The Process of Healing and Self Development, Research Paper Example

Summary

Primary goal

The need for a person to develop individually is a natural way of maturing through the years. Relatively, according to Sandra Wilson, this process, although innate, may not come naturally for some people. Each person takes the process of developing towards maturity differently in an individual condition. How one assists another in attaining development through theological counseling that addresses ‘hurt’ is then the focus of Wilson’s work.

Development of Issues

The reason behind such fact is that each individual needs to face the different experiences in their own lives and gain particular learning from these particular elements of growth. How one reacts to such experiences specifically affects the way they mature in facing life as adult individuals. One particular factor that becomes a part of a person’s past is that of being hurt. Although not everyone may be as hurt as the others, it is a general factor that happens to people especially in connection with the relationships they establish with family and friends. Relationships will always be a part of any particular individual’s growth.

Biblical Integration

The notion that ‘no one is an island’ is considered by Wilson as a fact that should not be disregarded especially by those who are in the position of helping individuals to become better persons through therapy or psychological assistance. Hurt is one element that could hinder one’s capacity to mingle with others. Once such hindrance becomes evident, the capacity of one towards growth becomes vague enough that it cannot be handled accordingly by the individuals involved in the said personal process. Change and healing then becomes necessary.

However, these two aspects of assisting a person to grow further with a more positive outlook in life do not happen overnight. Wilson points out that both healing and change are collaborative procedures of growth that should be considered as a lifelong consideration. One must first realize and accept that he has been hurt. Continuous denial of such emotion will put a person into a realm of pretention, which will only hinder him from fully healing. A vital part of the healing process that Wilson further suggests is that of one’s acceptance of God’s existence and his capacity to provide the ‘strength more than usual’ that any person would need in facing the most tumultuous and hurtful experiences in life. In a way, Wilson encourages the desire to choose a new way, a new direction that would lead to a better life.

Formula for change

God, being the central source of healing is defined by Wilson as the ultimate source of strength and inner peace. Only with such recognition does Wilson attribute the possibility of one being able to incur the healing he needs to give attention to as a person.

Balance of Theology and Spirituality

Relatively, this thinking specifically points out how Wilson is rather a spiritual being who wants to impose the need for real guidance. Although considered as an individual of high command on her own field, she recognizes that only through God’s guidance will a person actually be able to heal out from all the pains that one might have experienced in life.

F, Human Personality

The development of a person towards change is believed to become evidently obvious when he begins to accept his personal shortcomings and his pains. From such acceptance comes the desire to develop further and become more involved in healing himself through God’s assistance.

Counselor’s Function

The counselor’s role is to serve as guidance to the individual wanting to change. This is vital especially in providing help for those who may not completely accept God’s existence and his capacity to provide help.

Major Contribution to Counseling

Although it is not much accepted in the field of psychology to handle notions of dismay and depression in a spiritual manner, Wilson’s theoretical representation on how believing in a supreme being’s capacity to heal is more powerful than human-based remedies of human development, remains strongly proven by the evidences she used in her discussion.

Limitations of Counseling

As mentioned earlier, not all do believe in God. The concentration of this process in imposing Godly belief on a person could then both be a source of strength or weakness to the process depending on who is being assisted to change for the sake of better personal development.

J. Classification

Being a form of theological counseling, the process suggested by Wilson could best be used in ministry and in the function of several church administrations to their members. Its actual use in modern psychological functions could be assumed effective but still should be measured for applicability based on the psychologist’s beliefs.

Practical Application

Application to Counseling

As mentioned earlier, not all psychological therapists would accept what Wilson suggests especially in relation to handling life’s troubles through the help of a supreme being. The belief on God is often considered in modern psychology as a personal choice of a person and not as something that could be suggested for the sake of providing professional therapy. Nevertheless, the claims and presentations of Wilson regarding such need for recognizing God’s presence and role in every individual’s life is strong enough that it could be used by evangelizers and pastors as they seek to attain the healing of people that they desire to help learn the truth about God.

Starting off at an early age, Wilson claims that the impossible standards of parents make it hard for children to avoid the feeling of failure thus making it harder for them to avoid being hurt. When parents are taught to be more nurturing than pressuring, their path towards leading their children into a more positive lifestyle becomes possible. How do parents see such importance of change in their process of rearing their children? Knowing that there is a God who commanded such process of parenting helps so much in assuring parental obedience to such rule. True, non-believing individuals might simply say that it is but naturally human to understand this particular fact about parenthood. Nevertheless, only a few are able to apply its principles in their lives; and most of those who can apply them actually appear to be those who know and accept that there is a God who is watching over their steps and the ways by which they guide their children.

Sample of Author’s Works

In an overall context, it could be considered that Wilson’s writing depends so much on how she believes that God is an ultimate power that provides a person with the capacity to see things differently, apart from the hurtful scenes that this world offers. This basis of theological counseling insists that the consistent demand for a better way of living among the majority of people living in the world today calls for such a condition of thinking that allows one person to set himself apart from the self-culture that this world is based upon. Knowing and accepting that there is a God who is ready to assist could change so much on how people begin to accept whatever life offers and use such elements to mold them and bring them into a better sense of maturity. This however is a personal decision that each individual must make on his own. such written works from the author that define modern theological counseling at a deeper context include Healing Practices to Help Kids Grow Up Easier – A Resource Guide for Families (2008) and Released from Shame: Recovery for Adult Children of Dysfunctional Families (1991).

Reference:

Mulligan, M. (2008). Healing Practices to Help Kids Grow Up Easier – A Resource Guide for Families. Growing Up Easier Publishing.

Wilson, S. (1991). Released from Shame: Recovery for Adult Children of Dysfunctional Families (People Helper Books).Intervarsity Press.

Wilson, S. (2002). Released from Shame: Moving Beyond the Pain of the Past. IVP Books.

Wilson, S. (2001). Hurt People Hurt People: Hope and Healing for Yourself and Your Relationships. Discovery House Publishers.