Third Wave Psychology, Cognitive-Behavioral Psychology and Theology

There are parts of the Third Wave Psychology, that sound quite a bit like what Brennan Manning speaks of in his book, Abba's Child. A book I have been enjoying very much.

It seems to me that Steven Hayes, author of Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life, and proponent of the Third Wave is suggesting that we don't cure a problem by focusing on it. Instead, he seems to suggest that we successfully change by acknowledging the negative thoughts that exist in us and then focus on investing our time and energy pursuing our core values.

According to Time magazine, Hayes says. "We should acknowledge that negative thoughts recur throughout life. Instead of challenging them, we should concentrate on identifying and committing to our values. Once we become willing to feel negative emotions, he argues, we will find it easier to figure out what life should be about and get on with it."

I've spent a good portion of my adult years disregarding and devaluing emotions; especially the negative ones that "good" Christians aren't supposed to have. I have come to realize that this method doesn't square with the Bible and it doesn't lead to wholeness. I have come to realize that the more I succeeded with my faulty, unrealistic goal, the more robotic and detached from myself and other people I was becoming. The more stoicism I embraced the less like Christ I was becoming. To be sure, my cognition was faulty, my but transformation began when I experienced a series of new things. An electrical shock tends to generate new thought rather instantaneously.

Manning quotes James Masterson, M.D., "It is the nature of the false self to save us from knowing the truth about our real selves, from penetrating the deeper causes of our unhappiness, from seeing ourselves as we really are - vulnerable, afraid, terrified, and unable to let our real selves emerge." Manning concludes, "Whatever is denied cannot be healed (2002)." Yet, cognition alone will never accomplish the task of change. All the symptom logs in the world won't help an alcoholic to think or behave their way out of their addiction.

The apostle Paul's teaching seems to support Hayes' idea of acknowledging what you don't want, then pursuing what you do want. "Do not get drunk on wine...but be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18)." Paul tells those who have been stealing to start working and sharing; kindness, compassion and forgiveness are to replace bitterness, rage and anger. (Eph.4:28). Paul seems to be saying that the "don'ts" disappear when the "do's" are embraced, assuming the issue of our identity has been addressed.

As with many psychological theories, I find shadows and traces of biblical values in the Third Wave Psychology. I see such a shadow in Zindel Segal's suggestion that we go through the process of "disidentifying with thoughts—seeing them not as who we are but as mere reactions (read more)." It reminds me of what Paul told the Roman believers when he encouraged them to see themselves as dead to sin and alive to God (Rom. 6:11). It also reminds me of Manning's main thrust as he challenges Christians to live out of their identity as God's beloved, Abba's child.