Practice Archives - ��Ƶ of Theology & Psychology

Interdisciplinary Learning at ��Ƶ: Embracing the “&”

Misty Anne Winzenried — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 16:00:06 +0000

With contributions from Dr. Jennifer Fernandez.

The “&” in our name is essential to who we are – we train therapists in our counseling psychology program, but through a distinctively theological lens. We offer programs in and , but with attention to the . Our distinctiveness is, in part, a result of our commitment to keep the fields of theology, biblical studies, and psychology in conversation.

What is Interdisciplinary Learning?

In order to understand interdisciplinary learning, we have to understand what we mean by disciplines – that is, the academic disciplines. It’s easy to think about disciplines as static institutions, but academic disciplines themselves are far from monolithic and unified.

Disciplines are complex, multi-layered, and dynamic. Most important, they are made up of people: scholars investigating questions, teaching students, contributing to knowledge, and advancing their fields. A more helpful way of thinking about disciplines is to think about them as communities with a set of shared (but sometimes contested) questions, objects of study, practices, epistemologies, methodologies, and vocabularies. ¹

Interdisciplinary learning first involves adopting what Rebecca Nowacek calls “meta-disciplinary awareness” ² – that is, an ability to see the disciplines as disciplines, examining their assumptions and biases and frameworks, and paying attention to what the disciplines help us see and what they might not. The metaphor I like to use is that of a pair of glasses: if the disciplines are a pair of glasses you might put on to examine an object of study or a question, then metadisciplinary awareness asks us to pay attention to the glasses themselves: What are they made of? How do they “work?” How were they formed, or how did they come to be the way they are? What do they help us see, and what might they obscure?

Interdisciplinary learning, then, recognizes that most of the interesting problems in the world are complex enough that a single perspective isn’t enough to help us fully see and understand them. We need many voices, and many perspectives, to get a full picture of a person, a phenomenon, an idea, or a problem.

Interdisciplinarity is collaborative at its core, recognizing that one perspective is insufficient for fully understanding a situation; we see and understand better when we work together. Interdisciplinary learning is more than just studying multiple academic disciplines side by side–that would be Multidisciplinarity learning, the side by side use of disciplinary understandings without integration. The key to bringing various disciplines together in Interdisciplinarity is integration.

Metaphors can prove useful in understanding what makes Interdisciplinary learning different from other kinds of frameworks. A bowl of fruit could be helpful to think of when thinking about multidisciplinarity. There, each individual fruit sits on its own — peaches are discernable as peaches, bananas as bananas. But Interdisciplinary integration is a lot like a smoothie — fruits come together to create something new, a blended creation where each distinctive fruit is harder to discern. Instead what you have is a delicious, cohesive mixture. Another metaphor we can use is that of a bridge. Interdisciplinarity can be bridge building in the sense that a bridge connects two points (in this case knowledge from two or more disciplines) that would otherwise remain separate.

Why is Interdisciplinary Learning Important at ��Ƶ of Theology & Psychology?

The challenges we face in our world are complex and multifaceted. We are complex and multifaceted, and we are understanding that reality more and more deeply as we walk about our neighborhoods, engage in relationships, and participate in our local and global communities. The world needs leaders, thinkers, pastors, artists, and therapists who can approach their work in multifaceted and complex ways. At ��Ƶ of Theology & Psychology, we embrace this approach in our name, in our programs, and in our curriculum.

Interdisciplinary learning at ��Ƶ means that our faculty have deep expertise in their own fields, but also dexterity in conversations with experts in other fields. Our faculty work together on curriculum and committees, teach together, and even share offices across disciplinary boundaries. What results are generative conversations, consideration of multiple viewpoints and perspectives, and innovative collaboration and curiosity.

Interdisciplinary learning at ��Ƶ means that students choose a degree program that meets their vocational needs, but programs are complemented by coursework in the other programs, including a Common Curriculum that invites students to move between the fields of theology and psychology.

Our offers opportunities for encounter, translation, and integration. Interdisciplinary Learning at ��Ƶ encompasses all of these things at different points along the journey. Sometimes that means that students might encounter disciplinary questions, ideas, or ways of thinking that help them see the world from a different vantage point. Other times this means that students may find themselves translating what happens across various courses into new language as they make sense of the theological and psychological ways of engaging the world.

Ultimately, we hope the aim is integration, that as our students encounter coursework in the various disciplines, they begin to develop a critical understanding of what each discipline affords and constrains. That is, what it allows us to see and do, as well as its limitations. It is a way of weaving together a multifaceted way of engaging one’s vocation that draws from the theological and the psychological.

“Given the complexity of today’s world, we need thinkers and do-ers who understand that complexity. The Interdisciplinary approach offered at ��Ƶ prepares students to create holistic solutions by weaving together disciplinary insights as well as both contextual and systemic thinking. As students explore text, soul, and culture, through various methodological frameworks, they come to see their own work as integral to the multi-dimensional fabric of social transformation.” Dr. Jennifer Fernandez

Resources

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��Ƶ Achieves Regional Accreditation

��Ƶ — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 05:07:11 +0000

��Ƶ of Theology & Psychology has been granted regional accreditation by the (NWCCU). Appointment of regional accreditation recognizes the impact, missional alignment, and credibility of ��Ƶ and its programs as a whole. This designation adds to the school’s accreditation with the earned in 2013.

“We are elated that this hard work has come to a good end. It is a sign of our collective commitment to grow, develop, and mature as an institution,” said Dr. J. Derek McNeil, President and Provost. “This is a significant milestone, one that has been twelve years in the making.”

The journey toward accreditation began in 2015 when NWCCU approved ��Ƶ as an Applicant for Candidacy. As a candidate, the school underwent a rigorous review process and multi-day site visits by the accrediting body, culminating in a final visit in the Fall of 2019. The site team, led by Dr. Linda Samek, Provost, George Fox University, left this last visit with affirming commendations and insights for continued growth.

“The accreditation process was for us, a very useful and rewarding experience,” said Cheryl Goodwin, Director of Institutional Assessment and Library Services. “It made us reflect on our teaching and assessment, challenged us to be self-critical, and gave us extremely valuable guidance to improve our students’ educational experience. It is a testament to the dedication of our faculty, staff, students, and alumni who have worked tirelessly in pursuit of accreditation as an important step in the fulfillment of our mission of serving God and neighbor.”

Throughout this process, key members of the institution worked tirelessly to create an Interim Candidacy Self Evaluation Report and ensure all recommendations from the evaluation team were met in a timely manner. The Candidacy stage, as noted in an earlier press release, allows an institution to clarify the institution’s capacity for long-term impact. ��Ƶ achieved accreditation in approximately a year and a half, well ahead of the average Candidacy period of two to four years.

“NWCCU is committed to an accreditation process that adds value to institutions while contributing to public accountability, and we thank you for your continued support of this process,” said Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy, NWCCU President, acknowledging the school’s achievement.

In their official letter of action, the Commission commended ��Ƶ for:

Its committed, caring, and high-quality faculty and staff.
The integration of theology and psychology and its deep embodiment of the integrative experience through the holistic student education process as offered by faculty and staff, including the active and relational follow up with alumni.
Highly committed and well-qualified administrators and trustees who demonstrated steadiness and took on additional responsibilities, all with a keen focus on mission fulfillment.

“Accreditation through the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities marks ��Ƶ as an institution that has successfully engaged in a rigorous evaluation process alongside other quality institutions in our region. We are grateful for the years of hard work by our accreditation team, faculty, and staff, and for the maturity and growth that the process has ignited for us as an institution,” said Misty Anne Winzenried, PhD, Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning.

In his announcement to faculty, staff, and students President McNeil stated: “It is with great hope and expectation that we look to the future of ��Ƶ. To the upcoming graduates who will be among the first to culminate their degree with this distinction, and to partnerships that we will build with other institutions and organizations across the Pacific Northwest. We have much to offer, and much to learn and receive.”

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Announcing New Common Curriculum at ��Ƶ

��Ƶ — Wed, 28 Aug 2019 23:28:18 +0000

In an increasingly fragmented and complex culture, we at ��Ƶ are renewed in our mission to train people to be competent in the study of text.soul.culture in order to serve God and neighbor through transforming relationships. Since our founding we have been compelled by multi-modal, practice-oriented learning and service in the world. In response to the changing needs in our culture ��Ƶ’s core faculty have labored to reshape the Common Curriculum courses with a greater focus on interdisciplinary and experiential learning.

Over the course of a year, students will integrate biblical, cultural, and psychological studies as well as respond to being embedded within their own context, culture, and systems. One of the major shifts of the new common curriculum is instituting a greater reflection and response regarding embeddedness within students’ contexts, cultures, and systems.

“As people of faith navigating a tumultuous time in our nation and in the world, I am even more renewed in my commitment to this learning community linked together through our mission of service. There’s a for such a time as this quality that feels palpable,” says Dr. J. Derek McNeil, Acting President & Provost.

The revised Common Curriculum courses center around the thought of “Intersection” as students engage in the places where theology, psychology, philosophy, sociology, and anthropology intersect.

Our Common Curriculum unites students across disciplines in order to develop perspective and better engage in our world’s ever-evolving challenges. First year students in our Master of Divinity, MA in Theology & Culture, and MA in Counseling Psychology programs will take three intersections courses and two dialogue-oriented labs.

“At the crux of our Common Curriculum is the desire to help our learners to have a robust curiosity and growing understanding of God, neighbor, and the space between,” says Dr. Doug Shirley, Assistant Professor of Counseling. Interdisciplinary education is core to ��Ƶ. Studying one particular discipline affords a certain view or “lens” of the world, whereas opening the door to different views gives students an opportunity to move in and out of their own perspectives.

“I’m deeply grateful for the thoughtful, creative work of our faculty and how much they have invested in reshaping our curriculum. I believe we are called to see the complexity in the world around us and engage it with wisdom and courage. It’s humbling to be a part of a learning community so invested in forming folks for such a call and for such a time,” says President McNeil.

This fall we will welcome our 22nd cohort. We are honored to participate in their formation and we look forward to these sending them to our alumni community of over 1300 pastors, therapists, social leaders, and artists, joining God in the restoration of their communities.

Learn more about our Common Curriculum.

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Learning Beyond Walls

��Ƶ — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 18:26:01 +0000

We believe that transformative education—the kind of learning that gets in your bones and changes how you see the world—cannot be contained to the classroom. When we go outside our building to learn from others, encounter new stories, and wrestle with hard questions amid the messiness and complexity of our world, that’s when the ideas and theories from the classroom are given new life.

Earlier this year, two summer-term classes took ��Ƶ students beyond our walls (and beyond Seattle). In Engaging Global Partnerships, Dr. Ron Ruthruff, Associate Professor of Theology & Culture, and Cheryl Goodwin, Director of Institutional Assessment & Library Services, led a group of students to Kenya, inviting them to let their assumptions, beliefs, and practices be challenged and clarified by the stories of a place and the people who serve it. That same month, spiritual director and pilgrimage guide (MA in Theology & Culture, ‘12) and spiritual director and retired faculty member Tom Cashman journeyed to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona to guide students through a pilgrimage grounded in the ancient Christian tradition of desert spirituality.

Engaging Global Partnerships in Kenya

“We’re taking a deep look at the history of colonialism and religion, and the relationship between a place and the people who inhabit it—especially in places of wounding. How can we enter those wounds in a way that is honoring to others’ stories and also helps us reimagine our shared future?”
–Dr. Ron Ruthruff

Pilgrimage to the Sonoran Desert

“During our time in the desert, we explored the ancient Christian tradition of desert spirituality with an emphasis on the apophatic way and the contemplative path. The word apophatic means ‘without image,’ and during our time in the desert we sought to abandon our expectations and preconceived notions of God through themes such as awareness, inviting us to non-dual consciousness; surrender, inviting us toward a posture of kenosis or self-emptying; and encounter, inviting us to be present to the desert, the Divine, and ourselves with loving indifference or non-attachment. Ultimately, the fierce landscape of the desert served as teacher and guide on our journey, teaching us how to tend to and be with the sacred and fierce landscape of the soul within.”
–Lacy Clark Ellman

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Unconventional Pastor: An Interview with Rachael Clinton

Rachael Clinton — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 16:17:27 +0000

Our service in the world is informed by our unique identity and calling, meaning it will look different for each of us. So we decided to talk with (Master of Divinity, ‘10), Director of Care and Teaching for The Allender Center. Rachael is known as something of a pastor here at ��Ƶ, even though it doesn’t look like the more traditional role of pastoring a local church. We asked her about her journey of living into her calling, even when it looks different than what others might expect.

Find out more about our Master of Divinity program.

Could you give us an overview of what you do?

My title is Director of Organizational Development for The Allender Center at ��Ƶ—which, honestly, is really functioning like an Executive Pastor. I get to do leadership development for our staff at The Allender Center, creating consistent structures of communication, professional development, care, support. I’m also on faculty with The Allender Center, so I teach and work on the blog and podcast, as well as facilitating groups.

It’s interesting that all of those things—from the relational to the technical to the administrative—often fall under the role of pastor, too. Which raises another question: What does it mean to be a pastor?

I often joke that being a good pastor is just like being a good parent, but specifically in the realms of spiritual formation and identity development. When I think about a pastor, I think about someone who tells stories that help people locate themselves in a larger story. Both individually—“Who is God, and who are you?” and collectively—“Where have we come from, where are we now, where are we going?” I think it’s about providing good care.

I often say that, vocationally and in my calling, I’m a pastor by orientation. I find that whether I’m working in a tea shop and serving people crepes and loose leaf tea, or working on an admissions team recruiting students to a graduate program.

I’m guessing the tea shop’s not hypothetical.

No, I worked at a loose leaf tea shop the year after I graduated from ��Ƶ.

Was there a period of finding it hard to identify as a pastor, since you weren’t in the traditional paid staff position at a church?

Two moments come to mind. First, I did not come to graduate school to become a pastor, even though I came to pursue an MDiv. I came from a tradition where women couldn’t be pastors, so I didn’t have much imagination for myself as a pastor. I came to ��Ƶ because I thought I would be a professor. I knew I would do ministry, but I would maybe just do ministry through the academy. Then during my third year, Paul Steinke named me as a pastor. There was something about someone actually naming me pastor, inviting me to see that as part of my identity, that was really powerful.

And then, during our formational years at The Allender Center, there were some moments where we were in the midst of a lot of spiritual warfare and a lot of despair. I remember Dan was introducing me before the large group to teach, and he said, “Rachael really is the pastor of The Allender Center.” And as he said that, there was something that felt really true to me about that. It’s not a way I would necessarily have seen myself, but it was a way I was bringing myself in the midst of our team, calling us to remember who we are and who we’re called to be. So I felt like the unofficial pastor of The Allender Center, and then there’s the question of, what does it mean to be the pastor of a nonprofit? Is that sacrilegious?

It seems like there are layers: Something was going on inside you regarding your own identity and calling, but something else happens when others see that and name it. Why do you think that outward affirmation is so meaningful?

I think there’s something about anointing that is really important. We see that throughout the text, right? It’s something we’re meant for and made for: to have others bless aspects of our calling and identity and vocation. I think it’s why something like an ordination process holds so much meaning in the Church. There’s a way of anointing, honoring, and consecrating—setting apart a role. Though I think, at times in our culture, that setting apart means the role is elevated in a way that some people who have the esteem of pastor really abuse that power, and it creates this false dichotomy that people who are pastors or leaders in a ministry are actually doing ministry, not everyone else. That’s a really weak, thin theology, a really weak, thin missiology, a really weak, thin sense of what the Church actually is and how it functions.

This process of recognizing your pastoral gifting and embracing that and naming it true—how has that journey clarified or refined how you understand calling?

I don’t see calling as being just connected to vocation. It’s far more expansive than that. It’s that sense of knowing that, no matter what I’m doing, it’s okay to bring these parts of myself.

And there is some mythology that calling is static, when I actually think it’s something that develops and grows and shifts. I think it does stay pretty consistent in its rootedness, but the fruit it bears can change in different seasons. So we always need to be growing and learning and have a posture of curiosity and a willingness to surrender to formational processes.

“I don’t see calling as being just connected to vocation. It’s far more expansive than that.”

What would you say to somebody else who is recognizing aspects of their calling as a pastor, but also recognizing that it might come out in an unconventional context?

The more we know who we are, then we can make better decisions about where we want to give those parts of ourselves. Calling, again, is about more than vocation. Calling is about union, calling is about love—it’s always about love. So what are the really unique ways that you are equipped and gifted to love people and communities well? For some people, that will look like very traditional roles that have really clear boundaries, really clear definitions, and there’s nothing wrong with that. For others, it might mean you meander a bit, because there are certain skills you need to develop that go along with that calling. Some people might look at it and go, “Oh, this is a real deviation from your calling,” and I would say, “No, I actually think it was preparing me to be more fully equipped for my calling.”

So I would tell people, especially those who will find themselves in more unconventional spaces, we need healers and pastors and artists and therapists working in lots of different contexts. And it may not always look like the textbook. That doesn’t mean you’re not being faithful to live out your calling well.

Part of what we’re exploring is inspired by Barbara Brown Taylor’s language of your “altar in the world,” and the idea that our work in the world is a form of worship. Do you want to say anything about that?

Oh, I really like that. I was just reading , and I love Paul’s language of living faithfully to what you’ve been gifted—and that’s going to look different for each person in different seasons, based on different giftings—just be faithful to bring those gifts to the world in such a way that it is like a living sacrifice. I think we’re really scared of that word, sacrifice. And rightfully so—there’s been some theological and spiritual abuse that has used a word like sacrifice to maintain oppressive structures of power that are actually anti-Gospel. However, when we give of ourselves in a way that actually leads unto life, I think that’s that living sacrifice that Paul calls us to.

Learn more about our Master of Divinity program and how you can pursue your unique calling.

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Breathing Myself to Life: How Story Informs My Vocation

Jenny Wade — Mon, 17 Jun 2019 21:53:56 +0000

This month on the blog, we’re exploring how our particular stories of harm and healing inform our work in the world—meaning vocation and service look different for everyone (and this is a good thing). Here, Jenny Wade (MA in Counseling Psychology, ‘13) reflects on experiences of emotional and sexual repression, her journey of learning to inhabit her body in a new, life-giving way, and how that story helps shape her work with others.

I breathed myself to life, and so can you. My own recovery from the trauma of sexual repression drew me towards the healing medicine of yoga. I am a psychotherapist and a yoga teacher. My passion, obsession, and saving grace is embodiment—the experience of inhabiting the home of your body. Social forces and generational/personal trauma split the psyche into compartmentalization and dissociation, which inhibit us from fully inhabiting our own skin. I came into this work by following the golden thread of aliveness that vibrated inside of me whenever I stepped towards an act of embodiment.

My journey towards my profession and passion began by confronting my own pain of living in a deadened body.

“My journey towards my profession and passion began by confronting my own pain of living in a deadened body.”

As a girl I was steeped in an evangelical church that was emotionally and sexually repressed. I was taught to dissociate from my emotion and sexuality. Eager to perform for my community, I was one of the ‘good’ ones. My dissociative abilities grew stronger as they were reinforced and praised. I swallowed my emotions and wore my pledge of virginity until marriage like a badge of honor. I committed to these ideas with resolve, to the point of receiving a purity tattoo—a dove on my hip that I wouldn’t allow anyone to see until my wedding night.

As a child I was tirelessly praised for my goodness, my ability to follow all of the rules set before me. The only price I had to pay for this endless stream of praise was my unwavering compliance with the group norms of emotional and sexual repression. As long as I agreed that the impulses of my body were wrong and should be ignored at all costs, I was given power, respect, and trust from a group of people I deeply respected.

As a 3 on the Enneagram, “the performer,” my disposition lends me towards being preoccupied with how others see me. ‘Good’ became my identity, and my value was centered around how well I could perform to the expectations of those in authority around me. My obsession with blamelessness made me feel afraid to consider my own right to connection and desire.

It is painful to realize I was brainwashed out of connecting to my own sensuality. Over and over again I kissed my college boyfriend (who is now my incredible, gracious husband) while willing myself outside of my body and interrupting our connection if we got ‘too close.’ For years. For five years. That is too many years of not surrendering to the wisdom of our bodies. Our super power, being deeply present with each other, was shadowed by shame and secrecy. By the time we decided we had waited long enough to have sex, I had retreated so far from the felt experience of my body that I didn’t know how to enjoy it.

Dissociation is the psychological process of blocking out what an individual considers to be harmful. What is defined as ‘harmful’ within an individual is often the parts of self that may inhibit a sense of belonging to a particular community. I was taught that my body was bad and not to be trusted, so I spent the vast majority of my life ignoring what it was saying to me out of an ethical duty to be ‘good.’ I’m not the only one. The bodies of countless people growing up within Evangelical communities have been affected by the shameful rhetoric of purity culture.

The trauma of neglecting and shaming my body during vital years of sexual development caused a severe split between my mind and my body. We don’t learn how to be in our bodies unless we are taught how to follow sensation. In order to keep my purity pledge, I did everything in my power to sever myself from sensation, and in the process inadvertently sent the message to my brain that connection to my body was not to be trusted. My evil body tempted me into sexual sin—an age-old fable more concerned with power than with sex.

Yoga was the first place I learned how to inhabit my body intimately, in a way that wasn’t overtly sexual. Yoga was a neutral environment I could enter to learn how to de-thaw my body, without having to hold the emotional complexity of sexual shame that would often come up during sex. It has been through my own yoga practice that I’ve learned that there is ancient medicine in using breath and movement in order to bring bodies back to life. What has historically been my biggest weakness is turning into my biggest strength because my pain forced me to look so closely at my body.

“There is ancient medicine in using breath and movement in order to bring bodies back to life.”

While I was still dry humping Ben in church parking lots (#wheatonlyfe) in 2006, I attended a ‘stretching and breathing’ class (yoga, in disguise) that changed my life. My body, which I had spent so much time trying to separate from and control, was now being gently paid attention to. I learned how to use movement as prayer, and for the first time I began to see how being with my body was a worshipful experience. It made my heart burst wide open to pay attention to myself in this way. Each time I laid in savasana, the final resting pose at the end of a yoga class, I came into direct contact with the weirdness and goodness of my body, the pure delight of feeling my own aliveness. These magical experiences in my body drew me to enroll in a yoga teacher training the summer before I started class at ��Ƶ. Immersed in the world of body wisdom I began, piece by piece, to land into a body I wasn’t fully aware I had disowned.

After I graduated, I spent four years working at , a local eating disorder clinic that was my therapeutic boot camp. Working with clients with eating disorders is a minefield of body hatred and dissociation, and I needed to learn quickly how to help my clients tolerate being in bodies that felt deeply unsafe to inhabit. I voraciously read books on embodiment and somatic healing from trauma, and I realized as I read that I needed to heal myself. The deeper I dove into healing my relationship with my body, the more I could teach my students how to find islands of safety within their own skin.

Dissociation is a form of trauma that leaves the body frozen, numb, and unresponsive. When trauma and neglect happen, we need to vacate. It is a sweet gift that the body doesn’t allow us to come into full contact with the enormity of our pain when we aren’t safe enough to feel it. I see the body as a manifestation of the unconscious mind, and when we work explicitly with the physical body, we grow awareness to the most hidden parts of our psyche. Yoga is a way to slowly reintroduce ourselves to the disowned parts of ourselves. Using the tools of breath and focused awareness, we can gradually thaw the frozen, clenched parts of our bodies. Now in my private practice, I’m teaching my clients and yoga students how to reclaim the uncharted waters of their own bodies using meditation, yoga, and breathing practices.

It wasn’t until I began connecting to my body that I realized how deeply disconnected I had been my entire life. Even now, after spending the last decade working to integrate the experiences of my body, I’m more aware than ever about how much I still don’t know about this earth suit of mine. It is endlessly mysterious and mystical to discover the maps of intelligence that are encoded into our bodies. I’ll never arrive at a perfectly embodied or integrated place, but I have breathed myself into a new body. A more fluid, open, welcoming, and grounded body. A body that knows how to lean into care because of all those times she leaned into the earth in savasana and felt held.

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Unconventional Calling and Your Altar in the World

��Ƶ — Mon, 03 Jun 2019 14:00:41 +0000

“The whole person, not merely [their] soul; the true human community, not only the individual; humanity as it is bound up with nature, not simply human beings in their confrontation with nature—it is these which are the image of God and [God’s] glory.”

–Miroslav Volf

We believe that we are created in the image of God. This is a radical idea that, for many, may have been dulled by familiarity over the years. That belief may have also lost some of its spark when, particularly in western Christianity, it came to be applied almost exclusively to the individual. But what if it is not only our individual identities that reflect God’s image? What if that image is more fully reflected in the ways that our individual stories, bodies, and callings intersect with and impact each other? What if, like our personal stories of transformation, the particularity of our work with others reveals something deep and beautiful about who God is?

So much of our mission at ��Ƶ leads us to that idea. In recent months on the blog, we’ve been wrestling with how transformation draws us deeper into the call to serve God and neighbor, and how living out that call in a sustainable way requires that we never stop nurturing the process of formation. This month, we’re going to be exploring how integrating those two processes—personal formation and outward service—is an act of worship, one that reveals the image of God in profound and surprising ways.

How does your calling reflect something of who God is? How might your service draw you deeper into worship? As , what is your altar in the world?

These are big questions, and they are intimately connected to story. That means that, when we let our transformation inform our calling as an act of worship, our work in the world might look as unique as our own story. Service looks different for everyone, which means that your calling might be a bit unconventional—and this is a good thing.

Here’s to unconventional callings, continued transformation, and service as worship. And here’s to the image of God that is continually being revealed in and between and through each of us as we serve God and neighbor.

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��Ƶ Launches Relationally Focused Psychodynamic Therapy Certificate

��Ƶ — Thu, 30 May 2019 17:00:51 +0000

��Ƶ of Theology & Psychology has announced the launch of the Relationally Focused Psychodynamic Therapy (RFPT) Post-Graduate Certificate, beginning in fall 2019. RFPT is an evidence-based treatment approach with strong roots in depth psychology (particularly contemporary relational psychoanalysis), embodied theology, dialogical philosophy, and neuroscience, and this new certificate is a two-year training program designed to help clinicians deepen their understanding and application of relational psychotherapy.

Dr. Roy Barsness , Professor of Counseling Psychology at ��Ƶ, developed Relationally Focused Psychodynamic Therapy from his qualitative research conducted in the realm of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The result of that research culminated in his collaborative book, .

“Psychology is once again turning its attention to the understanding that actual change occurs by focusing on the unfolding narrative between therapist and patient,” says Dr. Barsness. “The implication of this shift is the need for training in theoretical and practical constructs that attend to motivation, emotions, early attachment/developmental issues, the role of the unconscious, and attention to the research in the neurosciences that notes shifts in affective regulation through genuine encounters with others.”

“Psychology is once again turning its attention to the understanding that actual change occurs by focusing on the unfolding narrative between therapist and patient.”

Decades of research indicate that the provision of therapy is an interpersonal process in which the nature of the therapeutic relationship is a central component for change and healing. For 21 years, ��Ƶ has distinguished itself as a program rooted in the belief that we are created, known, wounded, and healed in the context of relationship. Our incarnational theology informs our theory of change, and our psychodynamic methodology develops thoughtful, committed practitioners. The RFPT certificate is designed for practitioners to continue their learning by equipping them with new insights and skills, helping clarify their methodology and theory of change, and offering a network of clinicians for ongoing support, community, and consultation.

This post-graduate certificate represents ��Ƶ’s intentional movement toward hybrid learning opportunities that are more accessible than ever, so that participants can continue to learn and grow even as they pursue their day-to-day work. In the RFPT certificate, clinicians will participate in a practice-focused, experiential training program delivered through bi-weekly online clinical consultations and twice-yearly in-person weekend intensive retreats. In the contexts of community and their own practice, participants will pursue an in-depth exploration of how they position themselves in the therapeutic dyad, how they reflect on the conscious and unconscious dynamics that unfold, and how they engage those dynamics with courage, discipline, and insight.

“Learning doesn’t stop once you enter the field,” says Dr. J. Derek McNeil, Acting President and Provost. “I’m pleased to be offering clinicians this opportunity to deepen their own learning and refine their practice in the context of community.”

You can visit the program page to learn more about the Relationally Focused Psychodynamic Therapy Post-Graduate Certificate, including schedule, tuition, program outline, and the application process.

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Resilience, Trauma, and the Hope of the Church

��Ƶ — Wed, 15 May 2019 16:11:05 +0000

On this episode of text.soul.culture, we’re talking all about resilience—not just as a theoretical idea or buzzword, but as a very real set of practices and resources that ground us in our vocation and help sustain meaningful work. Shauna Gauthier, Alumni Outreach Coordinator, talks with Kate Davis, Director of the Resilient Leaders Project (RLP), and Laura Wade Shirley, Circle Leader for RLP, about how they learned to recognize the need for resilience in their own lives, and about what they’re learning now as they develop new ways to help other leaders foster resilience.

If you’ve ever worked in ministry or a helping profession—or any work that requires your full self—you know this matters: the rate of burnout is too high, and the cost too steep, to not take seriously the need for resilience. We launched Resilient Leaders Project to help leaders and communities respond to that deep need in the midst of a changing church and fragmented culture.

Kate: “Resilient Leaders Project is about trying to come alongside leaders in their context to help them construct lives that support their good work, instead of feeling like their lives are at the cost of their work.”

In reflecting on what drew them into this work, Kate and Laura Wade share about their histories with the Church and how they came to believe it could be a space that would welcome them fully and unequivocally, in all of their brokenness and trauma. Because it turns out that it’s impossible to talk meaningfully about resilience without also talking about trauma.

Kate: “There’s a depth of experience that you must learn to narrate in your own life if you’re going to integrate the really hard pieces of your life. It’s not simply bouncing back to the shape that you were before something hard happened, it’s saying ‘How did this really difficult situation, this suffering that I went through, actually form me to be in some way more human, more compassionate, and therefore more divine?’”

“There’s a depth of experience that you must learn to narrate in your own life if you’re going to integrate the really hard pieces of your life.”

Laura Wade: “Resilience, to me, is finding healing and freedom and voice in the midst of those harmful places, and being able to meet the Spirit and meet God there to be different, to be more of who we are created to be. That’s the linking of resilience and trauma. I don’t think you can have resilience without some level of trauma.”

Shauna: “And maybe you can’t be a human and not have trauma.”

As we gather to reflect together on the trauma of Christ—the violence, betrayal, death, and resurrection—in the Church we might also find space to reflect on our own trauma, to lean into a community of others who can help us find language and meaning for that which is beyond words. This is a beautiful hope, that reflecting on the wounds of Christ in community might help us heal from our own wounds, but it is also a risky, vulnerable hope—one from which it is all too easy for many leaders to shy away. The rigorous demands and unspoken expectations of leadership often mean that leaders—especially in church, ministry, and nonprofit settings—are left feeling as if they cannot disclose experiences of trauma or uncertainty, and like there is not room for them to receive care.

Kate: “Wounded healer is language that we usually use, but we gloss over the wounded part, which means that we often have healed wounders in those roles.”

“Wounded healer is language that we usually use, but we gloss over the wounded part, which means that we often have healed wounders in those roles.”

Toward the end of the conversation, Kate and Laura Wade share about their experience in the first full year of RLP, inviting leaders into intentional connection, thoughtful reflection, and new practices that create room for their full selves—including their trauma, doubt, and brokenness—to be present in their work and relationship. This integrative work is a central part of building resilience, and it is a gift to journey with leaders as they step into that.

Kate: “My hope for the Church is that God’s not done. And it might not look like the church that it looked like in our parents’ or grandparents’ ages, it might not be focused on Sunday morning worship, but I think God’s not done in gathering people in a certain type of way. I want to be part of making that happen, and I want to be part of helping resource the creative and courageous people who are stepping into this unknown territory.”

Resources to Go Deeper

You can learn more about the Resilient Leaders Project—including our newsletter, upcoming events, and the application process for our next cohort—at theseattleschool.edu/rlp.
Kate shares a poem by an anonymous survivor of rape, which reads in its entirety: “I can’t forget what happened, but no one else remembers.” When she was a student at ��Ƶ, Kate wrote this moving reflection about the installation and about church as a community that remembers and holds.
Laura Wade recommends a book about integrating the feminine and masculine parts that live in each of us. The book is by Tami Lynn Kent.
One of the practices Laura Wade mentions that she has returned to because of this work is running. You can read her reflection about how running helps her return to spiritual health in this blog.
For more on resilience, you can watch Nikkita Oliver’s stunning talk from our 2018 Humanity Through Community gathering, and you can listen to Nikkita’s conversation with Shauna Gauthier from an earlier podcast episode.

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Nurturing Body and Soul Through Rituals, Movement, and Story

��Ƶ — Mon, 13 May 2019 18:20:34 +0000

All this month we’re exploring the art of nurturing identity and formation in a way that clarifies calling and sustains deep, meaningful work in the world. We’re intentionally using a bodily, sensory word like nurture because we believe that this is not merely an intellectual pursuit but one that calls for our full selves—body, mind, and spirit.

Of course it is all too easy to tune out our bodies, to ignore how they communicate our need for nurture. What are the practices that help us listen to our bodies? What are the rhythms and rituals that connect us to those deep, vulnerable parts of our bodies and souls that are crying out for care? Our students and alumni have been wrestling with these questions in beautiful, creative ways for many years, and we often turn to their voices when we need to remember how to be present in our bodies. Today we’re sharing a few of those voices—thoughtful presentations inviting us to engage the rituals, rhythms, and age-old practices that draw us back to our deeply human need for nurture. And if you’d like to join us in the gift of learning from the integrative and insightful work of our students, save the date for the annual Integrative Project Symposium on May 31.

At our second annual Symposia in 2016, Heather Stringer (, ‘10) presented “Breaking Frozen Seas: How Rituals of the Body Transform Clients and Communities,” exploring how intentional, sensual rituals open us to learning from our bodies as we pursue healing from trauma. “I think our body longs to teach us, it longs to mother us, it longs to remind us,” says Heather. “And without ritual, we foreclose creativity and shared open language about what is happening, and we dissociate.”

“I think our body longs to teach us, it longs to mother us, it longs to remind us.”

Also at Symposia 2016, Jenny McGrath (MACP, ‘15) talked about “Healing Trauma Through Movement,” sharing how dance had been an avenue of healing and growth in her own life, and how movement and dance can be used therapeutically to bring counseling and rehabilitation for trauma survivors. Jenny shares about her work in northern Uganda, researching the therapeutic power of movement in the wake of war and exploring how dance can help communicate emotional realities that are beyond language. “We are affected not just neurologically, but neuro-physiologically when we go through trauma. We are not just floating heads,” says Jenny. “So there needs to be some form of engagement with our bodies if we are truly to develop a sustainable model for people to recover from their trauma.”

At Symposia 2017 Jenny Wade (MACP, ’13), a therapist and founder of in Seattle, shared about “Finding Beauty in Embodied Resistance.” In this profound talk, Jenny starts with the disgust that so many people feel toward their bodies, and the million ways we are taught to believe that our bodies are not worth trusting. “I believe that bodies are good,” says Jenny. “They are good, and they are wise, and they are beautiful. […] But trauma, both collective and personal, separates us from the felt experience of our body. When we experience trauma, our body feels foreign. Our body doesn’t feel like it’s ours.”

(For more on this, we also deeply appreciated J. Knox Burnett’s (MACP, ’13) presentation, )

When we are more fully connected to our bodies, we are more able to attune to spiritual practices and soul care. This is much of the work that Lacy Clark Ellman (MA in Theology & Culture, ’12) fosters in her work as a spiritual director. In 2017, Lacy presented “Beyond Borders: Cultivating Awareness, Resilience, and Transformation through the Practice of Pilgrimage.” In 2017 she shared about the ancient art of pilgrimage and the archetypal human stories that have so much to reveal about the journey of separation, initiation, and return. “This adventure of the hero and journey of the pilgrim is built within each one of us,” says Lacy. “And claiming it as our own, we are aligning with our divine imprint as seekers of the sacred.”

(Kate Davis [Master of Divinity, ’15] also powerfully reflected on the transformative insights of ancient human stories in her Integrative Project presentation, )

Across cultures and generations, these categories of initiation, wilderness, and pilgrimage have been central to questions of what it means to be fully human—and yet for many of us, they feel so foreign today. That’s why we appreciated this Symposia 2016 presentation from Doug Wheeler (MA in Counseling, 1987), “Navigating the Masculine Journey with ‘Sherpas’ Nouwen, Jung, and Peck.” Doug reflects on the archetypes that help clarify the terrain and trajectory of human pilgrimage. “There is no entry fee, but it will cost you plenty to make this journey. Pack a lunch, lose your map, travel lightly.”

On May 31 we’ll gather to hear from students in our Master of Divinity and MA in Theology & Culture programs as they present on the projects that serve as a capstone of their time in graduate school. The Integrative Project Symposium is always an inspiring, grounding, and thought-provoking time. All are welcome!

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