기독(목회)상담사의 신학적 성찰 - 임상현장에서의 상관관계의 방법 -

Abstract

Theological reflection has been considered as academic product of systematic theologians. Also, the method of theological reflection is often underestimated, and often fail to connect adequately with ordinary human experiences and theological scholarship. This article proposes the need for facilitating a correlational method of theological reflection that integrates the Christian tradition and clinical experiences among Christian (pastoral) counselors in their clinical context. First, this study examines Paul Tillich's method of correlation. Faced with the fact that Tillich joined the influential New York Psychology Group in the 1940s, this opportunity moved Tillich towards a very specific example of the correlational method, by enabling him to consider the nature of the connections between psychology and religion. The method of correlation, argues Tillich, explains the contents of the Christian faith through existential questions and theological answers in mutual interdependence. While Seward Hiltner, one of the frontiers of pastoral counseling movement, had been deeply influenced by Tillich's correlational method, he critically speculated whether the correlation should be conceived as more of a 'two-way street.' The study tackles the issue of how the correlation should take place in a mutual 'two-way street' manner between tradition (religion) and experience (psychology) in a clinical context. Utilizing the work of Patricia Killen and John de Beer's theological method, it is argued that theological reflection may confirm, challenge, clarify, and expand how we understand our own experience and how we understand the religious tradition. Killen and de Beer call this process the standpoint of 'exploration.' and warn that 'certitude' and 'self-assurance' standpoints keep us from deep insights and reflections. In this study, using a clinical example, the author argues that Killen and de Beer's 5 stage method of theological reflection (experience-feelings-images- insight-action) will be able to assist counselors to theologically reflect upon their clinical experience and enhance their therapeutic intervention afterwards.