The Inner Healing Movement refers to a grassroots lay counseling movement among

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

of various denominations.

History

Agnes Sanford Agnes Mary Sanford (November 4, 1897 – February 21, 1982) was an American Christian writer. She is most known for founding the Inner Healing movement, a process she described as the healing of memories. Education Agnes attended the Shanghai A ...

(1897–1982) is considered to be the mother of the inner healing movement. Along with her husband, she founded The Agnes Sanford School of Pastoral Care in 1958. The inner healing movement is also often compared and associated with ''Inner Healing'' and ''Healing of Memories''. Other people who feature prominently in its history are

Ruth Carter Stapleton Ruth Carter Stapleton ('' née'' Carter; August 7, 1929 – September 26, 1983) was an American Christian evangelist. She was the youngest sister of United States President Jimmy Carter. Early life and family Ruth Carter was born August 7, 192 ...

, Leanne Payne,

Francis MacNutt Francis Scott MacNutt (April 22, 1925 - January 12, 2020)) was an American former Roman Catholic priest. Associated with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal he was an author of books on healing prayer, including as ''Healing'', ''The Healing Rea ...

and Charles Fillmore. A number of organizations are currently active, including Elijah House,Elijah House
/ref> Ministries of Pastoral Care, and Sozo Ministries.

Concerns about memory work

Theophostic Prayer Ministry (TPM) techniques and other inner healing models that incorporate memory work have become popular. However, some have concerns about these approaches with some of their underlying principles being compared with those of

Recovered Memory Therapy Recovered-memory therapy (RMT) is a catch-all term for a controversial and scientifically discredited form of psychotherapy that critics say utilizes one or more unproven therapeutic techniques (such as psychoanalysis, hypnosis, journaling, past ...

(RMT). In the ''Journal of Psychology and Theology'', Spring 2004, Christian psychologist David Entwistle summarized some concerns associated with Theophostic methods: 'TPM follows in the lineage of "healing of memory" techniques, though it departs from that lineage in a number of important respects. Numerous concerns exist surrounding insufficient attempts to ground TPM in biblical concepts; inadequate and often flawed explanations of basic psychological processes; dubious claims about the prevalence of

DID Dissociative identity disorder (DID), better known as multiple personality disorder or multiple personality syndrome, is a mental disorder characterized by the presence of at least two distinct and relatively enduring personality, personality sta ...

SRA SRA may refer to: * SRA0 to SRA4, standard paper sizes defined by ISO 217 * Satanic ritual abuse * SRa or SRA, a type of semiregular variable star * Senior Airman (SrA), a US Air Force rank * Septic Reserve Area, for a septic drain field * The Nat ...

, and demonic activity; estimates of traumatic abuse that exceed empirical findings; and the failure to sufficiently appreciate the possibility of

iatrogenic Iatrogenesis is the causation of a disease, a harmful complication, or other ill effect by any medical activity, including diagnosis, intervention, error, or negligence. "Iatrogenic", ''Merriam-Webster.com'', Merriam-Webster, Inc., accessed 2 ...

memory contamination.'David N. Entwistle Spring 2004
Shedding light on Theophostic Ministry 1: practice issues
', "Journal of Psychology and Theology".'' TPM and others, such as De Silva and Liebscher of Sozo ministry, denounce the use of memory recovery as described in the above concerns. Practitioners of their methods that have strayed from the standard teaching seem to be the source of these concerning practices.

References

Books

*J.D. King (2017), ''Regeneration: A Complete History of Healing in the Christian Church'' Volume Two, Christos Publishing *K. Lehman (2016) ''The Immanuel Approach: for Emotional healing and for life''. Evanston IL: Immanuel Publishing *Agnes Sanford (1974), ''The Healing Power of the Bible'', Hodder & Stoughton *Ruth Carter Stapleton (1979), ''The Experience of Inner Healing'', Bantam Books *Charles Fillmore (1995), ''Prosperity'', Book Tree *Leanne Payne, ''The Healing Presence'', Baker books *Rusty Rustenbach (2011), ''A Guide for Listening and Inner-Healing Prayer: Meeting God in the Broken Places'', Nav Press *Edward Smith (2004), ''Healing Life's Hurts Through Theophostic Prayer: Let The Light Of Christ Set You Free From Lifelong Fears, Shame, False Guilt, Anxiety And Emotional Pain'', Regal Books {{Christian-org-stub Christian movements Counseling organizations Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity

History

Concerns about memory work

See also

References

Books