What is Christian Integration with Psychology, aka “Integration”?

In the field of psychology, Integration refers to the blending of general revelation (God’s truth revealed in creation) with special revelation (God’s truth revealed through Scripture and the life of Christ) to conceptualize human psychology and treat mental illness holistically. The Integration Model of Christian Counseling believes that secular therapy and medication can reduce symptoms and return functionality, but that deeper spiritual work is needed to treat issues on a deeper level. Integrative Psychology holds to the theological concept of the Imago Dei, believing that humans were created in God’s image, but because of the fall, sin entered the world. Since the original sin, humans now are born with an innate propensity to sin and are not able to fully reflect God’s image as we were designed (McMinn & Campbell, 2007). Healing in Integrative Psychotherapy is achieved by restoring the inherent capability of humans to reflect God’s image through ability to care for His earth (functional views of the Imago Dei), ability to think rationally and behave morally with a soul (structural views of the Imago Dei), and ability to demonstrate the relationship of the Trinity through human relationship (relational views of the Imago Dei).