The Contribution of ACT to My Development
by Fr. Bob Sears SJ
From the time I joined the Jesuits in 1953, I was always
drawn to study psychotherapy as well as the regular
course of studies. I was drawn to integrate theology
and therapy during my theological studies in Germany. I
experienced a depression there which eased when I was
led to read Is 43:18ff "Remember not the events of the
past..., see, I am doing something new!” I began
then to experience God creating NOW, and this awareness
of God’s healing presence deepened when later I
participated in a Psychodrama training group in
Holland. In 1968 I began my doctoral work at Fordham
University (1968-72). I joined the charismatic group
there and worked toward my dissertation: Spirit
Divine and Human: The Theology of the Holy Spirit of
Heribert Muhlen and its Relevance for Evaluating the
Data of Psychotherapy. In 1972 I began teaching
theology at the Jesuit School of Theology in Chicago (JSTC).
I taught Trinity, Grace and Jung and Theology, and was
led to Murray Bowen and Family Systems therapy through a
course I team-taught with Dr. David Augsburger.
My contact with ACT was through ACT members who prayed
for me some time before JSTC closed in 1981. One got
the prophetic word “burden,” and I suddenly realized I
had said in the womb, “I won’t be a burden,” and that I
had been parenting myself since then. Later that same
year I attended my first ACT Conference at Burlington,
Ontario. I sat next to a woman who said, “I think you
need healing.” I said, “Yes,” and her prayer and later
ministry began the deeper healing of that “mother
wound,” and also made me aware of wounded child in
others.
About that time also I was part of a Jesuit “charismatic
theology’ group with Matt and Dennis Linn, George
Montague and others which introduced me to “generational
healing.” When I joined ACT I continued with that group
and later with a small group that met for four days
every summer to discuss theological/healing issues.
After JSTC closed, I began teaching at Loyola
University’s Institute of Pastoral Studies (IPS), which
also connected me to Chicago area ACT members who
discussed such issues. All of these groups deepened my
understanding of family systems so that later I
team-taught a course for many years in “family systems
and healing” with a family therapist at IPS. It was
during that time that a small ACT group prayed for me
and my family and discovered a generational wound six
centuries back that had led to wounding artistic males
down through the generations.
During those early years in ACT a subgroup of us from
region 12 got together to study alternative medicine to
learn how it related to Christian thought. Dr. Ted
TePas had known doctors who had been involved in energy
healing and left the church because of it, and he was
very cautious about studying it further without careful
discernment. So we addressed issues like homeopathy,
flower essences, Mariel, acupuncture and acupressure –
all from a Christian theological point of view. This
later got us interested in energy healing and the ACT
Circle of Inquiry regarding energy healing was
established. That led me to write a paper on a
“Christian Approach to Discerning Spiritualities”
(1999).
In 1993 I gave a talk at the ACT conference in Achison,
KS which touched Serafina Anfuso who would later play a
significant role in my healing. Serafina was invited by
ACT member Grace Gibson to give a workshop in our region
in February, 1994. What Serafina said, “In Nazareth
there is no judgment,” struck a deep cord in me and I
felt called to join the healing group she was forming in
our area. Her no JAB rule (no judgment, advice or blame)
was a great help to deal with my tendency to judge
myself and others. That group focused on early bonding
issues, lasted for some five years and touched on many
issues that were important to me, all of which helped me
with my clients. I won’t go into all of those issues
except to say that for me many of the issues regarded
male-female bonding. This focus continued to heal my
mother wound and open me to creative relationships.
During this time, because of my teaching schedule, I
wasn’t able to attend many ACT International
Conferences. The ones I did attend opened me to new
areas of healing. Leanne Payne, the author of The
Broken Image¸ opened me to the issue of
homosexuality at the Conference at Pheasant Run in the
Chicago area. But mostly it was small groups, like the
TePas group in Evanston, that opened up new areas for
me. John Lehman introduced us to Theophostic ministry,
which proved to be a great help, and a member of Reba
fellowship, Dan Yutzy, introduced us to Jim Wilder’s
Thrive group that also has been very valuable. Contacts
I have made through ACT have played an immense part in
my ongoing growth in the healing ministry.
Another important contribution has been Doug Schoeninger
and the Journal of Christian Healing. Most of
the articles I have written after my first article,
“Trinitarian Love as Ground of the Church” (1976) that I
wrote for JSTC, have been for the Journal and
with Doug’s editing. These have addressed many issues –
“Family Systems and Healing,” “Trinitarian Love and
Male-Female Community,” “Theology of Joy and Healing,”
“Healing the Wounded Community,” “New Testament
Communities and Healing,” and the more recent
talks/articles on. “Scripture and Mental Illness,” and.
“The Trauma of the Broken Church.” These articles are
available on my website:
www.familytreehealing.com.
Our ACT healing manual group, that I can now attend
because I am no longer on a teaching schedule, has led
me to articulate my method of counseling and is now
challenging me to understand better pastoral ethics.
Another major contribution has been our Region 12. I
have been on the planning committee for our meetings for
many years now. We have four quarterly meetings with
topics chosen to coincide with the National Conference
themes, and one retreat outreach. Our topics range from
nutrition to energy healing to introductions to
Theophostic Ministry and Prenatal Healing, Jim Wilder’s
work (Thrive), Karl Lehman’s “Emmanuel Process” (an
adaptation of Theophostic Ministry and Thrive) and
sharing from members’ own ministries. Our regional
retreat also brings ACT members like Fr. Bob Faricy and
Jack McGinnis (who taught us “Tapping”), Doug and Fran
Schoeninger (intergenerational healing) and this year
Matt Linn, as well as others, such as George F. Cairns,
M. Div., Ph.D., who introduced us to the centering
prayer of Thomas Keating.
Providentially I am led to pursue areas both for my
healing and to develop ACT Conference themes. Recently
I was given a book by Chris Prentiss (The Alcoholism
and Addiction Cure) that showed the importance of
primal pain at the root of addictions and led me to read
Arthur Janov’s The Primal Scream and several
other of his books. I did my Jesuit 8 day retreat on
that theme and have since used it frequently in my
counseling practice. That year the ACT Conference was
on addictions, and I was prepared to offer a workshop
using those books. ACT has also urged me to teach
“discernment” from an Ignatian perspective so
integrating the Spiritual Exercises of St.
Ignatius is now taking my attention. Finally, our
Ecumenical Relations Committee, which has frequent
conference calls, has been a rich experience and was a
significant influence for my paper on “The Trauma of the
Broken Church.” I knew little about ecumenism but a
good bit about trauma and putting the two together was a
rich experience.
In general, I would say that ACT has been one of the
most significant influences in my growth and the
development of my ministry since the time I joined in
1981 till now. For me the most important influences
have been small faith sharing groups that have opened up
many areas of healing for me, but also the context of
the whole Association in its effort to open up new areas
of understanding. The personal contacts and interchange
that ACT provided have been the most important
influence, and the opportunity to write for
The Journal of Christian Healing. I have been
enriched by ACT's ongoing work that integrates theology
and therapy, and am challenged to find ways to apply
these insights in the healthcare fields and in spiritual
direction.
