How God Contributes to our Therapeutic Change

We’ve all heard the old counselor “light bulb” joke: Q: “How many therapists does it take to change a light bulb? A: Just one, but the light bulb really has to want to change.” But have you heard this one? Q: “How many Presbyterians does it take to change a light bulb? A: None. God either has or has not ordained the light bulb’s change.” I think the joke is funny even though it is a bit unfair to Presbyterians. It does, nevertheless, raise an interesting question about God’s role in people’s therapeutic change (in contrast to other changes, such as growing up, growing out, and growing old). Christian psychology cares about this question, as do dedicated Christian counselors. Here is one brief, introductory answer.

The Challenge to Find a Timeless Concept of Change

Understanding how people change should be a persistent pursuit for those of us who practice or are training others to become practitioners of psychological healing. I wonder about our paradigms of change though. I was taught in an era in which personality theories were very important. In fact, in my doctoral training program there were three required courses on personality theory and psychopathology, each from the perspective of a different personality theory. We didn’t talk about the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM). This was before the multi-axis DSM-III. I suppose because I’ve experienced this shift in the conceptualization of psychological problems and movement away from identifying with personality theories, it may explain why I wonder if even now we truly understand change. Also, I have to wonder how people thought personal change happened before there were psychological theories. It seems we tend to think of our own time period as having the most advanced and accurate ideas. However, perhaps beyond current conceptualizations, there have always been common factors that most significantly account for change.