Finding the Valuable Person: Therapy That Takes Theology Seriously
Ebook
Finding the Valuable Person proposes a new form of therapy. The big theme is that experiences of being devalued when we are not seen or heard, diminished or suffer indignities evoke responses that show up in distress clients bring. These reactions show a prime human need for our personhood to be valuable and validated that generates soul-hungers (for connection, desire, significance, and hope) that are largely unconscious. It is a fundamental drive that can be explored with clients in the way we are relational, embodied makers of meaning and respond to agency and dignity. This constitutes four domains of the REMA approach to therapy developed in this book. Every counseling approach has its presuppositions: most describe the human person as an individual entity, separated from social context. REMA pays attention to both. REMA is theologically attuned but also incorporates realities such as gender and race that have reshaped society profoundly. For the alignment of biblical faith and counseling psychology, it is profoundly important to be attuned in both directions. REMA is not only an innovative theoretical approach, it is a working model, currently offered in a community setting but of wider application. Anyone can use it!
“This excellent book is a genuine step forward in therapy-faith integration, an elegant, broadly informed, genuine dialogical integration of theological and therapeutic threads. Chris Steed pulls off something very impressive which is likely to become a seminal work in moving the field forward.”
—Roger Bretherton, associate professor of psychology, University of Lincoln
“This book covers a comprehensive range of theory and theology, resulting in a practical model for effective counseling based on an exploration of human functioning. It discusses how our spiritual nature may be integrated into the process and the impact of feeling devalued on the unique individuality of each person.”
—Lynette Harborne, psychotherapist and practical theologian
“Chris Steed and his team at LST have achieved a remarkably adroit reworking of the concept of integration in counseling and psychotherapy theory and practice. It arises from a rich and deep conception of the essential nature of personhood born out of constructive dialogue between theology, sociology, and psychology. What follows is a masterly presentation of a holistic approach to therapy that situates itself in the intersection of these constructs, with a restorative dynamic. This book will challenge therapists to re-evaluate their understanding of the therapeutic endeavor.”
—Kathy Spooner, CEO, Association of Christians in Counselling and Linked Professions
- Title: Finding the Valuable Person: Therapy That Takes Theology Seriously
- Authors: Stephen Motyer, Chris Steed
- Publisher: Pickwick Publications
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781666790887, 9781666790863, 1666790869, 9781666790870, 1666790877, 1666790885
- Resource ID: LLS:9781666790887
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-06-20T23:09:54Z
Chris Steed is head of theology and counseling at London School of Theology. He is the author of a dozen books on society, psychology, and theology.