The Good News is, God brings us out of brokenness and draws us into relationship with him. the Christian message is hope- hope for redemption. Jesus Christ, our savior and redeemer, intercedes for us. We can be restored to God through the work of Christ.
It's a common assumption in the scientific counseling world that mental health can be separated from spiritual life. Yet the fullness of mind, body, and spirit is multifaceted, and can not thrive on psychology and psychotherapy alone. The truth is that we are spiritual beings surviving a physical world. We are living in the creator's design; it's the blueprint- so we need to approach the source of spiritual health through the spiritual helper, the Holy Spirit.
Just as any method of planning, we need a map- a map for spiritual growth. true to scripture and theologically sound, we can approach therapeutic art in a manner that is completely relevant to the mental health issues at hand. This map would assume a one- on one correspondence between spiritual and psychological health now complete separation of the two.
The Pattern of Healing:
The healing motif woven throughout the narrative of human history reflects a common pattern to healing and health. We see this pattern in good literature, in scripture, the calendar cycle, and one another's lives. the pattern begins with our distortion of what is good. We are created with a capacity for selfhood- which allows us to be kind, relational with god and others, and exercise creative energy. however, it is human nature to take freedom too far, asserting self-sufficiency without considering the consequences. the consequences of unbounded independence are woundedness, brokenness and pain.
We often think of brokenness as bad, but pain draws us into community with God and others.
Easter follows lent.
A new born child follows childbirth
Israels redemption follows separation
Paul was blinded so he could receive sight...
Virtually all characters in scripture knew the joy of God's Grace because they endured difficult circumstances in the time of suffering.
This pattern is seen in 1) Human development 2) Spiritual Growth and 3) psychological change.