Darrell Smith

Christian Therapists’ Utilization of Bibliotherapeutic Resources

This article reports the results of a survey of a representative sample of the membership of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies International to discover the books and audio-visuals which would be endorsed as most helpful with a variety of “problems” in living. The areas to which the sample was asked to respond were self-concept, parenting, singleness, marriage and family, finances, dating, midlife crises and aging, emotional conflict, sex therapy, homosexuality, divorce, death and dying, assertiveness, guilt, and counseling theory. In addition, respondents were asked to note the Christian book which had most influenced their therapeutic approach and to indicate whom they considered to be the most influential Christian writer in the field of psychotherapy at the present time. Some comments are made about the survey results and an annotated bibliography of the books identified as “useful” by the respondents is included.

Personal Growth Groups: A Comparison of the Experiences of Anglo and Mexican Americans.

The use of group process with ethnic minorities is a scarcely researched area. Nor has much effort been made to examine the comparative effect of group procedures on white and ethnic populations. Group counseling and group process have centered disproportionately on the white middle-class stratum of society. Furthermore, when group procedures have been applied to ethnic minorities, the tendency has been to do so without first taking into account differing psychic structures, values systems, and culture-specific lifestyles. Group leaders and therapists have been cautioned about transplanting attitudes, values, and psychotherapeutic procedures from one culture into another (Calnek, 1970; Heckel, 1975; Keneshige, 1975; Kibel, 1972; Ruiz, 1975; Slavson, 1964; Stratton, 1975; Vassiliou and Vassiliou, 1974; Yamamoto, 1971). The general belief is that effective group work requires a functional awareness that &dquo;it is not

Dyadic Encounter: The Foundation of Dialogue and Group Process.

It is a truism that contemporary man lives in virtual isolation from both self and others. Individuals, in the larger part, exist mutually excluded from one another due to sociopsychological barriers resident in the internal and external environments. The situation can be appropriately conceptualized as a &dquo;barreled-in&dquo; or nonencountering existence where man is either unable or unwilling to open himself to self and others and to discover and experience reciprocally essential personhood. The small group approach was pioneered principally to provide a therapeutic microcosm in which persons could engage each other in meaningful dialogue and to foster better intraand interpersonal as well

Response to the Philosophical Bias of Humanist Manifesto II

This paper presents the responses of a Christian psychologist to the philosophical bias of the 1973 Humanist Manifesto II. Six specific attacks on theism and traditional religion are redressed followed by a personal statement regarding the authors reflections on naturalistic humanism. The article concludes with a focus on the basic issue between naturalists and theists and its relevance to the counseling process.