Our Therapy
Temperament Therapy
We utilize a God-centered, biblically-based counseling method called Temperament Therapy. Temperament Therapy is predicated upon the fact that man is a uniquely created being rather than the result of an evolutionary process. Accordingly, the therapy is derived from the “Theory of Temperament” which states that God places within every person the emotional characteristics necessary to accomplish His plan and purpose for their life. Research indicates that Temperament Therapy is more than 93% successful when administered by a “Certified Temperament Counselor,” trained in this technique.
Temperament Therapy is successful because it allows the counselor to address issues at the source, the inner man, rather than the outer manifestations or “symptoms”. Temperament Therapy will give you a better understanding of the person God created you to be and open the door to healing and restoration. This therapy should bring you closer to God and will help you identify areas of unmet or corrupted emotional needs that are the root cause of most emotional problems and issues.
The temperament assessment is used to identify the individual temperament traits of each person. This immediately provides a comprehensive portrait of your strengths, weaknesses, and needs. The weaknesses are a result of unmet needs or needs met in ungodly ways. When the needs are met in ungodly, and unproductive ways the individual experiences great interpersonal stress, and lacks intimacy with God. This is known as living out of the sinful nature rather than the new nature given to them in Christ. Our goal is to teach the client how to live in God’s best for their life and relationships. We first accomplish this by exploring new, productive ways in which the client can get their needs met.
Secondly, we help the client uncover false beliefs they may have about themselves. We see in the Word of God that “as a man thinketh, so is he”. Therefore, we must uncover false beliefs about God and ourselves and replace them with the truth. When we have false beliefs about God and about ourselves we make bad choices. When we choose by faith to believe what God’s Word says about Him and about who we are in Him, we begin to make better choices with better results. As the client begins to understand these scriptural truths they find themselves in God’s will, walking by faith and experiencing life to the fullest.
Thirdly, we give the client further insight into the differences in each individual's temperament, giving them an appreciation for their own and others’ differences, as well as a greater ability to forgive and let go. Now all the scriptures that call us to love, be kind, patient, and believe the best of others, become real and reachable goals. Not only does their life become more fulfilled, but the lives of family members, church members, and those around them are touched by the newfound joy in their life.
Arno Profile System (A.P.S.)
The Christian counselor administers a questionnaire of 18 questions, which takes fewer than seven minutes for the counselee to complete. The questionnaire measures the counselee’s needs, natural traits, strengths, and weaknesses according to temperament. The computerized APS report provides the counselor with in-depth information and the best way to counsel the individual. The system enables a qualified counselor to identify the counselee’s root problem, faster and more accurately.
The temperament identification provided in the APS report identifies three separate human interactions; Inclusion (social orientation/intellectual energies), Control (decision-making abilities or inabilities), and Affection (interaction in deep relationships). It also identifies each one of these interactions in two ways, expressed (what we say we want) and wanted (what we really want).
Traditionally, there have been four temperaments, Melancholy, Sanguine, Choleric, and Phlegmatic. In 1981, Drs. Richard and Phyllis Arno established the N.C.C.A. and began 7 years of research, with over 5,000 individuals in the counseling setting. Their purpose was to develop a therapeutic procedure based on scripture. While researching the temperament models available they identified a fifth temperament. The fifth temperament is called the Supine. The Supine has similar traits to the Sanguine, and the Melancholy, but does not fully represent either of those temperaments. The Supine identification describes a person who, by their very nature, is a servant and feels that they have little or no value. They have a gentle spirit and are very social only when they know they have been accepted.
The APS identifies a person’s temperament in each one of the three interaction areas mentioned earlier. For example, a person may be a Sanguine in the Inclusion (social) area, a Melancholy in control (decision making) area, and Supine in Affection (deep relationships) area.
The APS does not measure a person’s behavior like a personality test does, which can change throughout the person's life. Rather, it identifies a person’s inborn temperament. Psalm 139 speaks of it as our “inmost being”. Whom God created us to be (temperament) and whom we become (personality) through learned behavior, can be vastly different, and from that comes great inter/intra-personal conflict. We need to find out whom God has created us to be “in our inmost being”, and who we are in Christ, the new nature. By doing this we can learn to operate out of the temperament strengths God has given us and learn to walk in the Spirit as we realize whom we are in Christ, thereby overcoming our temperament weaknesses.
Our temperament strengths were given to us by God, the temperament weakness’ come from our sinful nature. Both lead us to God because without God even our strengths will turn to sin (pride). Because we each have different temperament tendencies, we each have different areas of life (sin) in which we need to overcome. A well-trained Christian Counselor, using the APS report and the Word of God, is equipped to help a client to get at the root of their struggles. The client will gain an understanding and appreciation of the strengths God has given them; they will gain a deeper understanding of God’s love for them and who they are in Christ, in order to overcome their temperament weaknesses (sin); and they will have a greater understanding of their needs, specific to their unique temperament, and how to meet those needs in godly ways.
The APS, which was developed and continues to be taught by Drs. Richard and Phyllis Arno is inexpensive and will save the counselor/counselee about eight counseling sessions because it targets the hidden problems immediately.