Sovichan Scaria, PhD, LMFT, LPC
Counselor, Marriage & Family Therapist
Specializing in Spirituality, Relationship Issues, Martial & Premarital Counseling
Spirituality
Here the spirituality is understood as a belief in God as Father, Son who revealed as Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit. It is based on the understanding that we are all connected spiritually to God and one another. The role of the therapist is to be a conduit of change for those individuals who need help with their spiritual journey.
Relationship Issues
It could be couples, parents, family, friends, co- workers and church and civic community. The involvement in this relationship is 100 percent. Acceptance, understanding, unconditional positive regard, openness and genuineness are the principle guides of the relationship.
A relationship is evolved through an interaction in time and space. Counseling relationships is a process of knowing, loving and serving each other based on the life and ministry of Jesus. A healthy relationship is growing each day based on trust, respect, hard work, team work, patience , forgiveness, reconciliation, gratitude, mutual giving and receiving.
Marital & Premarital Counseling
The first task has two essential elements: listen attentively to the conditions or circumstances which have prompted the client(s) to search for help; communicate to the client(s) by word, gesture, and body language their dignity as human person(s).
The second task follows logically from the first. Having discerned the specific conditions or circumstances present with the client(s), the therapist decides from marriage and family theory and practice the pathway that most likely will have the necessary healing effects. Then, the therapist has to decide whether he /she is able to journey with the client(s) along that pathway or another therapist is better suited to provide the necessary guidance.
Having decided that he/she is better positioned to journey with the client(s) than any other available source of therapeutic services, the therapist must come to the realization that more than theory and practice are needed to bring about healing. Is healing a subjective status? Is the client sufficiently healed that additional therapy sessions at the moment no longer are indicated even though the client may back slide and need therapeutic assistance in the future? Or is healing an objective status? Has the client been healed such that no additional sessions are needed at the moment or in the future.
Healing that is subjective puts the client somewhere along a healing spectrum between the healing- indicated endpoint and the healing no-longer indicated endpoint. Healing that is objective puts the client at the healing no-longer indicated endpoint. Conventional marriage and family therapy is grounded in secular humanism whereby every human being is equal and thereby of equal value. A different marriage and family therapy grounded in personalism wherein every human being is not only equal but very nearly divine (cf. Psalm 8:5-6) and has a sacred dignity that cannot be taken away or diminished.
It is incumbent on the therapist to make clear to the client(s) whether she is a secular humanist, personalist, or holds fast to some other philosophy.