Digital Commons @ George Fox University Faculty Publications - Grad School of Clinical Graduate School of Clinical Psychology Psychology 2000 Integration as Service: Implications of Faith-Praxis Integration for Training Sally Schwer Canning Carlos F. Pozzi J. Derek McNeil Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/gscp_fac Part of the Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Canning, Sally Schwer; Pozzi, Carlos F.; and McNeil, J. Derek, "Integration as Service: Implications of Faith-Praxis Integration for Training" (2000). Faculty Publications - Grad School of Clinical Psychology. Paper 218. http://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/gscp_fac/218 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School of Clinical Psychology at Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications - Grad School of Clinical Psychology by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Journal of Psychology and Theology 2000, Vol. 28, No. 3,201-211 I n t e g r a t io n as S ervice: Implications o f Fa it h -P raxis I n t e g r a t io n f o r T r a in in g S a l l y S c h w e r C a n n i n g , C a r l o s F. P o z z i , J. D erek M cNeil, &nA M ark R. M cM inn Wheaton College Faith-praxis integration should be given further atten- tant to patiently work out the various ways in which tion as the integration of applied psychology and Christianity and psychology relate and interact. Christian theology proceeds. The authors outline a It has become clear that integration is not a unidi- rationale for faith-praxis integration based upon pat- mensional activity in which we are searching for the terns of mental health needs and resources in the U.S. single true method of combining psychology and and for a Kingdom mandate. Implications of a faith- Christianity. Rather, there are multiple integration praxis perspective for trainers of Christian psycholo- schemes and foci, each with distinctive features and gists are suggested in relation to a program’s missions emphases (Bouma-Prediger, 1990; Worthington, statement, faculty, course work, practical training, 1994). These disparate approaches to integration are research, and relationship to the community. Selected derived both by the varying perspectives of integrators activities of existing Christian psychology training pro- and by the fluid needs and demographics of changing grams are included to illustrate these implications. cultures and societies. Though the foundational truths Ongoing discussion is invited concerning this emerging about human nature and God’s character will not area of integration. change, approaches to interpreting and applying these truths in a culturally relevant manner will change. Í throughout the many centuries in which psy- In the 25th Anniversary issue of the Journal o f I chology and religion have been “inextrica- Psychology and Theology; Tisdale, Thelander, and TA bly intertwined” (Vande Kemp, 1996, p. Pike (1997) observe that “we have the opportunity to 72), various systems of integrating the two fields begin a new era in integration” (p. 3). In this new era, have been articulated and attempted. Even in the Christian psychologists will be wise to consider what contemporary integration movement of the 20th Bouma-Prediger (1990) has called “faith-praxis” inte- Century, characterized by distinctive graduate train- gration. Faith-praxis integration involves a practical ing programs and specialty journals, there have been and applied focus on matters of authenticity, human twists and turns in the development of integration service, and vocation. That is, professional work is models and themes (Bouma-Prediger, 1990; Eck, seen as Christian calling or ministry. Faith-praxis inte- 1996). Most of these integration models have per- gration involves a commitment to service and has tained directly or indirectly to the branches of psy- clear implications for the training of psychologists. chology related to human services (e.g., clinical, The purpose of this article is to provide a ratio- counseling, community). These varying approaches nale for faith-praxis integration in psychology and to to integrating applied psychology and Christian the- suggest implications of this notion for the process of ology may be viewed pessimistically as pre-paradig- clinical training. In it, we outline our perspective that matic fumblings or, more optimistically, as part of increasing our attention to integration as service is an evolving exploration of the nature of human not only needed in order to respond to demographic need and human service. In either case, it is impor- and epidemiological realities in our society, but it is supportable, even compelling, from a theological Correspondence and requests for reprints may be sent to Sally Schwer Canning, PhD, Wheaton College, 501 College Avenue, vantage point. We discuss implications for profes- Wheaton, IL 60187. Electronic mail may be sent via Internet to sional training and highlight a few examples from [email protected] existing Christian training programs. In so doing, we 201 202 INTEGRATION AS SERVICE hope this article serves to invite others to join in dis- across populations. These three points are devel- eussions about this emerging area of integration. oped in this section. F a i t h -P r a x is I n t e g r a t io n a n d The Allocation of Mental Health Resources t h e F u t u r e o f O u r D is c ip l in e It has been well documented that the prevalence For those who train psychologists, a set of chal- of cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and social prob- lenging decisions must be tackled concerning the lems in our country far outweighs the people and knowledge to be transmitted, the values developed, services available to respond to those needs. the skills that students should be prepared to compe- Whether documenting broadly defined problems of tently perform, and the types of clients to whom stu- living or detailing a more circumscribed analysis of dents should be exposed. Along with conventional diagnosable mental disorders, a wide gap between concerns about providing solid preparation in the existing needs and existing resources can be core aspects of the discipline, programs training pro- observed (Levine & Perkins, 1996). Examining the fessional psychologists may look for a particular contours of this chasm more closely, however, niche to fill or emphasis to provide. In the wake of reveals irregular patterns of distribution across the managed care, discussions of the future of our disci- recipients who have been able to access existing pline in recent years have oft been punctuated with mental health resources. The list of groups who are the language of the marketplace in which the sue- documented as disproportionately underserved cur- cessful marketing of a commodity (typically psy- rently includes children and adolescents (Kazdin, chotherapy) is emphasized (Brickey, 1998; Fraser, 1990), rural residents (Murray and Keeler, 1991), 1996; Karon, 1995; Resnick & DeLeon, 1995). In older adults (Teri, 1993), some ethnic minority response to perceptions of threatening health care groups (Cheung, 1991), people with low socio-eco- conditions, the discourse has a survivalist ring to it, nomic status (Hammons, 1993), those with chronic as besieged professionals batten down the hatches or severe mental illnesses (Hargrove, 1992), and and huddle to plan a defense (see Cummings, 1995; those who are homeless (Rosenberg, Solarz, & Bai- Hersch, 1995). What is being posed or answered in ley, 1991). Ironically, when members of underserved these edgy discussions appears to be the question, groups do receive services, they tend to be over-rep- “how can psychology position itself to survive?” resented in the most restrictive and expensive service delivery settings, such as in-patient psychiatric facili- F a i t h -P r a x is I n t e g r a t io n a n d a n ties (Orford, 1992). E pidemiological P e r s p e c t iv e Many of the groups identified here are likely to Although not unsympathetic to the question of retain their underserved status in the future. Indeed, fiscal viability, we wish to raise a very different one. several are predicted to increase in proportion to Our question follows directly from a faith-praxis the total population. Recent percentages of eco- perspective on integration and asks the Christian nomically disadvantaged young children in this trainer of psychologists committed to the process of country, for example, are greater than any time in integration to consider “how can psychology posi- the last 30 years (Children’s Defense Fund, 1994). tion itself to serve?” While this question has impor- Likewise, over one-fifth of the U.S. population is tant theological origins discussed later in this article, projected to be age 65 or older by the year 2020 it also follows from an examination of existing pat- (APA, 1997), at which time so-called minority terns of mental health needs and resources in the groups will constitute a majority of the population United States. Data describing these patterns come (Takanashi & DeLeon, 1994). together to provide a sort of epidemiological ratio- Factors contributing to the underserved status of nale for “integration as service,” which has three these groups are as numerous and diverse as the basic components: (a) the allocation of resources groups themselves. The U.S. Surgeon General’s for existing mental health needs in the U.S. is dis- (1999) recent report on mental health acknowledged proportionate across populations, (b) practitioners cultural, financial, organizational, and diagnostic are disproportionately homogeneous, and (c) the influences on the underserved status of racial and tools available to practitioners (i.e., assessment and ethnic minority groups, for example.