Brittany Rexroat's Archive

In class we discussed Carl Rogers and his particular way of counseling known as Client Centered Therapy. I like the idea of Rogers concept of client centered therapy because he emphasized the importance of the therapist being genuine about his or her true feelings toward the client. I feel like this is important in order to gain the clients trust and build a relationship with them that is more than just client and therapist. However, it allows you to build a relationship that is still professional and willing to achieve the client goal in the end.
He states that congruence is primary in the relationship where positive regard and empathy come secondary. I also agree with his idea that in order to set up an atmosphere for change you have show acceptance or caring. If the client knows that you accept them for who they are and what they bring to the table they will be more willing to go through change with you. I also agree with his choice for the third characteristic of empathic understanding. This simply means that you show active listening to the individual; this is what everyone wants, simply someone to listen to them. When watching the clip of Rogers and Gloria it is obvious to see that he just sits back and lets her talk or vent to him. However, he does this in a way that in the end leads them to figure out their inner demons or issues on their own with as little guidance or push from him as possible.
When relating this to a Christian aspect I think this could be a useful therapy in a Christian setting. Showing love, care, empathizing and showing concern for others is what a Christian does. One website I found had great information on the Christian role of Person Centered Therapy. It states, “The Christian therapists using person-centric therapy must be cautious of the limitations it presents. Christian therapists must be ready to hold their clients accountable for their actions and behaviors. I agree that client should have a positive self-regard for self and others. My Christian values tell me that God should be the source of that positive self-regard. Christian therapists using person-centered therapy must help their clients view themselves through the eyes of God for a healthy view of themselves and others” (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/513963/personcentered_therapy_a_brief_christian_pg3.html?cat=72).

In our text they discuss the concept of “imageless thoughts”. I find this concept to be interesting for several different reasons. Imageless thoughts are those such as searching, doubting confidence and hesitation. The fact that he came up with a concept to explain how exactly judgments were made is fascinating. Once I read this I was immediately drawn to the way he experimented and made his discoveries.

His technique involved giving his subjects problems to solve and then ask them to report on the mental operations they engaged in to solve them. They were also asked to describe the types of thinking involved at different stages of the problem solving process. How could someone come up with the idea that we have “imageless thoughts” from such a simple experiment such as this one.

Does this mean that God could be categorized as possibly a subcategory under an imageless thought in some sense? People are constantly searching and even doubting at some points in their lives whether God exists or not. I had never heard of imageless thoughts before but after reading this it makes sense that they would be imageless, when you are searching for something you do not have an idea of what it may look like, same goes with doubting or hesitating. I cannot think of any other thoughts that do not have an image that go along with them.

http://cmapspublic3.ihmc.us/rid=1074810630828_527067884_3/Oswald%20Kulpe.htm

The above website gives us a little more information on who Kulpe was and some of his other psychological findings.

“I think, therefore I am” these are the famous words of Rene Descartes. I found Descartes’ innate ideas to be interesting because of how he explains our ideas and where they come from. He states “even though he is imperfect, he still entertained ideas that were perfect”. Once I read this my first thought was “this makes perfect sense”. No one individual is perfect in any sense; however, we come up with perfect ideas every day. These ideas can range from anything along the lines of new medications, new technology, etc. However, after I read on I saw that he then states that something perfect cannot come from something imperfect and so it must have been placed there by something or someone.

Descartes final hypothesis was that these ideas must have been put in his head by someone more perfect than he nor anyone else was or could be. This individual would also have all the perfections you could imagine. In other words God put these perfect ideas in our heads. It is funny to think that even today we thank God for the ideas and miraculous things that happen to us even thousands of years after Descartes proposed this idea to be true.

I think I was drawn to Descartes’ ideas because of the fact that he states that the rational processes that the world gained through senses were valid because God would not deceive us. However, he also states that sensory information must still be analyzed rationally to be proved valid. I find this to be true because we cannot say that God tells us everything and makes all of our decisions for us. Some things we have to prove by researching and analyzing ourselves. I respect how Descartes’ tells us these two different sides, I feel like a lot of people only consider that God is the reason for all of our thoughts and actions. I think we still have to realize that a lot of the things we do are on a personal level and God is just there to guide us not necessarily give us the ideas or advice that we need on the dot.

This is a clip about all of the quotes and beliefs Descartes had. I found it interesting as it went over everything that he believes is true and how much it relates to how we live and perceive life today.
It talks about how if we can think, then we can doubt meaning we are not perfect. Also, we often go by what our 5 senses tell us when it comes to our bodies making decisions. But our senses often deceive us and do not tell us the truth. Descartes ideas have really opened my mind to think about how thought and ideas really work and what is true and valid in life.

In class we discussed Hippocrates I found his thoughts and ideas to be very interesting pertaining to the human body and its state of well being. He was all about helping the people in need, for example he had even stated that the patients should not be charged if they were financially down. Personally I think I was drawn to his voice because of the fact that he believed in natural healing of the body. He believed that rest, exercise, healthy eating, etc. all aided in healing and healthy living. I am very much about eating healthy, working out regularly and getting lots of sleep seeing as how I am an athlete here at ACU. The only thing that he said that I did not agree with is “the worst thing a physician could do is interrupt the natural healing process”. I think to some extent we should let our bodies heal naturally, however, when it gets serious and you are not getting better on your own I believe a physician should indeed step in and get you well. Just as Hippocrates stated “the body has the ability to heal itself and it is the physician’s job to facilitate this natural healing”.  I believe that the natural healing (rest, fluids, healthy eating, exercise) along with physicians coinciding together can exist and be useful at times.

As Christians we believe our body is a sacred temple which should be treated with love and respect. If you think about it this is kind of the message Hippocrates was attempting to get out. Instead of damaging our bodies with unhealthy foods and pumping ourselves with medication every time we have a hang nail or catch a cold, we should heal in a more natural sense because that is what your body was made to do.

However, on a contradictive note not everyone in society treats their body as a “temple” per say. During small groups in class we discussed; since Hippocrates time we have somewhat gone against his rational of “natural healing” and turned to prescription medication for everything. When we get sick and or when we are in pain what the first thing we do is? Have our doctor prescribe us a medication to fix it. When is that last time you went to the doctor, for any circumstance, and were NOT prescribed something for it? I honestly cannot remember the last time I wasn’t prescribed antibiotics or some kind of medication.

The following video explains exactly how close of friends society and prescription medication have become:
Overmedicated Society

I believe that society needs to find the healthy balance of “what I DO need help and medication for” and “what I can cure ON MY OWN”. This would help society all around whether we talk financially or their own personal health. Some of Hippocrates reasoning and ideas are still used today such as the Hippocratic Oath, however, I believe that his beliefs in our own ability to do well to and help ourselves should be better recognized and put into act.