When Did Christianity and Psychology Become Incompatible?
Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend resources I’ve personally vetted and believe will support your healing journey.
Is Psychology and Christianity Compatible?
When we view the modern relationship between psychology and Christianity there appears to be a significant clash creating the idea that they are just as incompatible as oil and water. However, when we look at the history of the field of psychology, Christianity was originally a primary supporter of helping guide individuals’ minds, bodies, and souls.
Early church history shows a strong advocacy for helping individuals not only just physically but mentally as well. But when did Christianity and psychology start to clash? It wasn’t until scientific revolution of the 19th and 20th century that we start to see a significant divide between the field of psychology and the Christian faith. This clash was largely due to the scientific revolution where we started to see a significant rejection of religious explanation. Instead, there was a major shift to focus on explaining human behavior through data, evidence, and scientific research. This ideology has carried on into the 21st century, creating a significant rift between the two entities.
Although in more recent years there has been some exploration pertaining to the significant benefit of integrating one’s faith into their mental health journey, there continuous to be serious push back towards any integration of the Christian faith in psychology. Many Christians in present day U.S history even stating they feel unsafe seeking traditional secular psychological care (Post & Wade, 2009).
Throughout this article we will be discussion when the tension between the field of psychology and Christianity began, and how that tension impacts both the field of psychology and Christianity today.
The History of Christianity and Mental Health Care
Providing care for the most vulnerable populations has always been a goal of the church. In fact, in early church history considered it an undisputed necessity to prioritize the mental and physical wellbeing of individuals. We can see this in early church history with the founding of potentially the first public hospital aimed to helping the poor (Buklijaš, 2008).
As public hospitals continued to gain popularity the progression of medicine continued significantly. However, concerns about medical treatment methods began to rise. Many Christians in early history really struggled with the lack of morality and ethical care provided to the poor and most vulnerable. Although the promotion of free public health care continued to progress throughout history greatly due to the Christian church influence, the reformation caused a significant disruption in mental and physical care (James, 2022).
Many years progressed and the continuation of public health care continued, but many started to publicly challenge the methods being utilized. Due to this, individuals like William Tuke became an early Christian pioneer for promoting gentle and ethical care of individuals with mental illness (Taubes, 1998). Many Christian advocates were quite successful in creating and providing care for individuals needing mental health care, but during the turn of the 20th century a significant class between the church and mental health field started to arise.
The Scientific Revolution and Rejections of Religious Influence
Although the church played a significant role in the promotion of public mental health care, tensions began to rise in the 20th century. Major psychology fathers viewed religion as something that wasn’t necessary in providing mental health care, while the church began to reject any psychological research by only prompting scripture for treatment.
For example, Sigmund Freud believe that religion was nothing more than a biproduct of a “childlike mind” and “men cannot remain children forever” (Thornton, n.d.). Freud was not the only one to reject any religious influence within his studies in the field of psychology. B.F. Skinner very much suggest that human beings do not have a soul let alone free will (Fancourt, n.d.). Instead, he strongly believed human behavior is a direct result of biology reacting to stimuli (Fancourt, n.d.).
The church of course did not help the tension between the church and field of psychology. In fact, many strong spiritual leaders had significant push back to the new research arising. This push back against psychology created the development and rise of biblical counseling across the United States. The Biblical counseling movement became very vocal and pushed back against the use of modern psychology within the counseling realm in its early years focusing more on addressing an individuals sin, while Christian counseling focused on utilizing modern psychology that aligned with scripture utilizing a biblical worldview (Marrs, 2023).
The Present-Day Clash
Now in the modern field of psychology, there has been a significant influence from various political movements (Duarte et al., 2014). Due to this influence, some of the Christian morals and culture has been rejected and even labeled as harmful towards individuals (Jennifer Huang Harris et al., 2024). This significant culture war puts not only the clients but also the providers in uncomfortable positions.
Providers are often thrown into “grey” areas of trying to figure out how to navigate honoring the client’s world view while also following their code of ethics (Jennifer Huang Harris et al., 2024). As tensions continue to rise between the religious community and political groups finding it more difficult to support individuals of the Christian faith.
The Christ faith teaches about the significant of protecting the most vulnerable and oppressed within our society. However, due to the difference between the religious values and culture values there continuous to be an obvious fight whose moral code is the most important for the function of society.
Current Progress
Despite ongoing tension between the two communities there has been some successful integrations through various advocates that have been promoting culturally competence mental health care in present day history.
For example, Dr. Daniel Amen is a licensed psychiatrist that focuses treating the mind, soul, and body as one. Dr. Daniel Amen often promotes treating mental health on a deeper level by utilizing functional medicine, brain imagine, and Christian based faith support to encourage stronger emotional and mental wellbeing (AmenClinics, 2025.
Dr. Diane Langberg is another strong advocate for mental health care in the Christian community. She has been most recognized in more recent years for her advocacy for ethical trauma-based care and trauma within the church setting. (Langberg, n.d.).
However, aside from individuals there have also been some additional advocacy from large organizations created to help protect and advocate for the Christian community, while also educating providers looking to support this community. One of these companies are known as the American Association of Christian counselors. It is the largest Christian Counseling organization that focuses on promoting ethical faith-based care through evidence-based training to better equipe Christian provider within the mental health community (American Association of Christian Counselors, n.d.).
Closing Thoughts
There has been some significant positive progress in not only the field of psychology but also towards the stigma of receiving mental health care within the Christian community. However, the significant bias and discrimination the Christian community looking from mental health care from both groups needs to be addressed.
Many Christians are feeling unsafe and disrespected when entering the therapy office when it was a place originally designed to help an individual navigate life in their most vulnerable moments with the least judgment and most beneficial care. On the other hand, in early church history we see the Christian community doing their best to make sure all individuals were taking care of physically, spiritually, and mentally. However, the ongoing rejection of psychological theories and science often has Christians feeling trapped, unknowledgeable about practice resources and tools that could potentially benefit them.
So, Christians are stuck in the middle feeling as if they must choose between their salvation and quality of life. But isn’t it interesting? To think the two communities that just want to help support individuals live best and most fulfilling lives have caused such a significant division that Christians are feeling isolated and abandoned by both.
Additional Resources
Description In Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling, Mark R. McMinn bridges the gap between scientific research and spiritual practice. This book is a practical guide for counselors who want to integrate prayer, scripture, and Christian doctrine into their work without compromising professional ethics.
Want To Further Your Mental Health Journey? You can actually start reading the many book recommendations on this blog for FREE in the next 60 seconds. Grab a [Free 30-Day Kindle Unlimited Trial here] or [Get 3 months of Audible for just $0.99/mo] to unlock this title and thousands of other mental health tools, instantly on your phone or tablet. (Note: Kindle Unlimited selection varies over time; check the product page for current eligibility.)
Thank You!
I hope you have the best and most blessed day! Thank you for always stopping by to read our educational content and if you haven’t already don’t forget to subscribe!
Sierra Stratman MSW LMSW PhD Student
Disclaimer
I am a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW), but I am not your therapist. The information provided in this blog post, including book recommendations and mental health insights, is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute a therapist-client relationship, nor is it intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health condition. Never disregard professional advice or delay seeking it because of something you have read here.
References
About | AACC. (2026). Aacc.net. https://aacc.net/about-the-aacc/
AmenClinics. (2025, October 24). A Conversation on Faith & Brain Health with Daniel G Amen, MD & Pastor Miles McPherson. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWtt_lkVT0w
Beyond Freedom and Dignity: B F Skinner – RE:ONLINE. (2019). RE:ONLINE. https://www.reonline.org.uk/knowledge/16-ethics/beyond-freedom-and-dignity-b-f-skinner/
Buklijaš, T. (2008). Medicine and Society in the Medieval Hospital. Croatian Medical Journal, 49(2), 151–154.
CANER, D. (2018). Basil’s Basilias and an Early Byzantine Concept of the Deserving Poor. Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 72, 25–48. JSTOR. https://doi.org/10.2307/26892563
Duarte, J. L., Crawford, J. T., Stern, C., Haidt, J., Jussim, L., & Tetlock, P. E. (2014). Political diversity will improve social psychological science. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 38. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x14000430
Her Journey – Diane Langberg. (2024). Dianelangberg.com. https://www.dianelangberg.com/speaking-schedule/her-journey/
How Christianity Transformed Healthcare – Sharon James. (2022, August 8). Sharon James. https://www.sharonjames.org/article/how-christianity-transformed-healthcare/
Jennifer Huang Harris, Chennankara, S., Thielman, S., & Peteet, J. R. (2024). Treating Evangelical Christians: Challenges and Opportunities. Psychiatric Services. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.20230425
Marrs, R. (2023). Christian counseling: The past generation and the state of the field. Concordia Journal, 49(1), 35–48.
Post, B. C., & Wade, N. G. (2009). Religion and spirituality in psychotherapy: a practice-friendly review of research. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65(2), 131–146. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20563
Taubes, T. (1998). “Healthy Avenues of the Mind”: Psychological Theory Building and the Influence of Religion During the Era of Moral Treatment. American Journal of Psychiatry, 155(8), 1001–1008. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.155.8.1001
Thornton, S. (n.d.). Sigmund freud: Religion | internet encyclopedia of philosophy. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://iep.utm.edu/freud-r/
Thank you for this well written article. I had many in the church that were so against therapy, this article answered a lot for me. I had a professor say that we need therapist that know Jesus and love Jesus. So we can shed that light into our sessions, with it still being ethically.
Thank you for your endless kindness and support. It is so true Jesus and Therapy do go together! I pray every day our blog can help teach more people that!