I just received the latest issue of the Journal of Psychology and Christianity (JPC). The whole thing is dedicated to the subject of the integration of these two domains.

At the same time, I realise that some people believe because I write about Christianity, I am just that psychologist you go see if you believe in God and want Christian counselling.

That would be a mistake.

How does a registered psychologist, a member of several professional associations of therapists and psychologists, put together the various facets of life so as to function as a whole and spiritually authentic person while still carrying out the professional responsibilities for which he or she is licensed or registered?

How does one do this, especially when for decades the two disciplines of religion and psychology have been in conflict?

About 30 years ago I met my first Christian psychologist. His name is James R. Beck. He was helpful to my family in various ways before I went away to seminary, and after I graduated and was called to be Minister of Children at our church, we served together on the same board of elders.

Later, at the same time I was called to become the pastor of a small church in southern Monterey Valley, California, he accepted a position teaching on the faculty of Denver Seminary, in Colorado, and our church had a farewell party for the both of us at the same time.

After a full career there, and several books later, Jim is retiring this year, so it was a pleasure to notice he had written an article in the JPC on integration, titled 'Integration: The Next 50 Years'.

In his article, quoting L.G. Christophorou's book, 'The Place of Science in a World of Values and Facts', Jim stated that people these days have acquired enormous new knowledge, but have limited understanding; more expertise, but hardly more wisdom; greater power, but doubtfully greater personal and social responsibility.

In a world such as that, those attempting to integrate the two fields of Christianity and psychology have their hands full.

Increasingly the demand is for evidence-based practice, so Jim suggested that such folks might have to produce evidence that their integrative approach worked. When I started thinking about that, I began to wonder what kind of therapy that might be.

Is there such a thing as a specifically psycho-Christian intervention? Would that be something anyone might replicate or would it be something only a Christian psychologist, working with a Christian client, be able to perform? The whole issue got sticky pretty quickly.

To me, it is not possible to create the integration as a stand-alone model that anyone might utilise.

To integrate psychology and Christianity one must embrace both, know both, and be shaped by both. The integration is not in the system but in the person of the practitioner. I integrate psychology and Christianity as an aspect of my being. I do it in my own way.

Another Christian psychologist would do it in his or her own way. There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all Christian psychologist, just as there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all pastor or priest.

For example, I do not lead with the Bible, and in fact, I rarely refer to the Bible at all. I am not a Biblical counsellor, as such. To lead with the Bible, and to use Bible verses like pills one might prescribe to address the symptoms of various maladies, would be to function more like a pastoral counsellor.

Some Christian therapists follow that model. Rather, I lead with the relationship between myself, one human being, and the client, another human being.

I take my cue from the person who comes to me for help, and if they bring an issue that directly relates to God and/or the Bible, then I can go there with them.

If they don't, then even though I have my beliefs, I do not go to the issue of God and how a person might "get right" with God.

Some Christian therapists might feel compelled to do so, but to do so in my opinion would be to function more like an evangelist.

There are many people capable of working out the integration of Christianity and psychology. Some are pastors, and some are therapists.

What is needed, when meeting with such people, is to interview them in order to ascertain how they, as unique individuals, balance the two. That way the client can discern if they are getting what they really need and want.