121. My Brother Bill on Psychotherapy

As I mentioned in my first post on the difference between psychotherapy and counseling, my brother Bill is a deep-healing psychotherapist, with a doctorate in psychology. By the way, he is Dr. Wally in my book Too Late in the Afternoon: One Man’s Triumph Over Depression. Bill was my long-distance psychotherapist (North Carolina to Minnesota) and played a critical role in bringing me through depression into stability. He is a triple brother to me – my brother in blood, my brother in Christ, and my best friend. Everyone should have a brother like Bill.

Bill reviewed my post on psychotherapy and counseling and felt it was accurate but that I oversimplified the entities of body, soul, and spirit. Here is his definition from his own study and experience, and from how he ties this all together in treating his clients.

“There is a nexus of soul/spirit. Your categories of spirit, soul, and body are conceptualized as three distinct entities, but I believe that they exist in reality in an interweaving, intertwingling (I just made this word up) way. Only God knows where the dividing of the soul and spirit is…they are that intertwined. As a therapist, I stand in that nexus of soul and spirit. I minister to soul/spirit wounds. To be comprehensive with a description of healing, it would be a psychiatrist for the body; a psychotherapist for the soul; and a faith-based psychotherapist or pastoral psychologist or psychotheologian for the spirit. Or, in my case, a deep-healing psychotherapist for the spirit.”

This makes sense to me. If you have any questions or if you would like further clarification of this important information, let me know in the comment section.