“Christian Integration in Counselor Education” by John Allen King and Kristy Ford -Chapter 26 Summary, Interaction, & Application

Summary

The author of chapter twenty-six, entitled, “Christian Integration with Children and Adolescents” of the book “Christian Integration in Counselor Education,” by John Allen King and Kristy Ford is written by Kevin B. Hull. Dr. Kevin B. Hull has a PhD, is a LPC practicing in Florida and specializes in autism spectrum disorders. Dr. Kevin Hull is also a professor at Liberty University. Within the three learning objectives Dr. Hull indicates that students will be able to apply scripture to help understand God’s character as the Heavenly father and the impacts that pertain specifically to children and adolescents. The second learning objective consists of understanding integrated theories and techniques apply to working with children and adolescents. Lastly, the third learning objective focuses on the overall relationship with God impacts the counseling relationship with children and adolescents.

The introduction of chapter twenty-six focuses on the dependency of children as being completely helpless as babies and requiring more care from caregivers than any other species on earth. The scriptural reminder of Matthew 19:14 is given, which states, “Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (New King James Bible, 1982). Within the following paragraph, the chapter highlights the significance of attachment that forms from childhood to adulthood. Since the beginning, God has been working to foster good attachment styles and healthy relationships, with all of humanity. The stain of sin has attempted to thwart healthy attachments and relationships though.

In the following section of the chapter, an excellent comparison and contrast between the Old Testament and the New Testament is provided of the fatherhood that God the Father offers throughout the Bible. God’s continuous efforts to guide the Israelites in the desert, recorded in Exodus, to His healing ministry, with the incarnate hands of Jesus in the New Testament are highlighted. All throughout the Bible the character of God’s heart is displayed and this is apparent by the non-exhaustive list of scriptures referred to in the text of the chapter. The relationship of God the Father and Jesus is provided in the way that Jesus sets the example many times when He prays to the Father in an intimate fashion. Also, the relationships that Jesus worked toward building with children is brought to light and the reminder that they possessed the Kingdom of God because of their faith.

The concept of attunement is made known in the chapter, as the importance of providing a consistent presence, or interest in the interests of young people is highly important. The concept of affirmation is the next value that is illustrated. The affirmation process handles helping children and young people feel not just heard but understood and valued through their life journey.

Counselors have the opportunity to help children and young people process their emotions and thoughts. “Young people typically compartmentalize emotions and push them away” (King-Ford, 2024). Several universal issues that children and adolescents deal with, are things, such as fear and sadness. A short case study is provided about a little girl who is suffering from separation anxiety. This case study is explored to help provide a real-world example from the counseling perspective, with the ability of using play therapy to help the child understand that separation doesn’t imply abandonment.

Other reoccurring, universal, issues with children and adolescents are listed, such as trauma, stress, suicide, family issues, identity problems, neurodevelopmental disorders, intellectual disabilities, and gender dysphoria. Another case study, involving an adolescent who is experiencing gender identity concerns, is explored. The usage of gentle Christian values were integrated, as the client was a professing Christian. Ultimately, the client needed help with regulating her emotions related to self-rejection and fear. The chapter concludes by reminding trainees of the importance of each developmental stage and the sensitivities that often ensure. Lastly, three questions for discussion were provided.

Interaction

My initial interaction with this chapter is positive, as the desperate need for children to receive quality therapy could not be more important. The number of children who have experienced domestic or sexual abuse is astonishing. It makes one wonder how abuse could be prevented or mitigated. “More than 1.8 million cases of depressive, anxiety, and substance use disorders, 66,143 years of life lost, and 184,636 disability-adjusted life-years could be prevented if childhood maltreatment was eradicated in Australia” (Grummitt-Baldwin, 2024).

The first insightful observation made during reading this chapter was that many children and adolescent’s mental health concerns become worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the counseling profession, most of the time, clients come for treatment after they have experienced traumas, but not necessarily always. As people, in the general public, become more educated about the importance of counseling therapy, the more counselors can help people avoid abusive situations, and, or abusive relationships. Mental health concerns continue to rise for all people in the general population, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. The demand for licensed counselors continues to rise. According to research, mental health issues rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, “increasing symptoms suicidal behaviours and post-traumatic stress disorder, especially for adolescents and young adults” (Leung- Kavanagh, 2023).

The second insightful observation made during reading this chapter was that children and adolescents may tend toward compartmentalizing or blocking out some of their emotions as a survival mechanism. “About 1 billion children aged 2–17 years, have experienced physical, sexual, or emotional violence or negligence in their lives” (Priya-Firdaus, 2023). Working in the counseling profession requires counselors to be aware of the signs of abuse that children and adolescents experience and then advocating for them in a sensitive, intentional fashion. When children of teenagers experience physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, it is difficult for many of them to process mentally what has occurred. It is commonly reported that most abuse occurs from family members or those that are trusted persons in the children’s or adolescents’ lives. Due to limited insurance healthcare options, and, or, a lack of value for the healthcare profession, many children and adolescents go without proper counseling services that they could benefit from. The children and adolescents that do have access to counseling services require consistency and emotional-awareness-building-activities that usher them into being able to build proper boundaries in their lives.

The third, and final, insightful observation, from reading this chapter, was that Jesus wants all people to emulate the qualities that children naturally possess. In the opening portion of the chapter, the author listed the endearing qualities that children have. Adults have a lot that they can learn from children. The faith, kindness, trust, and compassion that many children display are tremendously inspiring! In the New Testament, Jesus wanted the children to come to Him because He knew that their had a wonderful share in the kingdom of God. Play therapy is in important aspect of the counseling profession, as children relate to games and make incredible connections based on guided conversations and kinesthetic activities. “The APTCCC (The Assessment of Play Therapy and Child Counseling Competencies (APTCCC) is designed to support the comprehensive and formalized assessment of CITs who work with children during their clinical fieldwork experiences (i.e., practicum and internship)” (Frawley- Lambie, 2024). It is thrilling and highly promising to see the rising valuation on the specific competencies for play therapy in the counseling profession. If Jesus valued children as much as he demonstrated, then so should competent counselors who are working towards advocating for the “least of these” as referred to in Matthew 25:40 (New King James Bible, 1982).

Application

This chapter encourages the value I possess to empower children. Working at a local church, in the community, it has been a wonderful privilege for me to serve in the children’s Sunday school classes. Though it is not in the counseling profession, teaching children how to pray, how to read, and interpret the Bible, and encouraging them to follow Jesus are some of most important things that could be accomplished. After reading this chapter, I see how I can apply my Christian value of reaching children with compassion. I truly look forward to helping children and adolescents learn how to apply proper coping skills in their lives and helping them grow in their abilities to manage their emotions in constructive ways.

In the future, when I pursue an internship and the practicum portions of the counseling degree program, I think that it would be a great opportunity for me to seek supervision from a counselor at a local foster care facility. I feel it is important to envision the field experience as I consider the area of counseling best suited for me and those that I serve. Near where I live, there is a foster care center that has on-site licensed mental health counselors. Being a musician, and also, highly interested in artistic activities, I see how I may be able to include play therapy, music and art therapy with helping children express themselves in some powerful ways!

Another way in which I can apply the information from this chapter, is to understand that serving children and teenagers in the local church and in the counseling profession both align with following the great commission which is to go therefore and make disciples of people all over the world. Children are malleable and absorb information so readily. Teaching children about setting boundaries, how to process past abuse and how to operate freely in a non-judgemental zone are crucial to their development and overall health.

Conclusion

In conclusion, chapter twenty-six, entitled, “Christian Integration with Children and Adolescents” of the book “Christian Integration in Counselor Education,” by John Allen King and Kristy Ford is written by Kevin B. Hull demonstrates the importance of children in general. There is a pressing need to properly serve children and adolescents in the counseling profession. There are also growing opportunities to build the competencies that specifically pertain to counseling children and adolescents.

Resources

Frawley, C., Lambie, G. W., Stickl Haugen, J., & Dillman Taylor, D. (2024). The Assessment of Play Therapy and Child Counseling Competencies (APTCCC). International Journal of Play Therapy., 33(3), 129–139. https://doi.org/10.1037/pla0000208

Grummitt, L., Baldwin, J. R., Lafoa’i, J., Keyes, K. M., & Barrett, E. L. (2024). Burden of Mental Disorders and Suicide Attributable to Childhood Maltreatment. JAMA Psychiatry, 81(8), 782–788. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.0804

King-Ford (2024). Christian Integration in Counselor Education. Kendall Hunt Publishing - Custom Wholesale. https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9798385150601

Leung, X. Y., Kavanagh, A. M., Quang, Q. T., Shields, M., & Aitken, Z. (2023). A systematic review of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of adolescents and young people with disabilities aged 15-29 years. BMC public health, 23(1), 1390. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16260-z

New King James Bible. (2004). Thomas Nelson (Original work published 1982).

Priya, P., Firdaus, M., & Ekbal, A. (2023). A multi-task learning framework for politeness and emotion detection in dialogues for mental health counselling and legal aid. Expert Systems with Applications., 224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2023.120025