Nouthetic Counseling: Toward a Christian Theory of Personality

In this article, Ed Hindson discusses his experience in a Christian counseling course and the influence that secular theories played in the formulation of methodology. Hindson discusses the influence that Carl Rogers had on his instructor and the development of Hindson’s own convictions on nouthetic counseling, influenced by the work of Norman Geisler. Hindson then examines varying views of man and personality presented by Sigmund Freud (Psychoanalytical), Alfred Adler (Socialization), Otto Rank (Self-Affirmation) and Carl Jung (Self-Realization), A.H. Maslow (Self-Actualization), Carl Rogers (Self-Integration), William Blatz (Independent Security), Victor Frankl (Logotheraphy), Fritz Perls (Gestalt Therapy), Eric Berne and Tom Harris (Transactional Analysis), B.F. Skinner (Behaviorism), Roberto Assagioli (Psychosynthesis), and Sheldon, Cattell, Sysenck, and Wilson (Psycho-sociobiological). Hindson concludes with a Christian view of man and personality.