Spiritual Growth
Growing into persons who understand themsevles to be in relation to God their Creator is a developmental process on several levels including the: cognitive, psychological, social, moral, as well as the spiritual. What I would like my clients to know is that besides my training as a therapist who has studied the social sciences, my theological training enables me to understand the emotional, relational and social difficulties that we experience as having some spiritual significance as well. This is what is meant by having a holistic perspective, or a bio/psycho/social/spiritual perspective of human development. It is a perspective that begins with the mere biological aspects of functioning; then progresses along a path of psychological development and socialization from within family and in relation to society; from which we develop some level of awareness of ourselves as spiritual beings...beings created by, and in some relationship to, and subject to, God.
It is my desire and great pleasure to help people gain clarity and certainty of their beliefs and their relationship with our eternal Father, through His son Jesus Christ.
In Spiritual Counseling, I assist clients in recognizing the patterns and process of the Human Nature to Sin that is both psychological and spiritual, which is continuing to activate within us in ways that inhibit us and/or motivatiing us in various ways to produce an unwillingness to love one another; and which produces seemingly justified defensive reactions toward intimate, as well as non-intimate relations, putting us in emotion states, stances and postures of being unwilling or unable to give and recieve fairness, forgiveness and care as manesfestations of love from and to one another.
To assist in Spiritual change, I assit clients in recognizing their unique experience of the Human Nature to Sin that is acting itself out as they have been experiencing negative emotions and thoughts, and have formed their justifications for being or remaining in un-loving relation to other, even to self. And, as their awareness of un-loving activity and stances toward others (i.e., their heart condition) becomes clear to them, clients are assisted in learning the various ways that Christ teaches us to use our emotions and thoughts differently than we do by default, in order that loving states, stances and behaviors are developed for being able to - in the moment - to be loving, and to recieve love, as well.
As people search for meaning in life, we inevitably wonder about God and our relationship with him. That is the essence of all religion, i.e. "man searching for God." I believe that the scriptures of the Holy Bible are God's revelation of himself to us, and that these same scriptures reveal the true and accurate moral condition of us in relation to Him. A condition that we can not remedy on our own, but which in God's grace is remedied for us, to be recieved soley by faith in Christ's atoning death and ressurection, so that we may abide in Him - be empowered by His teachings and His life - to be able to love one another and relate to God. I am convinced that God wants us to know Him and that we come to know Him intimately by belief in Christ and through uniting with Him as Lord of life.
Learning to live with Christ as Lord is not automatic with various or certain religious facts or beliefs, but is a continuous and recursive process of submitting our lives to him as we grow developmentally and move through the cycles of life. Life presents to us many points of transition (Life Transitions) in life which challenge our understandings, our knowledge, and our relationships. Our responses to those moments also challenge our union with and dependence on Christ; and we find that our relationship with Him needs to be deepened or broadened to encompass our developing experiences. But if we realize that we have become adrift on the sea of life without Him, having been tossed to and fro by the winds of self-reliance and disobedience...Wouldn't it be nice to have a friend to throw us a life line, to help us reorient ourselves to "the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6) in Christ.
As you need, may I be such a friend to you. You can contact me at (502) 376-0129
Send a Message Now regarding your concerns about Growing Spiritually as well as psychologically.
Sincerely,
Bill Marrett, LMFT