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David Gordon Benner (born February 9, 1947) is a Canadian depth psychologist, author and wisdom teacher.
Benner followed his Honours BA in psychology at McMaster University with an MA and PhD in clinical psychology at York University. [1] After registration with the College of Psychologists of Ontario, [2] and licensing in the state of Illinois, he was certified as an expert witness in clinical psychology in both jurisdictions. He also completed post-doctoral studies at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. [3]
Benner was professor and founding chair, Graduate Department of Psychological Studies at Wheaton College in Illinois, [4] [5] and chair of the Department of Psychology, Redeemer University College, in Ancaster, Ontario. In Toronto, he held overlapping appointments as Adjunct Professor (Psychology and Christianity), St. Michael's College, University of Toronto; Adjunct Clinical Professor, Graduate Department of Psychology, York University; and Adjunct Clinical Professor, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. [6] He was later the founding director of the Institute for Psychospiritual Health, [7] and in 2016 he became the founding director of Cascadia Living Wisdom. [8]
Between 1973 and 2006, Benner was in private practice in Illinois and Ontario. Whereas his clinic-based practice focused on children and adolescents, particularly those suffering from abuse and experiencing dissociative disorders, his private practice focused on adults. Within this context he developed and offered an intensive, highly individualized, short-term (3 week) residential intervention that combined clinical and spiritual components. He offered these Intensive Soul Care Retreats and trained others to do the same for over 20 years. [9]
Benner was Chief Psychologist at Child and Adolescent Services, Hamilton, Ontario [10] [11] and was named Associate Fellow at the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society, University of Victoria (Victoria, B.C.) in 2008 . [12] [13]
The intersection of psychology and spirituality became his main interest during the 1970s. [14] His general approach was described as a "multidisciplinary analysis of psychological change and spiritual development" that blends "insights from psychology, theology, anthropology, his own clinical practice, and other disciplines." [15] Examining the role of spirituality in clinical practice in 1988, he noted "the chasm that had been dug between professional psychology and spiritual longing", [16] [17] and in 1989, published his views in an article on the nature of spirituality, its role in psychotherapy and a "nonreductionistic understanding of spirituality that situates it within the heart of an individual's psychological being." [18] A retrospective study of Benner's model of human nature and its implications for educators and counselors, based on his writings since the late 1980s, was published in 2006. [19] A later examination of changes in therapeutic work over two decades included Benner among leading researchers in the field of spirituality. [20] By then, the focus of his writing and teaching was wisdom and the journey toward enlightenment that facilitated access to it. This work drew on a broad base of wisdom traditions, including Christian mysticism, Hermeticism, Indigenous spirituality, Depth psychology, and science.
David G. Benner has authored or edited more than thirty books. Early titles focused on the role of spirituality in clinical practice and were primarily written for psychologists and other mental health professionals. His middle-phase books focused on living the spiritual journey in a deeply human way and the human journey in a deeply spiritual way, and were written from an explicitly Christian perspective. Later books have been written for a more general audience and have continued to focus on the role of spirituality in human spiritual unfolding while drawing on science, philosophy and the perennial wisdom tradition for insights that are helpful in understanding spiritual awakening and enlightenment. These big themes of awakening, becoming fully human, and the possibilities of enlightenment have been at the core of all his books.
In addition to his books, he has also published articles in peer-reviewed journals of psychology in areas such as religious psychodynamics in multiple personality disorder, development of a psychological test for the assessment of marital communication, the psychology of money, and psychological trauma and social healing in Croatia. [21] He also played a seminal role in the creation of a child trauma treatment program. [22]
He was also editor of a reference encyclopedia in psychology and co-editor of a subsequent expanded edition for a readership of pastoral counselors and clergy, [23] as well as editor of a ten-book series on strategic pastoral counseling resources. [24] In a journal addressing the interface of psychology and spirituality, a reviewer wrote of Benner's body of work: "His research plumbs the best of human development psychology and ancient spirituality wisdom.... As a seasoned scholar, author, psychologist and a spiritual director, Benner serves as an expert witness of what healthy and whole humans look like...." [25] His contribution of material for peer professionals continues, [26] and his books have reached a broad general readership. [27] More than two dozen of his titles are in print, and translations have been published in more than twenty languages. [28]
Psychotherapy is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome problems. Psychotherapy aims to improve an individual's well-being and mental health, to resolve or mitigate troublesome behaviors, beliefs, compulsions, thoughts, or emotions, and to improve relationships and social skills. Numerous types of psychotherapy have been designed either for individual adults, families, or children and adolescents. Certain types of psychotherapy are considered evidence-based for treating some diagnosed mental disorders; other types have been criticized as pseudoscience.
A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how individuals relate to each other and to their environments.
Transpersonal psychology, or spiritual psychology, is an area of psychology that seeks to integrate the spiritual and transcendent aspects of the human experience within the framework of modern psychology.
Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development. Central to its practice are psychological assessment, clinical formulation, and psychotherapy, although clinical psychologists also engage in research, teaching, consultation, forensic testimony, and program development and administration. In many countries, clinical psychology is a regulated mental health profession.
Psychology of religion consists of the application of psychological methods and interpretive frameworks to the diverse contents of religious traditions as well as to both religious and irreligious individuals. The various methods and frameworks can be summarized according to the classic distinction between the natural-scientific and human-scientific approaches. The first cluster amounts to objective, quantitative, and preferably experimental procedures for testing hypotheses about causal connections among the objects of one's study. In contrast, the human-scientific approach accesses the human world of experience using qualitative, phenomenological, and interpretive methods. This approach aims to discern meaningful, rather than causal, connections among the phenomena one seeks to understand.
Pastoral counseling is a branch of counseling in which psychologically trained ministers, rabbis, priests, imams, and other persons provide therapy services. Pastoral counselors often integrate modern psychological thought and method with traditional religious training in an effort to address psychospiritual issues in addition to the traditional spectrum of counseling services.
Walter C. Kaiser Jr. is an American Evangelical Old Testament scholar, writer, public speaker, and educator. Kaiser is the Colman M. Mockler distinguished Professor of Old Testament and former President of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, retired June 30, 2006. He was succeeded by James Emery White.
Emmy van Deurzen is an existential therapist. She developed a philosophical therapy based in existential-phenomenology.
Lawrence J. Crabb, Jr. was an American Christian counselor, author, Bible teacher, spiritual director, and seminar speaker. Crabb wrote several best-selling books and was the founder and director of New Way Ministries and co-founder of his legacy ministry, Larger Story. He served as a Spiritual Director for the American Association of Christian Counselors and taught at several different Christian colleges, including Colorado Christian University.
Kenneth I. Pargament is an emeritus professor of psychology at Bowling Green State University.
Nouthetic counseling is a form of evangelical Protestant pastoral counseling based upon conservative evangelical interpretation of the Bible. It repudiates mainstream psychology and psychiatry as humanistic, fundamentally opposed to Christianity, and radically secular. Its viewpoint was originally articulated by Jay E. Adams, in Competent to Counsel (1970) and further books, and has led to the formation of a number of organizations and seminary courses promoting it. The viewpoint is opposed to those seeking to synthesize Christianity with secular psychological thought. Since 1993, the movement has renamed itself biblical counseling to emphasize its central focus on the Bible. The Baker Encyclopedia of Psychology and Counseling states that "The aim of Nouthetic Counseling is to effect change in the counselee by encouraging greater conformity to the principles of Scripture."
Although modern, scientific psychology is often dated from the 1879 opening of the first psychological clinic by Wilhelm Wundt, attempts to create methods for assessing and treating mental distress existed long before. The earliest recorded approaches were a combination of religious, magical and/or medical perspectives. Early examples of such psychological thinkers included Patañjali, Padmasambhava, Rhazes, Avicenna and Rumi.
Allen Eric Bergin is a clinical psychologist known for his research on psychotherapy outcomes and on integrating psychotherapy and religion. His 1980 article on theistic values was groundbreaking in the field and elicited over 1,000 responses and requests for reprints, and including those from Carl Rogers and Albert Bandura. Bergin is also noted for his interchanges with probabilistic atheist Albert Ellis.
Psychology encompasses a vast domain, and includes many different approaches to the study of mental processes and behavior. Below are the major areas of inquiry that taken together constitute psychology. A comprehensive list of the sub-fields and areas within psychology can be found at the list of psychology topics and list of psychology disciplines.
J. Harold Ellens was a psychologist and theologian. He was the founding editor of the Journal of Psychology and Christianity and also the Executive Director of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies International from 1974 to 1989. He was one of the key figures in psychological biblical criticism and served as Chair of the Psychology and Biblical Studies Section of the Society of Biblical Literature.
C. Michael Smith is a clinical psychologist and scholar whose medical anthropological and theoretical work has focused on the study of healing systems across cultures. He holds that study of indigenous healing systems can help clarify the strengths and weaknesses of our own modern health care systems.
Everett L. Worthington Jr. is a licensed clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). His research interests include forgiveness and other virtues, religion and spirituality in clinical practice, and the hope-focused approach to counseling couples. He has written over 30 books on topics including forgiveness of others, self-forgiveness, character strength, religion and psychology, and couples' therapy, and he has published over 350 scholarly articles and chapters. Worthington has been frequently cited as an expert on his topics of interest in the scientific literature and public media.
Spiritual bypass or spiritual bypassing is a "tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks". The term was introduced in the mid 1980s by John Welwood, a Buddhist teacher and psychotherapist. Clinicians in pastoral psychology have identified both beneficial and detrimental manifestations of behavior that could be described as spiritual bypass.
Clinton W. McLemore is an American psychologist and author.
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