It was a privilege to have Dr Tan Siang Yang teach a 4-day block class for us in July (19-21 and 23 July). The block class on Spirituality and Counselling was well attended by students from within and outside of School of Counselling. Dr Tan is a highly qualified, experienced and acclaimed practitioner in clinical psychology and Christian counselling. He is Professor of Psychology in the Department of Clinical Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary and has been an active faculty member there since 1985. Dr Tan is also the senior pastor of First Evangelical Church in Glendale, Los Angeles, U.S.A. A prolific author and a well sought-after lecturer, he is also one of the pioneering voices for integrating spirituality and psychology, emphasising implicit and explicit integration. Despite his many responsibilities in the U.S., Dr Tan makes annual trips to Singapore to train locals in the south-east Asian scene.

The block class provides skill-oriented, practical introduction to the foundations of a biblical, Christian approach to counselling. There was both the impartation through lectures and demonstration through role-play. Dr Tan combined theology and clinical psychology, expounding on the use of spiritual resources eg. the Scriptures, prayer and inner-healing, and dealt with issues in counselling, and intrapersonal integration and the spirituality of the therapist and client. Because he is both a pastor and practitioner with professional training in both fields - theology and psychology - he gave holistic responses to issues raised by the students from both the theological & psychological perspectives. It was an enriching 4 days to the students having the authority in Psychology and Christian Counselling as a guest lecturer.