Garzon, Fernando L.

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Liberty UniversityDigitalCommons@LibertyUniversityFaculty Publications and Presentations Center for Counseling and Family Studies2009Guest Editor Page: Teaching IntegrationFernando L. GarzonLiberty University, fgarzon@liberty.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/ccfs_fac_pubsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for Counseling and Family Studies at DigitalCommons@Liberty University. It hasbeen accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Liberty University. Formore information, please contact scholarlycommunication@liberty.edu.Recommended CitationGarzon, Fernando L., "Guest Editor Page: Teaching Integration" (2009). Faculty Publications and Presentations. Paper 42.http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/ccfs_fac_pubs/42Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further reproduction prohibited without permission.GUEST EDITOR PAGE: TEACHING INTEGRATIONFernando GarzonJournal of Psychology and Theology; Spring 2009; 37, 1; ProQuest Religionpg. 3Journal of Psychology and Theology 2009, Vol. 37, No. 1,3-4 GUEST EDITOR PAGE: Copyright 2009 by Rosemead School of Psychology Biola Univenity, 0091-6471/410-730 TEACHING INTEGRATION FERNANDO GARZON Fernando Garzon Over the last 40 years, numerous models describing the relationship between psy-chology and theology have arisen, from those espousing little or no interaction between the two fields (e.g., Adams, 1970) to those espousing a mutually informative integration between the two fields (e.g., Carter & Narramore, 1979). The level of sophistication characterizing the integration paradigm continues to grow (e.g., Hall & Porter, 2004; McMinn, & Cambell, 2007), yet one wonders whether the knowledge of how graduate students actually learn integration and the pedagogical strate-gies to teach integration have likewise risen in quali-ty. This special edition of the Journal of Psycholo-gy and Theology on teaching integration attempts to address these two questions. How Students Learn Integration Compared to other areas, little research on how graduate psychology and counseling students learn integration has been done over the last 40 years. Randall Sorenson's studies with clinical psychology doctoral students (Sorenson, 1994, 1997; Sorenson, Derflinger, Bufford, McMinn, 2004; Staton, Soren-son, & Vande Kemp, 1998) represent the lone theo-ry-driven, systematic, empirically-based research pro-gram found in the literature. His findings demonstrated the importance of relational attach-ment processes in how students learn integration. Unfortunately, his untimely death in 2005 left open the question of whether other researchers would attempt to build on his work. This special edition's first three articles confirm that investigations of how students learn integration will continue and meaningfully add to Sorenson's theory. In the first article, Ripley and colleagues from 4 universities performed a survey to investigate Please address correspondence to Fernando Garzon, Psy.D., lib-erty University, 1971 University Blvd. Lynchburg, VA 24502. Email: fgarzon@liberty.edu. 3 whether Sorenson's emphasis on the importance of relational attachment in learning integration held true for graduate students not only in clinical psychol-ogy but also in other academic disciplines. Further, their analysis explored the role of environmental fac-tors and whether gender and ethnic differences emerged in what students found as important to inte-gration. The second article focused on Hall and col-leagues' utilization of grounded theory techniques to perform a content analysis of qualitative data gath-ered in Ripley's survey. Their findings expand on Sorenson's ideas in regards to how students concep-tualize integration and include pedagogical implica-tions. Finally, Sites and colleagues explored the fol-lowing question. If students were to nominate specific professors as most helpful in learning integra-tion, what would these professors have in common? Her phenomenological inquiry on 8 professors from a variety of academic disciplines increase our under-standing of the integrative process for these faculty members, in addition to finding support for charac-teristics that Sorenson identified as helpful. Pedagogical Strategies to Teach Integration In 1995, the Journal of Psychology and Theolo-gy published a special edition on teaching integration in psychology courses at the undergraduate level (vol-ume 23, issue 4). This important work highlighted some of the key integration issues in various psycholo-gy subjects, along with research on what undergradu-ate professors were doing in teaching integration_ It is fitting that a little over 10 years later, another special edition has emerged, this time with a focus on gradu-ate counseling and clinical psychology student needs. The remaining four articles address applied aspects of teaching integration with these students, each focusing on a unique venue for such integra-tion to occur. Across programs, all students encounter classroom experiences intended to pro-mote integration learning. McMinn and colleagues Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.  Further reproduction prohibited without permission.4 offer 10 pedagogical strategies for promoting inte-gration learning in this traditional environment. Yet, some students also enroll in programs that incorpo-rate online learning and emerging technologies. These nontraditional integration environments con-tain both challenges and enhancements to the inte-gration learning experience. Accordingly, Dominguez and colleagues engage in a "question and answer" dialogue that clarifies misconceptions and informs jPT readers of the enormous potential found in distance and hybrid learning environ-ments. Outside of coursework, internship is the key place where graduate students finally get to test their developing skills with real clients. The role of clinical supervision therefore becomes paramount in the further shaping of the student's integration skills. Siang.¥ang Tan explores various models for using supervision as an integration-training relation-ship. Finally, some courses in graduate clinical and counseling programs create more challenges than others in the development of integration-focused material. In the seventh article, Paul Poelstra tackles two commonly difficult subjects, research and statis-tics. His holistic recommendations highlight some of the key findings from the research in this issue's first three research articles. The breadth of topics covered in this special issue attest to the many opportunities for further research and dialogue in the area of integration learning. Much can be gleaned from these authors' contribu-tions, and many questions can emerge from their work. It is my hope that this special edition spurs TEACHING INTEGRATION researchers and instructors alike in the quest for fur-ther knowledge in the area of teaching integration. REFERENCES Adams,]. E. (1970). Competent to counsel. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. Caner,]. D., & Narramore, S. B. (1979). The integration of psy-chology and theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. McMinn, M. R., & Campbell, C. D. (2007). Integrative psy-chotherapy: Toward a comprehensive Christian approach. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press. Sorenson, R. (1994). Therapists' (and their therapists') God repre-sentations in clinical practice. Journal of Psychology and The-ology, 22,325-344. Sorenson, R. (1997). Doctoral student's integration of psychology and Christianity: Perspectives via attachment theory and multidi-mensional scaling. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 36, 53(}'548. Sorenson, R., Derflinger, K., Bufford, R., & McMinn, M. (2004). National collaborative research on how students learn integra-tion: Final report. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 23, 355-365. Staton, R., Sorenson, R., & Vande Kemp, H. (1998). How stu-dents learn integration: Replication of the Sorenson (1997a) model. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 26, 34(}.350. AUTHOR GARZON, FERNANDO, L. Address: Liberty University, 1971 University Blvd. Lynchburg, VA 24502. Email: fgarzon@liberty.edu. Title: Associate Professor, Center for Counseling and Family Stud-ies. Degree: Psy.D. Specializations: Integration pedagogy, spiritu-al interventions in psychotherapy, multicultural issues, and lay Christian counseling. 

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