Total Credits: 1.5 APA Self Study Credit
The terms ‘affirmative’ and ‘affirmation’ relative to models of therapy have appeared in psychological literature for many decades. This presentation will clarify a critical distinction between the affirmative care model and that of Baars Affirmation Therapy. This will be done through discussion of the anthropology which underlies each therapy model, as well as their distinctive approach to treatment. The anthropology of a particular psychotherapy provides an essential foundation for setting goals and developing effective treatment plans. This presentation will contrast the anthropology of the affirmative care model and Baars Affirmation Therapy: how the first focuses explicitly on [societal norms regarding] sexuality that are rooted in the priority of desire without reference to classical conceptions of human nature while the latter encompasses the whole person and has a specific therapeutic direction which promotes healing. A case conceptualization of both the affirmative care model and Baars Affirmation Therapy will be presented.
The Catholic Psychotherapy Association is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Catholic Psychotherapy Association maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
This program does not qualify for NBCC credits
| Anthropology Matters: Influence and Effect on Approaches of Affirmative Aare vs. Baars Affirmation Therapy (0.45 MB) | Available after Purchase | ||
Dr. Sue Baars has worked extensively in the field of counseling since 1986 in both hospital and outpatient settings. She provides individual, marriage, and family therapy in Irving, Texas, where she is privileged to collaborate with a team of Catholic therapists and psychiatric nurse practitioners at In His Image Counseling Center. Sue bases her treatment of emotional and spiritual problems on the integration of the Christian anthropology of St. Thomas Aquinas with modern psychological discoveries. She has presented at Catholic conferences around the country and has been a guest on EWTN’s Women of Grace. She often presents the work of her late father, psychiatrist and author Conrad Baars, a pioneer in the field of Catholic psychology. Sue cites the cultural erosion of the family as the root of the lack of affirmation from which many people in our time suffer.
Sue’s lectures include a series of talks given to priests: The Abode of Love: Developing the Heart. She and a colleague edited a collection of her father’s articles and monographs related to the priesthood entitled, “I Will Give Them a New Heart: Reflections on the Priesthood and the Renewal of the Church.” Sue was on the faculty of the Institute for Priestly Formation (IPF) from 2008 to 2015, where she taught diocesan seminarians. Sue has also written several book chapters on priestly formation. At present, she is working on developing a curriculum to train therapists in the Baars/Terruwe Model of psychotherapy. Sue is a Past President of the Catholic Psychotherapy Association and holds a doctorate in Family Therapy from Texas Woman’s University.
Information about Affirmation therapy and the Baars/Terruwe Model of psychotherapy may be found at www.BaarsInstitute.com. For appointments, please visit ihicounseling.com.
She is the co-author of two books, Get Out Now: Why You Should Pull Your Child from Public School Before It’s Too Late and Where Did I Come From? Where Am I Going? How Do I Get There? She has taught at St. Paul Seminary in Pittsburgh, Franciscan University of Steubenville, and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and has worked with the diaconate formation program for the Dioceses of Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.
She served as a consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth and is a member of the Catholic Women’s Forum Advisory Council. She has lectured widely on the gender ideology, Catholic education, theology of the body, the personalism of Pope John Paul II, the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and the vocation and dignity of women. She hosted St. Thomas Aquinas in Today’s World on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN).