Are Christianity & Psychology Compatible?
Christianity & Psychology
An important question that clients have is: are Christianity & Psychology mutually exclusive? In my time as a mental health therapist, I have concluded they are not. In this posts I will be sharing my view on how Christianity & Psychology are compatible.
A key similarity I have found is that both Psychology and Christianity focus on the mind. I know that might seem like a no brainer given the condensed definition of psychology. Psychology is the study of the mind and its functions. Let me explain further.
Psychology & the Mind
In Psychology, one of the key interventions used is: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which focuses on challenging our negative thoughts and cognitive distortions. CBT has been found to be effective for treating anxiety and depression.
The Cognitive Behavioral Triangle discusses how our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are connected and influenced by one another. Thus, I typically focus on helping my clients address their thoughts so then their feelings and behaviors change as well.
I utilize this therapy with so many of my clients regardless of age and many clients have informed me that it has clarified how powerful our thoughts are. To challenge negative thoughts, I first encourage my clients to journal or log their thoughts so they can become familiar with their thought patterns. I find this exercise helpful because it brings awareness to understanding what our thoughts are and then we spend time understanding how they were developed.
Most of our negative thoughts were developed at a young age and thus are deeply ingrained. But once we understand what our thoughts are and where they stem from then we can work towards changing them. But we first must recognize the negative thoughts we have and want to change.
Christianity & the Mind
Christianity, which is centered around the life of Jesus Christ and his teachings found in The Bible has verses which focus on the mind. I will be sharing a few that I have found to be powerful. In Christianity, I view negative thoughts more so as lies from the enemy that we have believed.
In Pastor Craig Groeschel newest book, Winning the war in your mind, he reminds us that, “The devils target is your mind and his weapon is his lies”.
Some of the lies (negative thoughts) my clients have are around their self-worth and who they are. Such as: “I will never be good enough”, “I am unloved”, “I am a failure”, “No one wants me”, “I am damaged, broken, unworthy, etc., this list can go on. Once we begin to believe one of these lies it is easy to believe them all which is far from what the word of God says about who we are as his children. I believe this is the enemies tactic to keep us from having the life God intended for us. Here is one of my favorite bible verses regarding who God has called us to be:
Bible Verses
1 Peter 2:9 NKJV states: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…
This verse states that we are: Chosen. We are Royalty and we are Holy.
Here are a few verses regarding how we can address the lies of the enemy as Christians:
2 Corinthians 10:5 reminds us to “bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” …
and
Romans 12:2 encourages us to “be transformed by the renewing of our mind”…
These two verses remind us to:
bring every thought into captivity and
to renew our mind.
But what does “renew” mean? Renew means: give fresh life or strength to; revive.
How do we give fresh life or strength to our mind? To give fresh life to something it usually requires that we do something different or new. In the same way we strengthen our relationship with Jesus Christ we can renew our mind and that is to spend time in the Word of God by: meditating, memorizing, listening to, and speaking the Word which will increase our faith.
Conclusion
In closing, whether we believe in the word of God or not, that doesn’t change the fact that we are all flooded with negative thoughts/lies. These lies/ thoughts if not addressed can impact our interpersonal relationships and keep us from reaching our full potential. It can keep us from having healthy relationships with others, keep us discouraged and in fear that this thoughts/lies may become a reality. Which is why it is important to address the negative thoughts/lies in our head.
-Mayra is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, who identifies as a Christian, she enjoys being able to integrate her faith when working with her clients. If you are interested in reading more about the integration of spirituality and psychology, please check out our page on Christian Counseling or click the button below to contact her.
