History of Psychology, Religion, and Missions
Early History of Psychology
Structuralism
Functionalism
Systems of Psychology
Psychoanalysis
Behaviorism
Humanistic Psychology
International Roots of Psychology
Psychology and Religion
Second Half of the 19th Century: Coexistence
First Half of the 20th Century: Conflict
Second Half of the 20th Century: Integration & Backlash
Psychology and Missions
Conferences
Books
Periodicals
Websites
Personal Member Care
Graduate Education
Conclusion
(Part Two of Chapter 1 in Dewey’s introductory text is relevant.
(Prologue: The Story of Psychology in Myers 8th edition is also relevant)
Someone has said that psychology is the discipline that began as the study of the soul, lost its soul and became the study of the mind, and finally lost its mind and became the study of behavior. Though this statement is oversimplified, it does contain a grain of truth about the history of psychology.
The word “psychology” comes from the Greek words psuche (sometimes written as psyche) and logos. Both of these words appear frequently in the New Testament, and both are translated in several different ways. However, pusche is most often translated as soul, life, or mind; and logos is most often translated as “word.” Thus psychology is literally “words about the soul, life or mind.” Psychology never did study an immaterial soul, but it did study life and the mind.
Early History of Psychology
Though it is difficult to specify exactly when modern psychology began, most people agree that it was in December of 1879. One day Wilhelm Wundt and a couple graduate students conducted and experiment in a small room on the University of Leipzig in Germany and called the room a psychology laboratory. (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/wilhelm-wundt)
Structuralism
Wundt and his followers attempted to experimentally study the structure of consciousness, immediate experience. Since they were interested in studying the structure of the mind, they came to be called “structuralists.” Chemistry had made great advances by reducing compounds to their elements, so Wundt and his followers attempted to reduce consciousness to its elements. To do this they had the mind observe itself in a method called introspection and concluded that there were three elements of consciousness, (1) sensations, (2) images, and (3) affective states (emotions). This approach to psychology was taken to America in by E. B. Titchner who had left England to study under Wundt. Within 15 years psychology had spread from Europe to North America.
During his lifetime Wundt published 53,735 pages, enough to keep a person reading nearly three years at the rate of 50 pages per day. Titchner translated much of it into English and added more research. However, structuralists soon disagreed over how many elements were in the mind, people questioned the objectivity of introspection, and pragmatic Americans could see little application in knowing what consciousness “is.”
Functionalism
American William James was more interested in what consciousness “is for” than in what it “is.” He and his followers wanted to find out how the mind functioned to help people adapt to the world around them. Our minds allow us to remember our past, adjust to our present and plan for our future. Since these psychologists were interested in the function of the mind, they came to be called functionalists.
James was an excellent writer and published The Principles of Psychology in 1890, (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/James/Principles/index.htm).
about a decade after Wundt had established the first psychology laboratory. James began this book saying, “Psychology is the Science of Mental Life,” so he did not change what psychologists were to study. However, he emphasized that people were also irrational at times, that they may respond to biological needs and be emotional at times.
Both functionalism and structuralism were to “disappear” from psychology in the first half of the twentieth century, but for different reasons. As other systems of psychology developed Structuralism passed from the scene. It was totally gone soon after Titchener died in 1927, but had been gradually abandoned over the previous 15 years. Functionalism, on the other hand, was gradually absorbed by those new systems that developed. Psychology as a whole became functional.
Systems of Psychology
Missionaries want to tell people about the Good News that God loves them and He sent His Son to die for their sins that they might have eternal life. Why would they want to study the systems of psychology? The reason is because the missionary’s basic assumptions about the people they are working with, what is thought to be wrong with those people, the goal of missions, and the method of reaching that goal are all determined by the “system” the missionaries hold. Although there have been half a dozen or more schools or systems of psychology during psychology's century of existence, we will consider only three of them here, because they have been major forces in American psychology. Behaviorism and psychoanalysis dominated the American psychological scene during the first half of the twentieth century, and humanistic psychology emerged as a third force during the second half.
Psychoanalysis
Although psychoanalysis was not developed as a part of psychology, it has influenced psychology greatly, especially the parts of psychology most relevant to missions. Therefore, we will consider it here as a system of psychology, realizing that it was developed in the context of medical practice. Psychoanalysis was developed by Sigmund Freud in Vienna, Austria, in his attempts to treat people he called neurotics. As Freud worked with his patients, he gradually developed a theory of personality and a method of treating such disorders. (http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/beystehner.html)
Assumptions. Any system of psychology must begin with a set of assumptions: unproven, plausible, noncontradictory statements taken at face value. They are the starting point for building a system. What assumptions did Sigmund Freud make about people? First, let us look at his assumption about good and evil. For Freud the most basic structure of personality is the id; in fact, it is the only structure present at birth. The id essentially urges people to take what they want without being concerned about the consequences to self or others. If we are to talk in terms of good and evil, the id would have to be considered as basically evil. Furthermore, the id is unchangeable. We must simply learn to rechannel its expression so that we can live with it.
Second, Freud saw human actions as being completely determined by forces deep within each person. In this psychic determinism, nothing happened by chance. Every "mistake'' was really an expression of the deepest motives of the person. For example, a boy wrote to a girl, "I would like to kill you tonight.'' Even if he meant to write "kiss'' instead of "kill, '' Freud would say that boy really did want to kill the girl. Usually such deep desires are kept in check, but occasionally they slip through as "accidents'' (but they are not really accidents).
Third, Freud saw humans as basically irrational. Although the ego does exist as the rational part of the personality, it always remains subservient to the irrational id. The ego strives to control the impulsive, self-centered id, but it has no energy of its own, depending on the id for all of its psychic energy. The ego tries to allow the id to express itself in such a way that the safety of the person and others will not be endangered.
Finally, Freud saw the unconscious part of the mind as being much more important than the conscious. Although he talked about three levels of consciousness, the unconscious was by far the largest, most important part of the mind. Freud likened the mind to an iceberg in that most of it is below the surface. Events in the unconscious are of utmost importance in determining the behavior of the individual. "Neurotic'' behavior is caused by unconscious conflicts, and such people are totally unaware of the causes of their irrational behavior.
Missionaries who see the people with whom they interact (both nationals and expats) as being basically evil, determined, irrational, and unaware of why they behave as they do, will engage in a very different type of ministry than missionaries who see those people as basically good, free to choose, rational, and aware of themselves.
Definition and Goals. Freud never wrote a systematic psychology, so we need to gather his psychology from the twenty-four volume set of The Standard Edition of the Works of Sigmund Freud (1886-1939). Freud's major goal was to find some method of treating his patients who suffered from a variety of neurotic symptoms. Although Freud was educated as a physician and practiced as a clinical neurologist, he gradually came to adopt nonmedical methods of treating his patients. He was always trying to develop a treatment for neurosis and did not feel bound by existing methods.
Psychoanalysis became both a method of treatment and a system of personality. It can best be defined as the study of unconscious motivations, conflicts between them, and the effects of such conflicts on behavior. Freud gradually became convinced that the causes of his patients' problems were to be found in the unconscious, so he spent much of his time attempting to find out what was happening there.
Methods. Although Freud did not originate the concept of the unconscious, he did emphasize it to a greater extent than anyone had done previously. No methods existed for its systematic study, so Freud gradually adopted the "talking cure'' or "catharsis,'' what has come to be called the technique of free association. In this method patients lie on a couch and talk freely about every thought they have, no matter how socially unacceptable, unimportant, embarrassing, or foolish it is. Freud believed that as patients do this, they gradually reveal what is in their unconscious. In the relaxed state and with the analyst's encouragement, the ego gradually lowers its guard, so that more and more unconscious material enters consciousness, is spoken, and can be interpreted by the analyst.
A second method of getting at the unconscious is dream analysis. Freud's reasoning was similar here. While people are asleep, their rational egos are less on guard so material from the unconscious id gets into their dreams. Since the ego is still somewhat on guard, the material remembered in the conscious recall of the dream will be disguised. However, the analyst then interprets what the patient has recalled to get at the deeper meanings of what is happening at the unconscious level.
As patients went through several years of such treatment, most would gradually improve. Freud believed that as he was getting at the unconscious causes of their problems and bringing them to consciousness, he was effecting a cure.
Notice how Freud's methods follow from his assumptions about people. If people are evil, determined, irrational, and not conscious of their problems, then some methods must be found for getting at the unconscious aspects of personality. You will find A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud, translated by G. Stanley hall (1920) at (http://www.questia.com/read/102189232?title=A%20General%20Introduction%20to%20Psychoanalysis).
Although psychoanalysis has been very influential in psychology, let us now consider an approach to psychology that begins with a different set of assumptions.
Behaviorism
Behaviorism is that system of psychology founded by American John B. Watson while teaching at Johns Hopkins University. It emphasizes an objective, experimental, scientific approach to behavior. Watson's behaviorism was a psychology in which all behaviors, no matter how complex, could be reduced to a series of stimulus-response connections. The behaviorists were reacting against the subjectivity found in the psychology of the early twentieth century. They set out to study only what can be observed. Behaviorists view human beings as essentially complex machines or complex animals. People are quantitatively different (more complex) from animals and machines, but not qualitatively different.
Assumptions. With this mechanistic view of people, many of the assumptions psychoanalysts made about persons become irrelevant. First, since humans are not qualitatively different from animals and machines, they are neither good nor evil. The whole question of good and evil is quite irrelevant here, because machines are neither good nor evil. From the behavioristic perspective, human beings may learn actions that result in good or bad for others, but they are intrinsically neither good nor evil.
Second, behaviorists see human action as being deter- mined. Humans are stimulus-response mechanisms who behave in response to some input or stimulus. Human beings do not have the power to make actual choices, since they just respond to stimuli present in the environment. Theirs is an environmental determinism in which behavior is determined by external factors; as contrasted to Freud's psychic determinism in which internal, unconscious factors determine behavior.
Third, behaviorists see people as being neither rational nor irrational. This whole dimension does not really apply to a behaviorist's approach to people, because behavior is seen as a function of past rewards or of stimulus-response relationships. Finally, the conscious-unconscious dimension is also not relevant to a behavioristic approach. In a mechanistic approach, it does not make sense to talk about humans as being conscious or not conscious of themselves.
Again, consider the difference it makes if missionares assume this mechanistic view of the individuals with whom they interact. If the behavior of nationals is seen as determined and the other three dimensions (good-evil, rational-irrational, and conscious-unconscious) are seen as irrelevant, the whole emphasis will be on changing the environment in an effort to change the behavior of those to whom they minister, rather than attempting to make some change inside them.
Definition and Goals. Watson defined psychology as the ''science of behavior," and said that he would never have to go back on his definition, never use terms like consciousness. mind, mental state, imagery, and so forth. Psychology was to be the science of overt, objectively observable responses; only those that could be observed and recorded by someone else. It was to be a purely objective branch of natural science.
The goal of behavioristic psychology was the prediction and control of behavior. Watson wanted to reach the point where he had completely worked out all stimulus-response connections so that given the response, he could tell what the stimulus had been; and given the stimulus, he could predict what the response would be; and controlling the environment would result in controlling behavior.
Methods. Watson would allow only objective methods to be used in the investigation of behavior. He specifically stated that observation, conditioned reflexes, verbal reports, and testing methods could be used. Although it sounds like he was allowing subjectivity into behaviorism, one must understand that in verbal report, words were to be regarded like any other responses, such as a knee jerk or an eye blink. Verbal responses were simply overt responses, and did not indicate anything in one's ''mind'' or ''thoughts.'' Tests did not measure intelligence or personality, but simply were a series of stimuli that elicited responses from people.
You can find his original 1913 article “Psychology as the behaviorist views it” in Psychological Review at (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Watson/views.htm) his 1919 book, Psychology from the Standpoint of a Behaviorist at (http://www.archive.org/details/psychologyfromst00watsuoft).
Humanistic Psychology
Humanistic psychology is a relatively recent development that is more of a movement than a well-developed system. Humanistic psychologists generally focus on the experiencing person, emphasizing distinctively human qualities, such as choice and creativity. They are concerned with the dignity and worth of individuals and want to develop human potential. Thus they are more concerned with studying meaningful problems than with using "correct'' research procedures. Although there was no clearly defined founder, Americans Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow were major early leaders in this movement during the 1940s and the 1095s.
Assumptions. With their emphasis on human freedom and dignity, humanistic psychologists begin with a different set of assumptions about people. First, rather than seeing humans as being basically evil or neither good nor evil, humanistic psychologists see them as being basically good. Although human beings can be very cruel, destructive, and antisocial, humanistic psychologists contend that (at the deepest levels) each person strives for a positive, healthy, creative fulfilling of the person's potential. Culture may suppress this inherent goodness in people, but this positive potential will reveal itself in the life of the individual if given the opportunity. This goodness may be relatively weak compared to the cultural forces that make people bad, but the goodness can never be obliterated.
Second, humanistic psychologists see human beings as fundamentally free to make their own decisions, and thus as responsible for their own behavior. Of course, people do not have absolute freedom to do anything, but they can actually see different paths open to them and really make a choice of which one to take. Most humanistic psychologists would say that as individuals mature, they become more free to actualize the potential they have as human beings. This assumption that people are free and responsible is quite different from Freud's or Watson’s deterministic assumptions.
Third, although humanistic psychologists agree that humans are somewhat irrational, they believe most human behavior is governed by rational forces. Humanistic psychologists place little emphasis on animal research because they see people as being quite different from animals, rational rather than irrational. When given the chance, most individuals can give valid reasons for their behavior.
Finally, although humanistic psychologists agree that the unconscious does exist, they see people as being primarily aware of themselves. The unconscious has relatively little influence on behavior as compared to that of the conscious.
Most people are aware of why they behave the way they do. In contrast to Freud, humanistic psychologists see the unconscious as having good as well as bad aspects. Buried in the unconscious are creativity, love, tenderness, self-acceptance, and understanding.
Think of the difference it makes if missionaries view the people with whom they interact as basically good, free, rational, and conscious, rather than as basically evil, determined, irrational, and unconscious. Of course, such missionaries may decide to assume that those people have all of these characteristics to some degree.
Definition and Goals. Like Freud, the humanistic psychologists have no systematic psychology, so we must gather their psychology from the pages of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology and some of the "official" statements of the Association for Humanistic Psychology (http://www.ahpweb.org). The general goal of humanistic psychologists is the development of the potential in every person. They want to develop a complete description of what it means to live as a human being. They study all aspects of human experience to the end of helping people become all that they can become. Rather than trying to make "sick" people "normal,'' humanistic psychologists are interested in taking "normal'' or "average" people and helping them to become "actualized" or " fully functioning.''
Although no specific definition of humanistic psychology is agreed upon, humanistic psychology usually is the study of normal or gifted human beings. If we want to know how fast humans can run, we do not study crippled runners. If we want to know the intellectual feats humans can perform, we do not study the mentally retarded. Likewise, humanistic psychologists would say that if we want to know human potential psychologically, we should not study the mentally ill. They would contend that the study of the sick, crippled, and immature will lead to a sick, crippled, and immature psychology.
Methods. Humanistic psychologists place little emphasis on method. They believe that the goal is the important thing and that they should use any method that enables them to reach the goal. Rather than stating how psychologists should "do psychology,'' they emphasize the goal of helping people reach their potential, using any method available. Of course, the methods emphasize conscious, rational, verbal interchange with the person. The psychologist may use anything from directive counseling to allowing the client to decide what should be talked about.
Articles and books and Rogers and Maslow are not yet in the public domain to be posted on-line but lists of their writings are found at at http://www.nrogers.com/CRRBiblio.pdf, and http://www.maslow.org/sub/m_bib.htm. Many of the books are available on-line used at reasonable prices.
Now that we have examined two systems which take extreme positions on the issues as well as one which does not, let us place them in a table which makes comparisons and contrasts more apparent.
Figure 1:1 A comparison of the major assumptions, goals, and methods of three major forces in psychology.
|
System
|
Psychoanalytic |
Humanistic |
Behavioristic |
|
Assumptions about humans |
Evil Determinism Irrational Unconscious |
Good Freedom Rational Conscious |
Neither Determinism Neither Neither |
|
Goals of psychology |
Therapy for neurotics |
Realize potential |
Control behavior
|
|
Methods of psychology |
Free association Dream analysis |
All methods |
Objective methods |
The assumptions, goals, and methods for the three major forces in psychology are shown in Figure 1:1. Notice that psychoanalysis and humanistic psychology take opposite positions on these assumptions, have different goals, and have different methods. Behaviorism does not take strong positions on these issues (except for determinism) because of its mechanistic view of humans. Of course, today most counselors would not call themselves pure psychoanalysts, behaviorists, or humanistic psychologists. However, even psychologists who do not accept a full system of psychology still must have some position on these issues. Later in the chapter, we will present one Christian position these issues.
For further information about specific topics in the history and systems of psychology click on the following links to parts of Chapter 1 in Dewey’s on-line text.
The International Roots of Psychology
A review of the founders of the various approaches to psychology shows that the discipline has roots in several countries in Europe and North America
In addition, nearly every general psychology book contains contributions from other countries in Europe and North America.
Psychology and Religion
The relationship between psychology and religion has varied greatly over the years. The relationship was cordial when psychology began in the 19th century, became antagonistic, in the early 20th century, and then developed a truce toward the end of the century.
Last half of the 19th Century: Coexistence
The founders of the first two schools of psychology had positive relationships with the church. As psychology emerged from the philosophy and physiology of the day, it was just a new discipline of study in no conflict with the church. Neither Wundt nor James had a problem with the church, nor the church with them.
Structuralism. Wilhelm Wundt was the son of a Lutheran pastor and his early education was by his father’s assistant, the vicar of the church. Wundt was so attached to his mentor that when the vicar was transferred to a nearby village, Wundt was allowed to live there with the vicar to continue his education until he was 13 years old and entered school to prepare for his university education.
Wundt revised his most important book, Principles of Physiological Psychology, five times between 1873 and 1911 (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Wundt/Physio/ for the 1902 version). He spent a decade between 1880 and 1890 writing on ethics, logic, and systematic philosophy. Then he spent another couple decades writing 10 volumes of his Folk Psychology which considered language, art, myths, social customs and morality. None of his writing brought him into conflict with the church.
Functionalism. When William James was a youth, his father was very interested in discussion religious mysticism. It took James a dozen years to write The Principles of Psychology (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/James/Principles/index.htm), but when it appeared in 1890, it was an instant success.
More than a decade later, James published Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study of Human Nature which has remained constantly in print for more than a century. It is also available online free of charge at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/621. James included topics such as the reality of the unseen, conversion, and the value of saintliness. Neither of these best-selling books brought him into conflict with the church.
First half of the 20th Century: Conflict
This positive relationship between psychology and Christianity soured during the first half of the twentieth century as structuralism faded and functionalism was absorbed into all of psychology. Both Freud and Watson were soon in open conflict with the church.
Psychoanalysis. Sigmund Freud was born in Moravia, lived briefly in Germany, and then spent most of his life in Austria. Since his Jewish family lived in Austria, Freud was a Third Culture Kid (TCK) who internalized parts of both the Jewish and Austrian cultures, but did not feel fully a part of either. He became a well-known clinical neurologist and developed psychoanalysis. He was never a psychologist, but his thery of personality and method of therapy had a great impact on the field of psychology.
By the mid 1890s, Freud was convinced that sex played a major role in neurosis. In 1900 he published The Interpretation of Dreams (http://www.psychwww.com/books/interp/toc.htm) which came to be considered his major work. He published dozens of books during the next four decades, but the one most offensive to Christians was The Future of an Illusion in 1927, translated into English in 1928 (http://www.questia.com/read/93928903). Freud begins Chapter VII saying, “Having recognized religious doctrines as illusions, we are at once faced by a further question…” Although he was using the word “illusion” in a slightly different way, such remarks throughout this brief book were very offensive to Christians. Many of his assumptions about human beings, his theory of personality, and his therapy resulted in sharp conflict with religious people of all kinds.
Behaviorism. John Watson was born near Greenville, SC, USA and received his early education there. He described himself as lazy and insubordinate; his teachers described him as argumentative and not easily controlled; and the police arrested him twice. He attended Furman University, an institution in the Baptist tradition, but he never internalized a Christian world-view.
After earning his Ph.D at the University of Chicago and teaching there for five years, he moved to John’s Hopkins University. While there, in 1913, he published “Psychology as the behaviorist views it” in Psychological Review (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Watson/views.htm). Six years later he published Psychology from the Standpoint of a Behaviorist (http://www.archive.org/details/psychologyfromst00watsuoft). Watson discarded all mentalistic concepts, such as mind and consciousness. Human beings were viewed as mechanistic organisms with stimulus-response connections. Of course, spiritual concepts of humans made in God’s image were discarded as well. This animal-like view of humans resulted in conflict with Christians.
Second half of the 20th Century: Integration & Backlash
The last half of the century was characterized by attempts to reconcile the differences between psychology and Christianity. This took place in several ways.
Professional Associations: Around the middle of the century people employed in secular positions and those affiliated with religious ones both wanted to close the divide.
Graduate Education. Members of the professional associations soon realized a need for graduate education of psychologists desiring a Christian perspective. Several models soon appeared.
Professional Journals. Professionals and academics need some way to communicate, and the usual way is through refereed journals. These journals appeared during the last half of the twentieth century.
Books. With all of this activity occurring, Christian psychologists began writing books at the rate of at least one each year. The following list is one with books chosen to show the variety of topics covered and the variety of publishers involved.
Backlash. All of this activity did not go unnoticed by those who opposed the integration of psychology and Christianity. They too began publishing books to “warn” people about the dangers of such heresy. Here are some of the books.
Note that the titles move from “seduction” to “heresy.” Prophets of Psychoheresy II was written specifically to critique a particular psychoheratic, Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family. By the mid 1990s the Bobgans were even against Biblical counseling, something they had promoted for many years. By the turn of the century they began “Psychoherasy Awareness Ministries” through which they warn nearly everyone about the dangers of any kind of counseling, even Biblical counseling.
Psychology and Missions
The modern missionary movement began more than a century before psychology became a discipline separate from philosophy and physiology. Though psychology did not exist, it could have been of great help to the early missionary movement. For example, psychological screening and counseling would probably have been very helpful for the Carey family when William Carey became the “Father of modern missions.” Screening may have prevented Dorothy, William’s wife, from going to the field in her mental state. Counseling may have helped the Carey’s marriage to be one of unity rather than disagreement. Their story is recounted in James Beck’s fine book, Dorothy Carey: The Tragic and Untold Story of Mrs. William Carey (1992). Part of the story is given in the first and last chapters of Missionary Marriage Issues on this website (http://www.missionarycare.com/ebook.htm#marriage )
When psychology began as an academic discipline studying what consciousness “is” and what it “is for” during the time of peace between psychology and religion, there seemed to be no obvious connection. Later when psychology included the study of behavior and became involved in helping people cope with problems, psychology and religion were in sharp conflict. Few Christians, especially the ones who were most “spiritual” had anything to do with psychology.
Then as the integration movement between psychology and Christianity got under way, psychologists began to see the missionary population as people they might help. Missionaries often live in a strange culture far from the social support of family and friends. Under these stressful conditions, they often need someone to listen to them, to care for them. The term most widely used for this is “member care.” Here are some of the ways member care is provided.
Conferences
In 1980 two psychologists, John Powell and Dave Wickstrom, invited some colleagues who were interested in providing member care to meet with them at a state park in northeastern Indiana. That meeting, the Conference on Mental Health and Missions,” has taken place the weekend before Thanksgiving every year since and is now attended by 200-300 people annually.
For nearly two decades John and Dave conducted the whole conference themselves. Then in 1998 Mission Training International assumed the logistics for the conference, and a program committee has responsibility for the program. (http://www.mti.org/mhm.htm). The conference is for mental health professionals, such as psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, and social workers, but mission administrators also attend. Similar conferences for particular parts of the world are held in other countries on other continents. The Global Member Care Network http://www.globalmembercare.org) lists those conferences with dates and locations.
Books
Several books for member care professionals have been published. Here are a few.
http://sites.google.com/site/membercaravan/test/mc-counting-the-cost-book- .
In addition, many books for missionaries themselves have been published. Here are several recent ones.
Periodicals
At this time there are no journals devoted to missionary member care. However, several publications frequently have member care articles.
Websites
Since missionaries are scattered all over the world and most of them have Internet access, some authors have made member care materials available on the Internet. The author of this book has two such websites with similar materials, one for missionaries and one for cross-cultural workers in general.
Personal Member Care
In addition to providing resources, some member care professionals also provide member care in person. This can be done in a variety of ways as follows.
Many different types of member care are now available to missionaries all over the world. Some of it is available at no charge. Other types may be quite expensive.
Graduate Education
Although several institutions offer courses in member care, at this time only one, Columbia International University offers a degree in it. CIU offers a Doctor of Ministry degree in member care with some courses taught in modules (http://www.ciu.edu/seminary/degrees/dm-membercare/).
Conclusion
During the first century of psychology’s existence, it seemed to have few implications for missions. In fact during about half of that time psychology and religion had little time for each other. However during the last quarter of a century, the two have learned to coexist and Christian psychologists have been able to be of real service to missionaries.