Spirituotherapy Part 2: Understanding the Journey to Wholeness in Christ

Welcome to the second post in our four-part series on Spirituotherapy, a biblical counseling approach I am learning and eager to share with you. If you’re following along, I recommend reading my subsequent posts “Part 3” and “Part 4.” The introduction to this series is found here.

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Spirituotherapy, developed by Dr. Charles Solomon, seeks to guide believers into a deeper, experiential understanding of their union with Christ. Dr. Solomon’s approach focuses on helping believers recognize and live out their identity in Christ, moving past surface issues to address the core struggles we all face. Spirituotherapy offers a focused, short-term approach to counseling, yet it’s comprehensive enough to reveal deep truths about who we are and who God calls us to be in Him.

Here’s a glimpse of what Spirituotherapy helps clients understand and experience:

1. The root cause of common struggles—whether it's worry, doubt, fear, inferiority, inadequacy, or insecurity, Spirituotherapy helps the client uncover the underlying causes and recognize how Christ’s love speaks to each one.

2. Our core spiritual needs—Spirituotherapy teaches that our fundamental needs, often unmet or misunderstood, are ultimately fulfilled in Christ alone.

3. Early life experiences and their effects—Dr. Solomon’s approach compassionately addresses how overt and covert rejections from the past shape our self-perceptions and views of others.

4. The deep roots of emotional tension—struggles like anxiety, depression, obsessive thoughts, and other painful patterns are examined through a biblical lens, seeking Christ’s transforming power for healing.

5. Our true identity in Christ—Spirituotherapy emphasizes that lasting change begins with understanding who we are in Christ, rooted in His love and purpose.

6. Union with Christ—clients are invited into the reality of their union with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, transforming their view of themselves and their life in Him.

7. The exchange of “self-life” for “Christ-life”—at the heart of Spirituotherapy is the call to lay down the self-life and embrace Christ as their center, their functional source of Life itself, allowing His Spirit to lead in every area of life.

For Spirituotherapy to work, Dr. Solomon explains that the client must be a born-again believer. In this model, the Holy Spirit is considered the true Counselor, working through the Spirituotherapy process. The client, empowered by the Holy Spirit within, can choose to let go of the “self” and allow Christ to be the center. Only in this way can a real transformation of the client’s body, soul, and spirit take place.

The Counselor-Client Relationship: A Partnership in Christ

Dr. Solomon emphasizes a counseling relationship grounded in equality and mutual respect. He believes in avoiding the “professional” barrier often found in secular counseling settings, noting that, “the aura of a ‘professional’ relationship is to be avoided like the plague.” In Spirituotherapy, the counselor comes alongside the client as a partner in Christ, allowing the Holy Spirit to work freely within a relationship of grace and trust.

Discovering the Presenting Problem: Finding the Root of Pain

The first step in Spirituotherapy is understanding the client’s “presenting problem”—the immediate struggle that brings them into counseling. For many, this could be an issue they’ve wrestled with for years. Dr. Solomon observes that almost all clients share a common trait: an impaired ability to give or receive love. He calls this pattern the “Rejection Syndrome,” a deeply ingrained mindset often rooted in early childhood interactions with parents. Dr. Solomon describes the Rejection Syndrome as “a psychological disturbance of epidemic proportions,” impacting our relationships and self-view.[5]

To help the client understand their presenting problem in context, Dr. Solomon uses a series of questions to explore the client’s history and to help them uncover how past experiences shape their present mindset. Through this compassionate exploration, the client is gently led to understand how their life experiences connect with their struggles, revealing how the past may still be shaping their self-perception today.

Once the client gains insight into their past, they are ready to begin seeing themselves in light of their new identity in Christ. Spirituotherapy presents this journey with a unique tool called the “Wheel Diagram,” a model of the client’s spirit, soul, and body, illustrating the believer’s “self-centered” or “fleshly” nature apart from Christ. This visual guide helps the client recognize their own trichotomous makeup, preparing them to understand the full impact of surrendering the self to embrace Christ as the true center.

In our next post, we’ll dive deeper into the concepts behind the Wheel Diagram and see how Spirituotherapy uses this model to guide believers into a life marked by freedom, peace, and wholeness in Christ.

[1] John B. Woodward, Man as Spirit, Soul, and Body. (Pigeon Forge: Grace Fellowship International, 2007, 16.

[2] Charles R. Solomon, Handbook for Christ-Centered Counseling. (Sevierville: Solomon Publications, 1993), 56.

[3] Charles R. Solomon, The Ins and Outs of Rejection. (Sevierville: Solomon Publications, 1991), 13.

[4] Ibid., 13.

[5] Ibid., 13.