A Christian Worldview and Mental Health

by Carlos Fayard; Barbara Couden Hernandez; Bruce Anderson; George T. Harding

Publisher:

Andrews University Press

, 2011

Overview

Christian concern for the whole person includes both mind and body, so this volume encourages readers to think about theoretical and spiritual issues within Christian mental health care. It collects views from ethics, psychology, theology, counseling, psychiatry, and more. With its variety of topics and authors and its biblically-based worldview, this text acts as a handbook for mental health professionals, clergy, and educators and students in the social/behavioral/health sciences and religion. In its consideration of a spiritual identity in mental health theory and practice, this volume will prove valuable to mental health education.

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Key Features

• Examines mental health from a Christian perspective,
• Gives a brief history of psychotherapeutic theory as a worldview
• Discusses current challenges and concerns in the Seventh-day Adventist system

Contents

• Section 1: Seventh-Day Adventists and Mental Health
  • A Christian Worldview and Mental Health: An Introduction and Background to the Symposium
  • Adventists and Mental Health: Remembering Who We Are
• Section 2: Theoretical and Philosophical Foundations
  • Ellen White and Mental Health
  • Faith-Science Issues: An Epistemological Perspective
  • Christian Epistemological Foundations for the Behavioral Sciences
  • Mental Health and Human Wholeness: Implications from Biblical Anthropology
  • Response to “Mental Health and Human Wholeness: Implications from Biblical Anthropology”
  • The Science of Psychology and the Ethics of Freedom: An Adventist’s Perspective
• Section 3: Research: Faith and Well-Being
  • Scientific Research on the Study of Religion/Spirituality and Mental Health: Lessons, Positive Affirmations, and Disquieting Questions
  • Sabbath as a Resource for Marriage
  • Children’s Perceptions of God’s Role in Their Families: An Exploratory Study
• Section 4: Clinical Applications
  • Clinical Implications for the Practice of Psychotherapy from the Seventh-Day Adventist Tradition: A Summary
  • The Science of Forgiveness: Implications for Christian Faith
  • A Personal Integration of God in Psychiatric Treatment: Alcoholics Anonymous as a Paradigm
  • “For as he Thinketh in His Heart, So Is He”: Seventh-Day Adventists with Maladaptive Beliefs and Compensatory Strategies in Psychotherapy
  • Comprehensive Oncology Patient Services and the Organizational Mission “To Make Man Whole”: Implications and Challenges for the Adventist Health System
• Section 5: Education and Training
  • Supervision of Spiritual Issues in Psychotherapy Training: Contributions from an Adventist Worldview
  • Psychiatry and the Spiritual Life: Loma Linda University’s Curriculum for Psychiatry Residency Training

Contributors

• Carlos Fayard
• George T. Harding IV
• Merlin D. Burt
• E. Edward Zinke
• Miroslav M. Kis
• Richard Rice
• Bruce Anderson
• Gerald R. Winslow
• David R. Williams
• Jana K. Boyd
• Barbara Couden Hernandez
• Jamie D. Aten
• Henry H. Lamberton
• Antonia Ciovica
• David Mee-Lee
• Kendal C. Boyd
• Deane L. Wolcott
• William Murdoch

Praise for the Print Edition

While numerous articles and books have been written about the theoretical and philosophical foundations of mental health, mental illness, research, and treatment, comparatively few have been published on the interrelationship of spirituality, religion, and psychiatry. This volume, while discussing a wide variety of topics, is held together by writers who share a common biblically-based worldview. I believe that many mental health professionals, academics, and others will find A Christian Worldview and Mental Health stimulating, challenging, and rewarding. My hope would be that it inspire a new generation of interest, research, and clinical applications in this important area.

—Richard K. Harding, chair and professor, Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of South Carolina School of Medicine

This volume provides timely new information that provides a foundation that can usher in a new era in which we thoughtfully and comprehensively confront the challenge of mental health and mental illness in the church and society. The collection of essays provide an in-depth look, not only at a biblically-informed, nuanced, conceptual perspective on mental health but also a practical guide for scholars, mental health professionals, and clergy. It will be an indispensable handbook for many.

—David R. Williams, Florence and Laura Norman Professor of Public Health and of African and African American Studies, Harvard University

This volume is simultaneously comprehensive and useful. It builds on the historic commitment of Seventh-day Adventists to wholistic health by drawing on empirical research, clinical practice, and the Bible. Some parts present a Seventh-day Adventist perspective, such as the chapter on the Sabbath as a resource for marriage enrichment, while others draw on concepts shared by people in many faith traditions. It concludes with a section on the education and supervision of mental health practitioners. As such, it will be of value to students and educators in the social/behavioral and health sciences, as well as those in religion and theology.

—Lisa M. Beardsley, director of education, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (SDA)

The book’s major contributions lie with its intentionality to apply a Christian worldview to various clinical practices and institutional cultures. In this sense it moves from the theoretical to the applied in creative and suggestive ways. It provides a reasoned integrative path of how mental health clinicians and educators alike can confidently claim a faith that seeks understanding without it being sacrificed on the table of humanistic philosophy. And yet, it challenges those who hold Christian worldviews to make their claims credible through empirical evidence.

—Edwin I. Hernandez, research fellow, Center for the Study of Latino Religion, University of Notre Dame

Through scientific and careful analysis, the authors explore some of the factors that impact the state of human mental wellness and healing. Any therapeutic recommendations harmonize with their worldview of God’s restorative intention. The primacy of mental health in the way we adapt and adjust to physical disability underscores the importance of a unified biblical worldview. To face physical adversity with an equanimity of spirit is bolstered by belief in an eternal God who moves to ensure the ultimate best.

—Allan R. Handysides, director, Department of Health Ministries, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Product Details

• Title: A Christian Worldview and Mental Health
• Editors: Carlos Fayard, Barbara Couden Hernandez, Bruce Anderson, and George T. Harding IV
• Publisher: Andrews University Press
• Publication Date: 2011
• Pages: 520

About the Editors

Carlos Fayard is an associate professor in the department of psychiatry and the director of the clinical psychology internship at Loma Linda University School of Medicine.

Barbara Couden Hernandez is an associate professor, the director of doctoral clinical training, and Medical Family Therapy Program director in the Department of Counseling and Family Science at Loma Linda University.

Bruce Anderson is the president of the Adventist Health California Medical Group in St. Helena, California and Silverado Psychiatric Center in Calistoga, California.

George T. Harding IV is a professor of psychiatry at Loma Linda University School of Medicine.