specifying the implications of our findings and identifying directions for future research.     

Beyond the Frying Pan: Addressing Work Issues with Women in Therapy

In recent years, mental health practitioners have been exploring how women are balancing work and family. Given how this issue affects womens experiences in the corporate world and at home, marriage and family therapists are attempting to consider this concern as they treat female clients individually and within relational systems. Few articles and studies have examined the issues female employees face in the workplace and how the issues influence the therapeutic process. In this article, the authors examine the organizational, sociological, and cultural challenges women deal with at work and apply these areas to the therapeutic context. The authors present a case study of a female client enduring a difficult work situation, discussing how to view and approach this case from a feminist family therapy perspective.     

A systematic review of relationship maintenance: Reflecting back and looking to the future

Relationship maintenance processes include a wide range of activities and cognitions that romantic partners engage in to sustain or enhance their relationships. In this article, we review literature from the past two decades (2002–2021). We focus on key definitional and conceptual issues in the study of relational maintenance. Guided by a lens of intersectionality, we then perform a theoretically-driven review of the empirical articles published over the last 20 years paying careful attention to the nature of the samples, methods, and privileged research questions. We conclude by offering a reflection on the current state of this literature and provide suggestions for future research.     

Dyadic processes of relational turbulence theory

This study tested dyadic processes of relational turbulence theory (RTT) in heterosexual marriages. We tested propositions 1, 2, and 5 of RTT, which propose that uncertainty about the marriage biases cognitive appraisals, and that interference from a partner heightens negative emotions, both of which culminate in relational turbulence for spouses. Guided by these propositions, husbands' and wives' (N = 510; 255 marital dyads) dyadic cognitive and emotional processes were estimated using the actor-partner interdependence mediation model. Consistent with theoretical propositions, we found evidence for actor-actor indirect effects; for both husbands and wives (a) the effect of spouses' relationship uncertainty on their own relational turbulence was mediated by their own biased cognitive appraisals, and (b) the effect of spouses' experienced interference on their own relational turbulence was mediated by their own anger from communicating in the marriage. However, controlling for actor-actor indirect effects, partner-defined processes (i.e., actor-partner and partner-actor indirect effects) uniquely explained husbands' and wives' relational turbulence.     

A Call to Act Together

This is the text of the message issued by the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, meeting in Karlsruhe, Germany, from 31 August to 8 September 2022. In their message, delegates stated that all are called by Christ's love to repentance, reconciliation, and justice in the face of war, inequality, and sins against creation.     

The Duality of American Christian Nationalism: Religious Traditionalism versus Christian Statism

While posited as a unified ideology, Christian Nationalism (CN) actually contains two distinct views of what it means to be a “Christian Nation”—one which envisions a Christian civil society separate from the profanities of politics, what we call “Religious Traditionalism.” The other envisions a Christian federal government where power is wielded exclusively by ethno-religious insiders, or “Christian Statism.” Multiple waves of two national surveys confirm that current measures of CN contain these two factors, which have become increasingly divergent in the past 20 years. In addition, we find that Christian Statism predicts nativism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and racial distrust while Religious Traditionalism, in most instances, predicts the opposite. Historically, Religious Traditionalists have always sought to influence civil society and focused mainly on family/sexual issues. But a different brand of CN has emerged, wherein all federal and state authority should rightfully and exclusively belong to Christian Statists.