Overview

Interest in mindfulness and contemplative thought is growing among Christians, and it's time to consider the place of contemplative prayer within the field of counseling. Can contemplative prayer be integrated into therapeutic work? Can it in fact serve as a foundation on which to build a new approach to counseling?In Contemplation and Counseling Gregg Blanton presents a new paradigm for integrating contemplative prayer with counseling practice. He contends that contemplative prayer can illuminate the purposes of counseling and suggest interventions that help us accomplish these goals. This paradigm builds an alliance between science, theology, and Christian contemplative thought to create a dynamic approach to counseling and balance various dimensions of the human person: emotion, cognition, and action. And by recognizing the power of both words and silence, it harmonizes their functions.Based on this integrative foundation, Blanton offers eleven fundamental interventions to fit the needs of clients (including silence, empathy, and teaching contemplative prayer) and a practical four-stage process for helping clients change, using examples from his own counseling experience and from the Bible. Ultimately, contemplative prayer leads us to the healing power of love. How we view our clients, the ways that we relate with them, and the strategies that we use to help them change are all informed by our loving search for God in contemplative prayer.Particular topics include how Christian contemplation compares with therapeutic uses of mindfulness insights from interpersonal neurobiology understood in light of Scripture psychological and spiritual benefits of lectio divina and centering prayer how practicing contemplative prayer can help counselors develop traits that correlate with positive client outcomes when and how to teach contemplative practices to clients the role of the body, emotions, conscious and unconscious mind, and behavior in contemplative practice and counseling Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS) Books explore how Christianity relates to mental health and behavioral sciences including psychology, counseling, social work, and marriage and family therapy in order to equip Christian clinicians to support the well-being of their clients.

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9780830828654

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Reviews

This is a must-read book for any Christian mental health professional wanting to cultivate the practice of contemplative prayer and to cultivate an experience of love in counseling. Blanton courageously illustrates how love is at the center of the contemplative counseling model that he is proposing, both as the goal and as the means to achieve that aim. He creatively blends findings from neuroscience and attachment science with a Christian theology of love as an antidote to human stress and fear. His contemplative-oriented style of counseling creatively weaves interventions influenced by Carl Rogers, Sue Johnson, Dan Siegel, and others together with interventions grounded in openness to receive God's love. In this inspiring and motivating book, Blanton presents a simple and accessible guide to centering prayer as a practice that can be taught to clients but only after the professional develops their own contemplative practice. --Lorrie Brubacher, author of Stepping into Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy, ICEEFT certified trainer in emotionally focused therapy This book lays out the fascinating links between the tradition of Christian contemplation, mindfulness, and the process of change in psychotherapy. It puts all of these in the context of the vibrant literature that makes up these three fields. Christians everywhere will find it enthralling and practical. --Sue Johnson, author of Created for Connection, developer of the emotionally focused model of couple and family therapy Gregg Blanton immerses us in a rich integration of the pattern of contemplative prayer, the discoveries of relational neuroscience, and the practice of psychotherapy. In lovely detail, he traces how the attributes of the relationship with God that emerge in centering prayer are identical to the attributes that help us be a healing presence for our clients. While this is stated in Christian terms, the process is applicable to anyone--both client and therapist--who senses that spirituality and psychotherapy are intertwined processes. In many ways, it is an invitation to clients as well as therapists to open to the inherent healing wisdom within and become mystics at the same time. This book is beautiful, inspiring, thorough, wise, and filled with heart. --Bonnie Badenoch, author of The Heart of Trauma: Healing the Embodied Brain in the Context of Relationships It is easy to be confused by the extravagant claims made for mindfulness in the media today. Here is a wise and measured guide to understanding the connections between the Christian-contemplative tradition and clinical-mindfulness practices. The book provides a rich survey of a wide range of helpful contemplative sources. It is more than a mere survey of practices and perspectives, it contains a clear invitation for readers to draw close to God through contemplative prayer. --James C. Wilhoit, professor of core studies and Scripture press professor of Christian education, Wheaton College

This book lays out the fascinating links between the tradition of Christian contemplation, mindfulness, and the process of change in psychotherapy. It puts all of these in the context of the vibrant literature that makes up these three fields. Christians everywhere will find it enthralling and practical. --Sue Johnson, author of Created for Connection, developer of the emotionally focused model of couple and family therapy This is a must-read book for any Christian mental health professional wanting to cultivate the practice of contemplative prayer and to cultivate an experience of love in counseling. Blanton courageously illustrates how love is at the center of the contemplative counseling model that he is proposing, both as the goal and as the means to achieve that aim. He creatively blends findings from neuroscience and attachment science with a Christian theology of love as an antidote to human stress and fear. His contemplative-oriented style of counseling creatively weaves interventions influenced by Carl Rogers, Sue Johnson, Dan Siegel, and others together with interventions grounded in openness to receive God's love. In this inspiring and motivating book, Blanton presents a simple and accessible guide to centering prayer as a practice that can be taught to clients but only after the professional develops their own contemplative practice. --Lorrie Brubacher, author of Stepping into Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy, ICEEFT certified trainer in emotionally focused therapy Gregg Blanton immerses us in a rich integration of the pattern of contemplative prayer, the discoveries of relational neuroscience, and the practice of psychotherapy. In lovely detail, he traces how the attributes of the relationship with God that emerge in centering prayer are identical to the attributes that help us be a healing presence for our clients. While this is stated in Christian terms, the process is applicable to anyone--both client and therapist--who senses that spirituality and psychotherapy are intertwined processes. In many ways, it is an invitation to clients as well as therapists to open to the inherent healing wisdom within and become mystics at the same time. This book is beautiful, inspiring, thorough, wise, and filled with heart. --Bonnie Badenoch, author of The Heart of Trauma: Healing the Embodied Brain in the Context of Relationships It is easy to be confused by the extravagant claims made for mindfulness in the media today. Here is a wise and measured guide to understanding the connections between the Christian-contemplative tradition and clinical-mindfulness practices. The book provides a rich survey of a wide range of helpful contemplative sources. It is more than a mere survey of practices and perspectives, it contains a clear invitation for readers to draw close to God through contemplative prayer. --James C. Wilhoit, professor of core studies and Scripture press professor of Christian education, Wheaton College

This is a must-read book for any Christian mental health professional wanting to cultivate the practice of contemplative prayer and to cultivate an experience of love in counseling. Blanton courageously illustrates how love is at the center of the contemplative counseling model that he is proposing, both as the goal and as the means to achieve that aim. He creatively blends findings from neuroscience and attachment science with a Christian theology of love as an antidote to human stress and fear. His contemplative-oriented style of counseling creatively weaves interventions influenced by Carl Rogers, Sue Johnson, Dan Siegel, and others together with interventions grounded in openness to receive God's love. In this inspiring and motivating book, Blanton presents a simple and accessible guide to centering prayer as a practice that can be taught to clients but only after the professional develops their own contemplative practice. --Lorrie Brubacher, author of Stepping into Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy, ICEEFT certified trainer in emotionally focused therapy Gregg Blanton immerses us in a rich integration of the pattern of contemplative prayer, the discoveries of relational neuroscience, and the practice of psychotherapy. In lovely detail, he traces how the attributes of the relationship with God that emerge in centering prayer are identical to the attributes that help us be a healing presence for our clients. While this is stated in Christian terms, the process is applicable to anyone--both client and therapist--who senses that spirituality and psychotherapy are intertwined processes. In many ways, it is an invitation to clients as well as therapists to open to the inherent healing wisdom within and become mystics at the same time. This book is beautiful, inspiring, thorough, wise, and filled with heart. --Bonnie Badenoch, author of The Heart of Trauma: Healing the Embodied Brain in the Context of Relationships It is easy to be confused by the extravagant claims made for mindfulness in the media today. Here is a wise and measured guide to understanding the connections between the Christian-contemplative tradition and clinical-mindfulness practices. The book provides a rich survey of a wide range of helpful contemplative sources. It is more than a mere survey of practices and perspectives, it contains a clear invitation for readers to draw close to God through contemplative prayer. --James C. Wilhoit, professor of core studies and Scripture press professor of Christian education, Wheaton College This book lays out the fascinating links between the tradition of Christian contemplation, mindfulness, and the process of change in psychotherapy. It puts all of these in the context of the vibrant literature that makes up these three fields. Christians everywhere will find it enthralling and practical. --Sue Johnson, author of Created for Connection, developer of the emotionally focused model of couple and family therapy

Author Information

P. Gregg Blanton (EdD) is professor of psychology and human services at Montreat College. He is founder of the Center for Contemplation and Marriage and is in private practice in Asheville, North Carolina, where he provides counseling and supervises counselors-in-training. He is the author of Mind Over Marriage: Transforming Your Relationship Using Centering Prayer and Neuroscience.

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