Does psychology help or hinder spiritual formation?

Being informed about human psychology is almost a requirement of contemporary soul care. It informs us of the workings of the human psyche and the mind’s relationship to the body. Understanding the techniques of counseling can assist us in our dealings with people and our ability to provide a compassionate response to people in crisis. (I’m going to use the terms psychology and counseling like they’re interchangeable during this post even though they aren’t.)

Psychology can be helpful in making a person self-aware. For instance, people can learn about stimuli that trigger certain behaviors in themselves. It can help them understand the stages of life and characteristics of a crisis. Behavioral counseling in particular can be very helpful in changing behavior. These are just a few of the beneficial aspects of counseling and each of them can have “Christian” applications.

Psychology can be misused, too. A person can say “That’s just the way I am” as a way of avoiding responsibility for their behavior. (Actually, come to think of it that’s more of a misunderstanding of psychology.) We can all be “victims” forgetting that we’ve all done our share of victimizing.

It’s critical to keep in mind that we don’t rely on counseling techniques any more than our business expertise in working with sinners. We rely on God and our work is Spirit inspired and Spirit empowered.