Speaking engagements can be tailored to the interests of therapists/counselors, pastors/ministers, or churches. Request single- or multi-day events, online or in-person, with our Scholar-in-Residence, Eric L. Johnson, Ph.D., or any of our Fellows.
Review the list of available topics and click to request an engagement. Or suggest a topic not listed below.
Therapists &
Counselors
Pastors &
Ministers
Churches &
Nonprofits
For Therapists & Counselors
T1 Christian Therapy is Relational Therapy
Summary
A thorough overview of the relational basis of Christian therapy and how it differs from modern, secular therapy. The Trinity is a relational God and humans are created in his image. A Christian worldview, therefore, sees relationship as the primary modality of therapy. It would include some discussion of the Relational Pyramid (Triune God, others, oneself, and one's' relational history), with a special focus on the impact of one's family-of-origin, and the healing potential of having a close relationship with God, a therapist, and one or more healthy Christian friends.
Duration
3 hrs to 3 days
A thorough overview of the relational basis of Christian therapy and how it differs from modern, secular therapy. The Trinity is a relational God and humans are created in his image. A Christian worldview, therefore, sees relationship as the primary modality of therapy. It would include some discussion of the Relational Pyramid (Triune God, others, oneself, and one's' relational history), with a special focus on the impact of one's family-of-origin, and the healing potential of having a close relationship with God, a therapist, and one or more healthy Christian friends.
Duration
3 hrs to 3 days
T2 Carditive Therapy: Working with the Emotions in the Heart
Summary
The emotions are meaningful features of human life that provide some of the richest sources of therapeutic movement. In this seminar we look at the purposes of the emotions in a fallen world, being to work with them therapeutically, and see how they contribute to the formation of a beautiful soul.
Duration
3 hrs to 2 days
The emotions are meaningful features of human life that provide some of the richest sources of therapeutic movement. In this seminar we look at the purposes of the emotions in a fallen world, being to work with them therapeutically, and see how they contribute to the formation of a beautiful soul.
Duration
3 hrs to 2 days
T3 Promoting Redemption in the Window of Tolerance
Summary
People developed automatic neurobiological ways to respond to harm when they were growing up: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. An important part of Christ-centered therapy involves helping counselees identify these embodied patterns, while calming their nervous system, in order to modify the negative emotion schemes that formed and maintained them and to introduce redemptive resources that can further their modification, so they can develop a safe place and find rest and peace in Christ more consistently.
Duration
1-3 hrs
People developed automatic neurobiological ways to respond to harm when they were growing up: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn. An important part of Christ-centered therapy involves helping counselees identify these embodied patterns, while calming their nervous system, in order to modify the negative emotion schemes that formed and maintained them and to introduce redemptive resources that can further their modification, so they can develop a safe place and find rest and peace in Christ more consistently.
Duration
1-3 hrs
T4 Can Christians Have “Parts”?
Summary
Internal Family Systems Therapy has found great therapeutic success in helping people identify and harmonize "parts," aspects of the self that often began developing in childhood and formed a quasi-independent perspective or orientation that has a consistent, if rather simple, pattern of thinking, feeling, and relating to others that can be activated in situations that resemble the context of their origins, but that individuals typically identify with themselves (in contrast to DID). Does the Christian therapy community have good reasons to be skeptical of "parts," or is this perspective towards therapy be incorporated into its work with Christians? Relevant Christian teaching and therapeutic wisdom will be offered to develop a distinctly Christian approach to therapy with parts.
Duration
1-3 hrs
Internal Family Systems Therapy has found great therapeutic success in helping people identify and harmonize "parts," aspects of the self that often began developing in childhood and formed a quasi-independent perspective or orientation that has a consistent, if rather simple, pattern of thinking, feeling, and relating to others that can be activated in situations that resemble the context of their origins, but that individuals typically identify with themselves (in contrast to DID). Does the Christian therapy community have good reasons to be skeptical of "parts," or is this perspective towards therapy be incorporated into its work with Christians? Relevant Christian teaching and therapeutic wisdom will be offered to develop a distinctly Christian approach to therapy with parts.
Duration
1-3 hrs
T5 Redemptive Differentiation, Integration, and Elaboration on the Healing Journey
Summary
In this workshop, we explore three, very practical ways that Christ's redemption and union with him can orient and guide therapy with Christians.
Duration
3-6 hrs
In this workshop, we explore three, very practical ways that Christ's redemption and union with him can orient and guide therapy with Christians.
Duration
3-6 hrs
T6 Working at the Highest Levels Possible, but the Lowest Levels Necessary: Multiple Dimensions of Human Beings (Embodied, Psychosocial, Ethical, and Spiritual) and How They’re Interrelated
Summary
Secular therapy reduces human complexity to biopsychosocial dynamics. A Christian worldview takes into account such dynamics, but also recognizes humans have ethical and spiritual qualities that impact psychopathology and enrich therapy by offering additional resources to work with.
Duration
3-6 hrs
Secular therapy reduces human complexity to biopsychosocial dynamics. A Christian worldview takes into account such dynamics, but also recognizes humans have ethical and spiritual qualities that impact psychopathology and enrich therapy by offering additional resources to work with.
Duration
3-6 hrs
T7 Christian Trauma-Based Narrative Therapy: Working through One's Story in Light of Christ's Story
Summary
This approach to therapy concentrates on doing Christ-centered story-work with Christians with unresolved trauma.
Duration
2 hrs to 3 days
This approach to therapy concentrates on doing Christ-centered story-work with Christians with unresolved trauma.
Duration
2 hrs to 3 days
T8 Training in the Distinctive Practices of Christ-Centered Therapy
Summary
Each of the following is a therapeutic practice distinctive to Christian therapy:
T8A - Therapeutic Prayer: Praying from Head to Heart (1-6 hrs)
T8B - Lectio Divina: Reading the Bible from Head to Heart (1-6 hrs)
T8C - Using the Imagination in Christ-Centered Therapy (1-6 hrs)
T8D - Chair-Work in Christ-Centered Therapy (1-6 hrs)
T8E - How Christian Meditation Works (1-3 hrs)
T8F - Working with Religious Defenses and Spiritual By-Pass (1-3 hrs)
Each of the following is a therapeutic practice distinctive to Christian therapy:
T8A - Therapeutic Prayer: Praying from Head to Heart (1-6 hrs)
T8B - Lectio Divina: Reading the Bible from Head to Heart (1-6 hrs)
T8C - Using the Imagination in Christ-Centered Therapy (1-6 hrs)
T8D - Chair-Work in Christ-Centered Therapy (1-6 hrs)
T8E - How Christian Meditation Works (1-3 hrs)
T8F - Working with Religious Defenses and Spiritual By-Pass (1-3 hrs)
For Pastors & Ministers
P1 The Work of a Pastor
Subtopics
- A Realistic Model of Pastoral Counseling
- Listening to the Head and the Heart
- Clinically Informed Pastoring
- Interpreting the Old Testament for Soul-Care (or Wisdom Literature, or the Psalms, or Proverbs)
- Dealing with Depression, Anxiety, and Pornography
- Dealing with Marital Conflict
- Feed My Sheep: Addressing the Strong and the Weak
P2 The Life of the Church
Subtopics
- The Role of a Pastor in God’s Soul-Care Agenda
- Cultivating a Communion of Friends in One’s Church
- Crafting Worship Services for the Care of Souls
- Developing a Referral List of Counselors You Can Work With
- A Practical Knowledge of Psychological Disorders
- The Church as the Center of God’s Soul Care Agenda
P3 Christian Spirituality and the Christian Life
Subtopics
- Communion with God
- Union with Christ: The Basis of the Christian Life
- Balancing Head and Heart in the Christian Life
- Contemplative Prayer for Protestants
- A Brief History of Christian Spirituality
- Spiritual Development in Adulthood or Are There Stages in the Christian Life?
- Dealing with Suffering Holistically
P4 Promoting Spiritual Practices with Love and Grace
Subtopics
- Reading the Psalms for the Care of Souls or Reading the Psalms in Christ
- Reading the Book of Proverbs in the New Covenant
- A Brief History of Christian Spirituality
- What is Lectio Divina (spiritual reading) of the Bible
- Practicing Christian Meditation
- Meditation: West and East
P5 Embodying Christianity
Subtopics
- The Emotions: Signs of Life
- What the Body and Brain Contribute to the Christian Life
- Medication: Gift or Curse?
For Churches & Nonprofits
C1 The Christian Life
Subtopics
- How God is Good for the Soul
- Jesus the Center
- Spiritual Development in Adulthood or Are There Stages in the Christian Life?
C2 Spiritual Practices
Subtopics
- Practicing Christian Meditation
- Spiritual Reading of the Bible
- Reading the Psalms to Meet with Jesus
- Reading the Book of Proverbs in the New Covenant
- Different Kinds of Prayer
C3 The Life of the Church
Subtopics
- The Church as a Communion of Friends
- Psychology and Christianity: The Five Ways Most Christians Approach Psychology
- The Emotions: Signs of Life
- Balancing the Head and the Heart
- Attachment in Families and Attachment to God
- The Christian Faith and the Imagination
- What the Body and Brain Contribute to the Christian Life
C4 Family Life
Subtopics
- Parenting from the Heart
- Overcoming Conflict in Marriage
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