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Since the 1980s a form of psychotherapy know as CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) has been used and promoted broadly, especially in and around Philadelphia where Aaron and Judith Beck have stimulated the growth of this therapy model. Central to the theory of CBT is that even healthy humans have negative “core beliefs” at work within their minds all the time. These beliefs usually go unnoticed, but they influence our feelings, thoughts and behaviors in significant ways. A CBT therapist would consider it their job to identify and dispel these negative core beliefs in psychotherapy.

For Christians who value their belief in Christ, the process of considering negative core beliefs about the self and others can be a daunting task. They have been told repeated by important people in their lives that God is love. But they may unwittingly struggle with negative core beliefs (i.e.‘I’m not good enough’).They may unconsciously and rigidly interpret other elements of the Gospel message to affirm this unconscious negative core belief. They have heard sermons about the depravity of humankind and our need for rescue from the anger of God which affirms a negative core belief like ‘I’m not good enough.’

While it is true that humans are rescued by Christ’s death and resurrection, it is not the intent of God that a core belief like this stay rooted in the unconscious of any believer. In the unconscious such thoughts remain powerful and unexamined, so intentional faith may not impact them. The challenge is in the paradox of faith itself. While we are loved and carry the Imago Dei, we are also broken and sinful. We do not see clearly (I Corinthians 13). In psychotherapy the work of the Holy Spirit is often to uproot our negative core beliefs that contradict the love of God.

But as soon as the freedom and abundant life Jesus promises breaks through and we see how we have been held in the grip of a misguided notion like ‘I’m not good enough’ we are also tempted to assess ourselves. ‘I am good enough’ we might be coached to repeat by a CBT therapist and we might do just that. But soon we may fall into despair again as our inability to relate to others as we wish we could surfaces and again we hear the whisper of this unconscious belief in our minds. The promises of love seem lost. We may get stuck in cycles of self and other-blame. We select scriptures to prove our unworthiness. “Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect…” (Matthew 5:48) is often repeated to me by struggling clients in my therapy office.

Good therapy works to help clients identify their cycles of accommodation with the negative belief and we can contradict these consciously, but believers find new joy when the Holy Spirit sweeps into the depths of their minds and hearts and these tenacious beliefs are altered.

If you hold my teachings you are my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” This is the bold claim of Jesus in John 8. So why is that so many Christian seem to be restricted in their living? Is it possible that they do not have the truth in some way?

My answer to that question is a loud yes! Many parts of the Bible confirm that as well. In Romans 7 for example, Paul writes about doing things he doesn’t want to do and not doing things he does want to do. He feels lost in the conflict within himself about what he wants. He describes a dynamic that in psychological language could be translated as a classic conflict between the conscious (that which we can identify as our own thoughts, feelings, behaviors and self perception – what we might call our “self”) and the unconscious (parts of our persons that are in some way still our “self” but remain outside our awareness).

This split we all experience in ourselves between what is conscious and what is unconscious means that we don’t yet know the full truth about ourselves. I would argue that this is another result of sin. In very simple terms, orthodox Christian theology goes something like this: Sin entered the world and humans participated with sin and so became separated from God.

The result of this separation is profound brokenness in our relating to one another. I’m saying that sin also cut into the heart of us to separate us from ourselves, to fragment our experience of ourselves so we are now beings who know parts of ourselves in conscious experience and who do not know parts of ourselves, the unconscious. This creates a situation in which we are not free to act and think as we wish, but are at times surprised at what we do. In order to move toward freedom we need to know the truth about ourselves, that is we need to know what is going on unconsciously within us to motivate our choices. This is what I believe good therapy is all about.

Therapy is about making what is unconscious in us conscious. If we are to be free, we must know the truth about ourselves and this in turn will help us to see more clearly the great good that is offered to us in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bible is filled with material like this that demonstrates profound psychological insights although the language of psychology may not be employed on its pages.

Psychotherapy that is attuned to Christian spirituality can bring biblical truth into our experience and help followers of Jesus to know more of the freedom Jesus came to offer us.