Christian Worldview & Mental Health

Christian concern for the whole person includes both mind and body, so this volume encourages readers to think about theoretical and spiritual issues within Christian mental health care. Views are collected from various disciplines such as ethics, psychology, theology, counseling, and psychiatry. With its variety of topics and authors having in common a biblically-based worldview, this text acts as a handbook for mental health professionals, clergy, as well as educators and students in the social/behavioral/health sciences and religion. In its consideration of a spiritual identity in mental health theory and practice, this volume will prove very valuable to mental health education.

"While numerous articles and books have been written about the theoretical and philosophical foundations of mental health, mental illness, research, and treatment, comparatively few have been published on the interrelationship of spirituality, religion, and psychiatry. This volume, while discussing a wide variety of topics, is held together by writers who share a common biblically-based worldview. I believe that many mental health professionals, academics, and others will find A Christian Worldview and Mental Health stimulating, challenging, and rewarding. My hope would be that it inspire a new generation of interest, research, and clinical applications in this important area."
Richard K. Harding, MD, Chair and Professor
Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science
University of South Carolina School of Medicine
Past president, American Psychiatric Association

"This volume provides timely new information that provides a foundation that can usher in a new era in which we thoughtfully and comprehensively confront the challenge of mental health and mental illness in the church and society. The collection of essays provide an in-depth look, not only at a biblically-informed, nuanced, conceptual perspective on mental health but also a practical guide for scholars, mental health professionals, and clergy. It will be an indispensable handbook for many."
David R. Williams, PhD
Florence and Laura Norman Professor of Public Health
and of African and African American Studies Harvard University

"This volume is simultaneously comprehensive and useful. It builds on the historic commitment of Seventh-day Adventists to wholistic health by drawing on empirical research, clinical practice, and the Bible.…Some parts present a Seventh-day Adventist perspective, such as the chapter on the Sabbath as a resource for marriage enrichment, while others draw on concepts shared by people in many faith traditions. It concludes with a section on the education and supervision of mental health practitioners. As such, it will be of value to students and educators in the social/behavioral and health sciences, as well as those in religion and theology."
Lisa M. Beardsley, PhD,
Director of Education General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

"The book's major contributions lie with its intentionality to apply a Christian worldview to various clinical practices and institutional cultures. In this sense it moves from the theoretical to the applied in creative and suggestive ways. It provides a reasoned integrative path of how mental health clinicians and educators alike can confidently claim a faith that seeks understanding without it being sacrificed on the table of humanistic philosophy. And yet, it challenges those who hold Christian worldviews to make their claims credible through empirical evidence."
Edwin I. Hernandez, PhD
Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of Latino Religion University of Notre Dame

"Through scientific and careful analysis, the authors explore some of the factors that impact the state of human mental wellness and healing. Any therapeutic recommendations harmonize with their worldview of God's restorative intention. The primacy of mental health in the way we adapt and adjust to physical disability underscores the importance of a unified biblical worldview. To face physical adversity with an equanimity of spirit is bolstered by belief in an eternal God Who moves to ensure the ultimate best."
Allan R. Handysides, ChB,
Director Department of Health Ministries General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

Contents
Preface and Acknowledgements
Abbreviations for Bible Versions
SECTION 1: SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS AND MENTAL HEALTH
A Christian Worldview and Mental Health: An Introduction and Background to the Symposium Carlos Fayard
Adventists and Mental Health: Remembering Who We Are George T. Harding IV
SECTION 2: THEORETICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS
Ellen White and Mental Health Merlin D. Burt
Faith-Science Issues: An Epistemological Perspective E. Edward Zinke
Christian Epistemological Foundations for the Behavioral Sciences Miroslav M. Kis
Mental Health and Human Wholeness: Implications from Biblical Anthropology Richard Rice
Response to "Mental Health and Human Wholeness: Implications from Biblical Anthropology" Bruce Anderson
The Science of Psychology and the Ethics of Freedom: An Adventist's Perspective Gerald R. Winslow
SECTION 3: RESEARCH: FAITH AND WELL-BEING
Scientific Research on the Study of Religion/Spirituality and Mental Health: Lessons, Positive Affirmations, and Disquieting Questions David R. Williams
Sabbath as a Resource for Marriage Jana K. Boyd
Children's Perceptions of God's Role in Their Families: An Exploratory Study Barbara Couden Hernandez and Jamie D. Aten
SECTION 4: CLINICAL APPLICATIONS
Clinical Implications for the Practice of Psychotherapy from the Seventh-day Adventist Tradition: A Summary Carlos Fayard
The Science of Forgiveness: Implications for Christian Faith Henry H. Lamberton and Antonia Ciovica
A Personal Integration of God in Psychiatric Treatment: Alcoholics Anonymous as a Paradigm David Mee-Lee and Bruce Anderson
"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he": Seventh-day Adventists with Maladaptive Beliefs and Compensatory Strategies in Psychotherapy Kendal C. Boyd
Comprehensive Oncology Patient Services and the Organizational Mission "To Make Man Whole": Implications and Challenges for the Adventist Health System Deane L. Wolcott and Carlos Fayard
SECTION 5: EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Supervision of Spiritual Issues in Psychotherapy Training: Contributions from an Adventist Worldview Barbara Couden Hernandez
Psychiatry and the Spiritual Life: Loma Linda University's Curriculum for Psychiatry Residency Training William Murdoch, Antonia Ciovica, and Carlos Fayard
Contributors
Index