Couc 506 Discussion Board Post 1
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Liberty University *
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506
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Religion
Date
Feb 20, 2024
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docx
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Uploaded by ProfWhalePerson658
Upon completing the classroom reading, these are five questions that I found insightful to consider when helping a client experiencing great suffering and pain in life. Do I create a space for lament in the counseling room? Neff and McMinn (2020) challenged me to consider the role of lament in the healing process. Christians often struggle to be present in suffering and allow a space for intense crying to God in our pain. The lack of lament within our worship services is a big reason for this. I was amazed to learn that laments make up 40% of the Psalms in the Bible, but modern hymnals have only 4% (Neff and McMinn, 2020). As a counselor, I want to create a space that allows for lament and also teach clients about the nature of lament, inviting them to cry out to God in their pain. As a counselor, how can I bear witness to a client’s suffering?
I was struck by the idea that lament is relational (Neff & McMinn, 2020). Firstly, it involves crying out to God with our grief and pain, directly expressing our suffering to Him. Understood rightly, lament is grief directed at God (Neff & McMinn, 2020). Beyond our relational lament to God, we, as counselors, are also called to bear witness to the suffering and pain of our clients. We must have a “theology of witnessing” that invites our clients to express their deepest emotions from the pain and suffering (Neff & McMinn, 2020).
Have I entered into and sought healing for my wounds? Do I see myself as a wounded healer?
As counselors, we enter into clients' suffering with empathy and compassion. As counselors, we have experienced suffering and wounds in our lives. We have been wounded, and now, as counselors, we are in a space where we seek to help our clients experience healing. It has been said that we are “wounded healers” (Liberty University, 2021). I like this descriptor because we cannot help a suffering client heal unless we have come to face and wrestle with our suffering. Will I be dismissive of a client’s suffering or remain present, helping them understand how their experience has shaped them? Counselors can be tempted to quickly move to solutions and positive answers to help a client alleviate and escape suffering. I was challenged in the reading that while this may help the client feel better in the short term, it often comes at a significant personal cost in the long term (Neff & McMinn, 2020). In the face of pain and suffering, counselors must resist the temptation to help the client escape or fix the pain but lead a client to face it and move through it as they process their emotions and understand how to deal with them. As I help a client in the process of lament, will I integrate hope in God?
Hope is not the promise that things will work out and get better but the promise that God is with us and for us (Neff & McMinn, 2020). Counselors must offer hope through their presence with a suffering client but point to our hope in God if they can. Psalm 33:20-22 (GNT) says, “
We put our hope in the LORD; he is our protector and our help. We are glad because of him; we trust in his holy name. May your constant love be with us, LORD, as we put our hope in you.”
In response to a client who says that a counselor is not helping them to remove the pain, counselors must educate the client on what a counselor’s role is and is not. As counselors, we
must tell clients we are not magic healers (Liberty University, 2021). Counselors walk alongside each client, support them, and empower them to be their best version. As counselors, we must explain to clients what we can do – we can offer compassion, care, and empathy to the client, letting them know that we are with them and will listen to their stories of pain and suffering. As we explain this to our clients, we provide hope and healing that they are not alone. Moreover, if we share the same spiritual values, we can point them to our ultimate hope in Jesus and His ultimate victory over death, sin, and suffering in his resurrection. As counselors, we must let our clients know we cannot take away their suffering. That is not our role. Our primary role is to extend empathy and compassion as we listen to a client’s suffering, caring for them as we seek opportunities to provide hope, grace, and truth that align with their values (Liberty University, 2011). References:
Good News Translation. (1966). American Bible Society.
Liberty University. (2021). Video on Spirituality, Suffering, and Counseling Dynamics, [PowerPoint slides], https://canvas.liberty.edu/courses/476173/pages/watch-spirituality-
suffering-and-counseling-dynamics?module_item_id=51952516
Neff, M.A. & McMinn, M. R. (2020). Embodying Integration: A fresh look at Christianity in the therapy room. InterVarsity Press
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