Has anyone ever heard of this? My husband is going to school to be a counselor and he is working at a treatment center during break...he asked me if I had ever heard of it. I did an internet search but didn't find much...kind of looks like RET with alot of bible thrown in.

If anyone else has anymore information or where to find more please let me know...thanks.

Love, cheri

No mate...had never heard of this. Have done a bit of a hunt around for you though...

They attribute the founder as being Dr Edward M. Smith...checked his refs and he has seminal degrees in education and theology. A brief bio here: http://www.crosslifebooks.com/authorpages/AlexanderStrauch.htm

Not to be confused with the radiographer, with degrees in chemical engineering who is also named Edward M. Smith... his professional bio is here.

http://www.kaiconsulting.com/Bios/bio_ems.htm

Checked out the first seminary and can't say I have ever seen such a drive as this... http://www.swbts.edu/advancement/index.cfm

...attached to an educational institution, but maybe it is more common in the States? They offer Degrees, Doctorates and Masters, certified in less than 4 years according to 50states.com. That too strikes me as a little unusual, and somewhat questionable. These were the only bios I could pull up (also details their course components):

 http://www.swbts.edu/faculty/jbabler/

http://www.swbts.edu/faculty/dblount/

This site lists the ethical policy attached to the institution. The use or possession of alcohol or drugs is banned and penalties apply.

http://64.233.187.104/u/swbts?q=cache:JgQg-5V5NYYJ:www.swbts.edu/catalog/page.cfm%3Fid%3D118%26open%3D13_area+alcohol&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

I was unable to find anything at all in relation to treating alcoholism or addiction.

The next site provides the ministries' overview, and offers a training course (that ironically does not certify or qualify anyone for counselling)

The research findings on that site immediately had my eyebrows raised...simply because they are so poorly written, unprofessionally laid out and not defined statistically. A check on the "IATM journal " revealed it is actually the International Association of Theophostic Ministry journal - not what I would consider a professional peer reviewed journal by any means.

http://www.theophostic.com/

Edward seems to have received quite a bit of criticism (both within other religions and academia) with the presentation of his book and its following, some of which can be viewed here:

http://primal-page.com/theoph.htm

http://www.twincityfellowship.com/cic/articles/issue79.htm

They place the following disclaimer on their promotional site:

Should you contact any person on this list for ministry, be sure that you are educated as to what Theophostic Prayer Ministry is.  For more detailed information on TPM you may want to read "Healing Life's Hurts" by Ed Smith.  Also, we urge you to ask questions about their ministry. If you submit to ministry, you can help us to assure and maintain the best quality of training by taking the time to fill out a Ministry Session Evaluation Form and sending it back to us. Sadly, not everyone who says they are doing Theophostic Prayer Ministry are indeed doing so.  

The MSE form above provides more of an idea of what they are proposing to offer. Am sure your hubby will relate, when I say it really is a pot of gold for 'false memory' theorists. They would have a field day with any results generated from those forms.

It would seem to me, that such a statement (last line in bold) would not be required if the organisation were qualified, accredited and regulated from within the health care industry. The word ministry however, places them beyond those requirements.

Hope some of that is useful Cheri...

Thanks Nic,

I'll give these sites to hub and let him loose. Sounds like his concerns were valid...

Love,cheri