Tina Watson Wiens, M.A., LMFT
Faculty Associate, MFT Program
SP602: Spiritual and Personal Formation: Self in Community
2008-2009
I. Course Description
Concurrent with the second year of study in the MFT program, students participate in small reflection groups that explore topics such as human nature, sin, grace, sanctification, and Christian community. The group reflection process transforms theological doctrines into character-shaping wisdom that, when faithfully acted upon and integrated into students' lives, leads to greater realization of God’s intention for wholeness and holiness and to deeper integration of theological, theoretical, and experiential truths.
II. Course Outcomes
Students should be able to:
1. Describe the dimensions of the theological reflection process.
2. Articulate the intersections of their experience and the wisdom of Scripture and the Christian tradition.
3. Demonstrate the ability to use theological reflection to better understand both their experience and the Christian tradition.
4. Analyze the impact of theological reflection on their personal integration journeys.
III. Required Reading (provided on Blackboard)
Killen, P. O., and deBeer, J. (1994). The art of theological reflection. Crossroad/Herder & Herder. ISBN 0824514017. (Chapters 2 and 3)
Palmer, P. (2004). The clearness committee: A communal approach to discernment. Bainbridge Island, WA: Center for Courage and Renewal. Access via http://www.couragerenewal.org/parker/writings/clearness-committee
IV. Requirements
1. Participation in an MFT theological reflection.
· Attendance at each group session including the MFT orientation to the theological reflection process
· Active, respectful participation in the reflection process, with each student experiencing all the roles several times during the year
· Self-monitoring of individual and group process, with responsibility for requesting assistance as needed. A facilitator will be available to all groups and additional MFT program personnel are available to observe and consult with groups.
2. Cumulative reflection paper, submitted quarterly (Personal Integrative Portfolio).
At the end of each quarter, each student will submit a reflection paper that summarizes his or her formation journey to date. Each paper should a minimum of two pages per quarter in length. The reflection papers for winter and spring quarter should be cumulative, meaning the winter quarter paper should be a minimum of four pages and the spring quarter paper should be a minimum of six pages in length. The paper should reflect APA style, although no citations are expected.
Each quarterly segment of the paper should build upon the other, and must communicate the following:
· The central question(s) or issue(s) to which the student attended
· The student’s experience of the theological reflection process
· Integrative outcomes (theological, theoretical, clinical, experiential) of the process
Reflection papers are due no later than the last day of each quarter and should be submitted electronically to the following addresses:
and
At the end of the year, students may archive the reflection paper in their personal integrative portfolio.
V. Evaluation
SP602 is one component of the comprehensive formation track for MFT students. The group facilitator is not present as a therapist but is a representative of the MFT department and plays an integral role in the formation and practicum readiness process of students. Content shared in the group will be held in confidence by group members and the facilitator. However, process issues that are relevant to a student's personal and professional development and practicum readiness--strengths and challenges-- will become part of the student's formation portfolio. Student formation portfolios are accessible to all members of the MFT department and are utilized to support student's developmental work.
VI. Grade
This portion of the formation sequence will be graded by on a Pass/Fail basis. Students who meet the above requirements will receive credit for their participation. Failure to attend group meetings, to actively participate or to turn in a reflection paper will result in no credit, which may affect the student’s standing in the MFT program. MFT personnel may periodically observe groups. Groups will be informed of this in advance, and they may also request this assistance as they feel it is needed.
VII. Schedule
Groups will meet Wednesday mornings, 9-11am throughout the 2008-2009 school year. Specific dates for Fall, Winter and Spring quarter will be posted on the class Blackboard prior to the start of each quarter.
VIII. Guidelines for Group Interaction in MFT Courses and Formation Experiences
1. Be physically and psychologically present.
2. Presume welcome and extend welcome--in informal interaction, in small group discussion, and in large group interaction.
3. Believe that this process can energize you, not just drain you.
4. Refrain from fixing, saving, or setting straight others in the group.
5. When the interaction gets tricky, turn to inquiry rather than advocacy (wonder about something instead of defending something). Pay attention to the distinction between dialogue (which begins with a question) and debate (which begins with an answer).
6. Ask only open, honest questions. Make sure your questions are real questions, not ones intended to make a point, demonstrate prior knowledge, or communicate a hidden agenda.
7. Speak for yourself and own responsibility for your statements
8. Think of silence as another member of the group.
9. Observe confidentiality, especially regarding content shared by other students.
Academic Course Policies:
Please familiarize yourself with the catalog requirements as specified in Academic Course Policies document found on the Syllabus page in Blackboard. You are responsible for this information, and any academic violations, such as plagiarism, will not be tolerated.
THEOLOGICAL REFLECTION AS AN INTEGRATION TASK
(parts adapted from Killen and deBeer, 1994)
Marriage and Family Therapy Program
Bethel Seminary
Definition of Theological Reflection
¨ “The discipline of exploring our individual and corporate experience in conversation with the wisdom of a religious heritage. The conversation is a genuine dialogue that seeks to hear from our own beliefs, actions, and perspectives, as well as from those of the tradition. It respects the integrity of both. Theological reflection therefore may confirm, challenge, clarify, and expand how we understand our own experience and how we understand the religious tradition. The outcome is new truth and meaning for living.” (p. 51)
¨ The deliberate slowing down of our habitual processes of interpreting life in order to take a closer look at the experience and at our frameworks for interpretation
¨ Hard to do because reflection creates vulnerability:
· to re-experience the incident and whatever feelings were present in it
· to open our interpretive frameworks to revision so that all of our most dearly held beliefs, biases, convictions, and ways of responding to life may be called into question.
Dimensions of Movement Toward Insight
¨ Experience: interactions with people, places, events, and other factors that make up our lives. Inner and outer dimensions; never fully comprehended.
¨ Feelings: embodied affective and intelligent responses to reality as we encounter it. Clues to the meaning of our experience. Intimately connected to the sensations of our bodies.
¨ Images: symbols of experience that give shape and voice to our feelings. Direct awareness in novel ways and invite consideration. May be visual, tactile, olfactory, aural, savory or a combination of these.
¨ Insight: invitation to transformation. May be stimulated by the consideration and questioning of an image.
¨ Action: incarnating the truth we receive, changing the course of our lives
Entry Points for Doing Theological Reflection
¨ Tradition: Scripture, church history, doctrine, popular lore
¨ Actions: actions, thoughts, feelings in one’s own lived narrative
¨ Positions: one’s convictions, beliefs, opinions
¨ Culture: ideas and artifacts, social structure, physical environment
Standpoints for Theological Reflection
¨ Certitude
· Tradition only
· We see the unfamiliar only in terms of what we already believe
· Tend to approach Scripture or tradition in a way that mirrors back to us our assumptions and interpretations
· Doesn’t require community
· Applying a pre-established framework is ideology, not theology (cf. Israelites, Saul/Paul)
¨ Self-assurance
· Experience only
· Decide to trust only ourselves, our experiences, how we think/feel
· Do not notice discrepancies or inaccuracies in our perspectives
· We look to Scripture/tradition only for what supports what we think at present time (cf. rich young ruler)
· Unaware of how much we are shaped by our context and communities
¨ Exploration
· “In the overlap”
· Notice carefully where we are and describe the territory
· Look for clues as to how to proceed, which sources of truth are appropriate
· Draws us into community: as we increasingly enter our own experience, both our desire and need increase for companions and sources of wisdom other than ourselves
Framework for Theological Reflection
¨ Focus on some aspect of experience
¨ Describe that experience to identify the heart of the matter
¨ Explore the heart of the matter in conversation with the wisdom of the Christian heritage
¨ Identify from this conversation new truths and meanings for living
Process of Movement Toward Insight
When we enter our experience,
We encounter our feelings.
When we pay attention to those feelings,
Images arise.
Considering and questioning those images
May spark insight.
Insight invites transformation and
Leads, if willing, to action.
(To overcome inertia, need prayer, planning, and others)
“We do not create our own insights but receive them as gifts; so also we open ourselves in prayer to receive the courage to move into new territory.” (p. 44)