Chad, what’s next?!
ps. me?
I’m currently being scheduled for some sort of psych
exam, by my new doctor.
Who, btw totally is into the idea of holistic health & natural healing: as in, working with nature(God) to help th ehealing/healthy-living processes.

Rich in Maine

ps. we’re working on the adoption of an 8 year old Haitian boy!
(http://spring.gouette.com/)

“As far as Dr. Szasz is concerned, no I don’t agree with his position as a whole or much of his ideologies, just what he spoke of in the video.”

With all due respect, then surely you are doing what you have accused those who have been ‘fooled’ by psychiatry/psychology of doing? I find it impossible to separate a particular line of teaching from an individual who has been shown to be corrupt/disproved/faulty in ideology. Maybe I’m an idealist, but surely one rotten apple spoils the whole barrel, so to speak – if a person is untrustworthy, how can we trust what they say – even if it does meet a need or a belief system of our own?

I ask this especially in light of the desire to be ‘true to scripture’ and unwaveringly biblical in our approach to how we approach illness. How far are we true to God’s word if we’ll accept what someone untrustworthy has said, even if we agree with one particular teaching? Surely if we are going to extend the teaching of Dr Szasz a measure of grace, the least we can expect is the same measure of grace to be extended to the medical professional, patient or carer who are striving to ‘do no harm’ in healing people, or achieving some sort of equilibrium for themselves in order to make value judgements for the Kingdom?

Just some thoughts that I’ve honestly been mulling over, not just in retrospect of the comments here, but I thought it might be a valid (if not a little all over the place!) point to raise.

I tend to be proud and it took Chad’s gracious response to help me see that that is indeed what I was doing. A sermon I listened to recently was truly convicting as Albert Mohler stated that if we cannot speak [write] the truth in love, we defeat our purpose. Whether or not you agree with my position, I was wrong to come out so harshly and I am sorry.

Please forgive me everyone for coming across so bluntly and not with kindness or compassion.

As far as Dr. Szasz is concerned, no I don’t agree with his position as a whole or much of his ideologies, just what he spoke of in the video. Thank you Sarah for pointing that out.

Once again my apologies to everyone. May the Lord be with you all and may you find his mercies new every morning.

~Patrick

Let me start off by saying that I wandered in here via you wife’s blog, which I’ve been following for the past few months. Briefly, my (ex) wife had an affair and divorced me for the other man. I’ve been standing for the restoration of my marriage despite the circumstances. Yours and Sarah’s story has given me much hope for healing and forgiveness in my marriage. God has done a mighty work in both of you, and I praise Him for that.

I was hesitant to weigh in on this discussion for fear that my input would not be welcome. I realize that the negative reactions so far are likely more the result of the method rather than the message as noted above. So I will share my perspective for what its worth.

I am a psychologist. I have a master’s degree in clinical psychology and and PhD in industrial/organizational psychology. I work as an assessment scientist, developing tests that are used to screen job applicants. I also teach psych and business courses part-time at local universities. For the vast majority of my life I have embraced everything scientific.

In my personal life, I struggled with porn for all of my adult life, and in recent years I used it as a means to medicate what was diagnosed as clinical depression. I spent several years in psychotherapy for the depression and a daily porn addiction. By all accounts I should be a strong advocate for the practice of psychology. For years I was. I have now called those beliefs into question.

Why the change? First, let me clarify that I am not discounting the entire field. I am just looking at it now from an entirely different perspective – the perspective of someone who has been saved through an amazing personal encounter with God. When my wife dropped the bomb in September of 2008 and said she wanted out, I had been openly dealing with the porn addiction and depression. I was also out of work. I could not imagine being at a point any lower than where I was. I believed in God, but was not a believer. I was a cultural Christian at best. But in my darkest hour, God met me there and revealed himself to me in a most undeniable way. And He led me out. In the time where I should have been depressed to the point of suicide, He gave me an incredible hope. In the time where I should have been medicating with porn to deal with the stress of a marital breakup and loss of my family, He showed me the means of walking away from it cold turkey and entering a path of absolute celibacy for 7 months. If anyone would have told me that Jesus was going to heal me, I would have thought that they were nuts. But that is exactly what happened to me. No depression, no porn addiction, a heart of flesh. None of this can be explained by psychology in my opinion. This all came about by the grace of God.

So here I was a new believer, devouring the Word of God and seeking to know Him, watching in utter amazement as He revealed Himself repeatedly in my life. I was also wondering why my profession was not the answer to what I was struggling with. Why was I clueless about the true source from which my healing would come? Did my profession even embrace the notion of healing through Christian spirituality? So I started to look at psychology from a new perspective. I took another look at Wundt and James, the fathers of the profession whom I had taught about. I reexamined Freud, Ellis, and Rogers, noted as the most influential psychologists in the practice of psychotherapy. What I learned was that these men were all atheists – individuals for whom God had no relevance. And then it made sense to me why God was not part of their solution to life’s afflictions that originate in the mind. And I understood why there was such an emphasis on self-esteem in the practice of modern psychology, the antithesis of a life lived for Christ. The entire foundation of the profession of psychology is built on an atheistic perspective. Yes, some have integrated psychology and Christianity, but the atheistic foundation still remains.

Modern psychology places the self at the center, but often places the source of the solution to affliction outside of the individual – in drugs or a therapist. Putting this in psychological terms, the locus of control for mental affliction is external. This leads to feelings of helplessness and dependency. Modern psychology also removes any of the accountability that we bear for our situations, instead allowing us to adopt a victim mentality and place the blame externally, such as on our parents or circumstances. My therapists were happy to offer all sorts of justifications for my porn use, and I happily latched onto them because it allowed me to avoid responsibility. Faith in Christ, however, empowers us to have control, not as a result of relying on our own strength but by allowing Him to be our strength (Phillipians 4:13). Through Him we become victors. I am not discounting the effects of things such as traumatic childhood experiences, but too much of an emphasis on them takes the focus off of where it should be for a believer – our faith.

My only purpose in sharing this is to give you another perspective on psychology from an insider. I am not discounting whatever challenges people may be dealing with. I would just encourage people to fully consider in what and in whom they are putting their faith for a solution to their challenges.

Peace,
Rainer

It has less to do with what you say then how you say it. If you choose to disagree with someone, please do so with love and not arrogance. I understand that you do not believe that mental illness is a legitimate medical condition. That is fine. However, it is how you present your position that is disconcerting.

As followers of Christ, we are all to learn to how to be ‘slow to speak and quick to listen.’ We are also to show love to our fellow believers and nonbelievers alike. (Honestly, most people won’t watch the videos you post or read your complete post if it is shared with an air of arrogance and comes across as you know better than everyone else.)

I pray that you will come to learn how to share your views with love.

Chad, I thank you for being so kind and showing Christ through your response. I pray that God will use your struggle with ADD to help others.