The
topic of God attachment is one that has become substantially researched over
the past few years suggesting that spirituality and psychology are highly
related in significant ways (Brokaw & Edwards, 1994; Hall, Halcrow, Hill
& Delaney, 2004 as cited in Noffke & Hall, 2008). Noffke and Hall
(2008) mentioned that “research within the fields of attachment, affective
neurobiology, and emotional information processing indicate that patterns of
infant-caregiver emotional communication are internalized by infants and serve
as templates for interpreting subsequent interpersonal interactions and
organizing their characteristic approaches of relating to others” (p. 58). God
is considered both an external and internal figure to Christians in terms of their
relationship with him. Therefore, the psychological processes and instruments
that automatically and subconsciously facilitate how individuals process their emotions
with other humans is also capable of impacting the form and quality of their
relationships with God. Benner (1998) describes this relationship between psychological
and spiritual functioning as the “psychospiritual unity of personality” (as
cited in Noffke & Hall, 2008, p. 58).
The
God attachment theory has been very enlightening in the world of psychology as
well as spirituality. The exposure of the impact of attachment theory to a
person’s relationship to God has allowed people to be able to better understand
themselves and why they view God the way they do. Through a large amount of
research, the field of Psychology has realized the impact and significance of
spirituality in an individual’s relational, emotional and psychological well-being. Francis
Chan did a great job explaining this phenomenon in his book Crazy Love. He explained how his
relationship with his earthly father significantly impacted the way he viewed
and related with God for several years as a new believer. I could very much
relate with Francis when I consider how similar my view of God was in relation
to the way I viewed my earthly father. I never really understood why I struggled
in this area until I realized that this was a reflection of how I viewed and
related to my earthly father. Many Christians have struggles in understanding
themselves and their relationship with God and the God attachment theory could
give some much needed insight in not only why people act the way they do but
also understanding why they view and relate to God the way they do.
It
is impressive and exciting that there has been a large amount of research and discoveries
in the area of God attachment and its use in therapy. After so much conflict in
regards to Religion and Psychology, the God attachment creates somewhat of a
union of the two fields. Several new and innovative ways have been created
which incorporate the God attachment theory in therapy sessions. Noffke and
Hall (2008) illustrated an interesting model of transforming God’s image in
therapeutic sessions with clients. I hope there continues to be more influence
of God attachment in the world of psychotherapy. It will also be very beneficial for people to become more exposed to the understanding and influence of their personal God attachment.
It would appear that relationships with others, mostly our fathers, impacts our relationships with God. I would be curious to see if this theory also works in the reverse. What if a child never really connects with any human but they go beyond this and connect very closely with God? Would that relationship with God then be spread and reflected in daily living? I understand that even if this does happen it would happen at a far lower rate than God attachment as described here, but it'd be interesting to know that this happens. This kind of reminds me of extreme conversion experiences, where a person who is deep in sin meets God and changes radically. Then they take that relationship with God and reciprocate it to the earth.
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