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Helping patients work with their own resources
Tuesday, October 24, 2000
Dr. Carl Jensen, director of pastoral counselor training at the Pittsburgh Pastoral Institute in Shadyside, remembers a lesson he learned in the seminary 25 years ago.
"An Estonian Lutheran minister who had suffered horribly at the hands of the Nazis and had had a very hard life was being treated with disrespect by one of the students," Jensen recalled. "Instead of responding with anger, he walked up to the student and said, 'What have I done to offend you?' The kid was flabbergasted."
Jensen, a Lutheran minister, used the example to illustrate that the concept of gracious behavior, espoused by Constructive Living, is not such a novel idea. "Matthew 7:3 says, 'Take the log out of your own eye first.'
"Not returning an evil for an evil gives us freedom from our own bad feelings," Jensen said.
While he knows little about Constructive Living or Sydney Banks, he is convinced of the value of combining the spiritual with the scientific in treating depression, anxiety and other disorders.
Even therapists trained to regard religion with skepticism, or hostility, are beginning to share his thinking.
"I've noticed a trend in psychotherapy over the past 10 years to look at the faith dimension, which is a part of who we are as humans," Jensen said.
Dr. Bryan Chambliss, a psychiatrist and director of residency training at St. Francis Hospital, agreed. "Traditional practices are drawing on Eastern philosophies, and integrating Zen Buddhism. On the whole, we're becoming more open to discussions around spirituality."
Chambliss has asked Jensen to help teach his residents about dealing with clients' spirituality in therapy -- a course the Pittsburgh Pastoral Institute began for residents at UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic three years ago.
"Our goal at Western Psych is for psychiatrists to be able to help patients work with their own resources of faith to feel better," Jensen said.
-- Deborah Weisberg
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