CCC 27-1_LR

CLINICAL PRACTICE

or any other people-centered profession, the three indi vidual aspects that God created—mind, body, and spirit— must be acknowledged. Each part needs its own specific solutions to work together harmoniously. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit (connection to God), soul (mind), and body (physical body) be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23, NKJV). First Thessalonians 5:23 explains that the God of peace will sanctify us completely in our minds, bodies, and spirits. A life of peace sounds wonderful, and that is exactly how God sanctifies us—through peace. The spirit connects us to God and gives us an understanding of our relation ship with Him, should we choose to engage within our free will. While using the terminology of current culture—mind, body, and spirit—Paul emphasizes and prioritizes the spirit in this verse. Without a spirit connected to God, we can only offer tips, techniques, and formulas for human living. We are all poor in spirit and need Christ. The Bible uses the word soul to refer to the mind, which includes emotions, awareness, and mental processes through which we ex perience existence. The body physically connects with the environment through the senses, allowing us to experience human form and interact with the world around us. The mind needs mind solutions, the body needs body solutions, and the spirit needs spiritual solutions. Mind solutions could include reading the Bible, memorizing Scripture, practicing emotional regulation skills, turning off the phone or TV, or using psychological techniques to process life events, suffering, grief, trauma, etc. Body solu tions could involve strength training, physical exercise, sports, eating a healthy diet with enough protein, or drink ing sufficient water. We do not pray away body fat (even though that would be nice), and we do not pray away bio logical conditions, such as anxiety alarms. The idea here is to recognize that the human body needs specific solutions to function in conjunction with the mind and spirit. The spirit needs spiritual solutions. Every human being needs a connection with the Creator. Jesus reminds us that we are all poor in spirit and in need of Him (Matthew 5:3). When there is a discrepancy, inconsistency, or im balance between conviction and behavior, the spirit must be addressed just as much as the behavior. These three individual components work in a tri-directional relation ship to create harmony, complementing each other and impacting thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It is easy to see the overlap: a mind solution, such as memorizing Scripture, affects the soul’s connection to God, renewing our minds with truth and providing physical benefits for the brain. Strength training, a body solution, is crucial for mental health, which integrates the spiritual conviction of caring for the body as a temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), the habit of working out, and the benefits for both mind and spirit. In any form of leadership, ministry, or counseling, there is wisdom in correctly identifying issues and assist ing clients with the appropriate solutions.

To experience abundant life or peace in our human form, created in God’s image, we need a salutogenic ap proach to address “… illness consequences of psychosocial factors, however these consequences might be expressed” (Mittelmark et al., 2022, p. 11). Some expressions of illness involve spiritual discord due to a lack of conviction for change, which must be addressed at the spiritual level. Other expressions of illness are the result of a refusal to address body issues or the need for mind solutions and perspective. We must be cautious when assigning a spiri tual problem to a body or mind issue. Yes, Christians can suffer from body problems and still be saved. Yes, Chris tians can suffer from mind problems and still be saved. As health-focused interventions grow, we must call on the Holy Spirit for wisdom and discernment. Salutogenesis addresses the assets, resources, or capacities in a person’s life that apply to health and build an overall sense of coherence (Mittelmark et al., 2022). This approach addresses the whole human—mind, body, and spirit. Biblically, this includes securing identity in Christ, growing and walking in godly character, addressing the spirit’s connectedness with God, living in gratitude, learning acceptance, practicing forgiveness, discovering belonging in the body of Christ, and living in the hope of eternity. These are the assets and healthy resources every human can shape, mature, and grow without focusing solely on diagnosis or disease. The trend in Christian society is to provide holistic and salutogenic approaches by understanding and address ing the mind, body, and spirit individually and together to claim God’s abundant life. This method invites God’s peace into the sanctification process, becoming more whole in our humanity, gaining mental stability, and growing in spiritual maturity. ;

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Amy Oberg, MSP, BCCC , is the owner of the mental health center Hope & Health Hub, which offers counseling, groups, and online mental health tools. She is also the author of four books, including the Cloud Tool Journal , which features a journal for marriage and is working on one for Generation Z. Amy has been married to her amazing hus band for 23 years, and they have one married daughter with two grandchil dren.

References Mittelmark, M.B., Bauer, G.F., Vaandrager, L., & Pelikan, J.M. (Eds.). (2022). The handbook of salutogenesis (2nd ed.). Springer. https://doi. org/10.1007/978-3-030-79515-3. New King James Version. (1982). The Holy Bible. Thomas Nelson. https:// www.thomasnelsonbibles.com/nkjv.

16 Christian Counseling Connection