Theophostic

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Theophostic Prayer Ministry is part of the Inner Healing Movement. This is a counseling movement among some groups describing themselves as Christian. Those in the movement believe that certain counseling methods can be used for the calling up of suppressed or hurtful memories in order to deal with them. TPM was founded by Ed Smith. Its name comes from the Greek Theo (God) and phostic (light).

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Definition of Theophostic Prayer Ministry

The TPM Basic Training Seminar Manual defines TPM as, "Intentional and focused prayer with the desired outcome of an authentic encounter with the presence of Christ, resulting in mind renewal and subsequent transformed life."

Proponents of Theophostic Prayer Ministry believe that a person's present emotional pain is often rooted in misinterpretations (lies) embraced during life experiences. If an adult, for instance, feels shame when he thinks about a sexual abuse memory, the shame is not because he was abused, but because of what he believes about the abuse. For example, he may believe the abuse made him dirty or was his fault (lies). In a TPM session, the client is encouraged to discover and expose the beliefs and emotions associated with the abuse. He is then encouraged to encounter Jesus Christ through prayer, allowing Jesus to reveal that those beliefs and emotions are falsehoods. This realization then relieves the client of the emotional disturbance associated with the abuse.

Controversy
According to some critics, the practice of Theophostic Prayer Ministry can be extremely dangerous because it incorporates techniques and principles similar to those used in Recovered Memory Therapy. At the very least, the therapeutic effectiveness of TPM has not been empirically validated. As of a May 2008 psychology database search, there have been no client outcome studies of TPM beyond unpublished dissertation case studies.

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