Faculty Bios

I received my B.A. in Philosophy and Art from Calvin College, along with a minor in Psychology. I knew at that time that I wanted to complete graduate studies in psychology, so I minored in that area, but I also wanted to mark my interest in art by completed a degree in that field. My primary medium was lithography, followed by watercolor painting, and pen and ink drawing. I also completed a philosophy degree because I wanted to learn how to think rigorously about topics from a Christian perspective.

Following graduation, I worked for a year at a youth home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and my wife and I enjoyed our first year of marriage together. We then moved to Wheaton, Illinois, where I completed my Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology, M.A. in Clinical Psychology and M.A. in Theological Studies. I had the opportunity to be mentored by Stanton Jones, who was at that time the program director and is now the provost at Wheaton. His scholarship included work on integration of psychology and theology and the topic of homosexuality.

When I graduated from Wheaton in 1998 I moved to Virginia Beach and began working in the Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology at Regent. I continued writing about integration and also about homosexuality. Since that time I developed the Institute for the Study of Sexual Identity (ISSI), which is a formal identity for my research team. You can learn more about ISSI at www.sexualidentityinstitute.org. There are now approximately 12 to 14 students in the doctoral program who actively participate in ISSI. We work together in three major areas: research, training and clinical services. The research we conduct is on sexual identity, how it develops and synthesizes over time, and the attributions people make in response to same-sex feelings. Trainings are conducted monthly for students in ISSI. Clinical services include individual, couple, family and group therapy for people who experience same-sex attraction.

I currently teach the following doctoral courses: Applied/Clinical Integration, Ethics, Integration Capstone, and Human Sexuality. I have also taught courses in Psychopathology, Family Therapy, Geropsychology and Christian Healing. My philosophy of teaching involves seeing whatever subject matter we study “through the eyes of faith.” I tend to be student-oriented, focusing on engaging students through the subject matter and its application to their professional identity and ways in which God may be at work in their lives. I also try to call students to be good stewards of the many resources they have been given, to teach them to be advocates for those who are marginalized, and to see what they do in the context of God's redemptive plan.

I have published two integration textbooks, such as Family Therapies: A Comprehensive Christian Appraisal and Modern Psychopathologies: A Comprehensive Christian Appraisal. I have also previously published several books on homosexuality and sexual identity: Homosexuality and the Christian: A Guide for Pastors, Parents and Friends, Homosexuality: The Use of Scientific Research in the Church's Moral Debate, Sexual Identity: A Guide to Living in the Time Between the Times, Ex-Gays? A Longitudinal Study of Religiously Mediated Change in Sexual Orientation, and Sexual Identity Synthesis: Attributions, Meaning-Making and the Search for Congruence.

In addition to these books, I regularly publish in various journals, such as Psychotherapy and Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, as well as integration journals, such as Journal of Psychology and Christianity and Journal of Psychology and Theology. I encourage students in ISSI to present at local, regional and national/international conferences, and have recently co-presented with students at the APA annual conferences, as well as conferences hosted by the Christian Association for Psychological Studies and the American Association of Christian Counselors.

In terms of professional service, I serve on the editorial board of the Journal of Psychology and Theology and Christian Counseling Today.

I have recently been honored to be named the Rosemarie Scotti Hughes Endowed Chair of Christian Thought in Mental Health Practice and was previously awarded the Chancellor's Award for Excellence (Professor of the Year) for research, service and teaching (May, 2004) at Regent University.