The Psychological Turn to Relationality

Over the past several decades, relationality or relationships in general have become a topic of interest within the field of psychology. New relational variations of theories are developed alongside prior positivist positions, common factors are being explored scientifically to identify the relational characteristics that make clinicians effective, relational implications of neurodevelopment abound, and various pragmatic relational terminologies are vying for adherents. Shults (2003) proposed that a broader philosophical turn to relationality is occurring in contemporary culture, and examined it primarily within philosophy and theology. Historically, the relationship between philosophy and psychology has been largely severed since psychology sought to define itself separately as a scientific discipline in the late nineteenth century. Since that time, psychology has embraced a scientific epistemology that largely ignores ontological considerations.;The central thesis of this paper is that the turn to relationality occurring in the field of psychology involves 2 distinct veins that rely on very different philosophical and anthropological assumptions. Each of these ultimately has implications for the integration of psychology and Christianity. One vein attributes relationships secondary status to the identity and substance of the individual; this vein relies on an individual analogy of personhood. The other vein seeks to balance relations and substances as simultaneous constituting factors in the identity of individuals; this second vein relies on a social analogy of personhood.;The philosophical inheritance of the relational turn was examined in the context of the outgrowth of Continental forms of philosophy in order to clearly distinguish both relational veins. The resulting philosophical and anthropological assumptions of these veins were further expanded and explored within various disciplines including theology, psychology, and the integration of these two disciplines.;Ultimately, the task of integration is enriched as relational ontological considerations encourage increased developmental sensitivity to identity formation, emphasis on models of process, consideration of the role of the Holy Spirit, expansion of sociocultural models, and a defining value for human agency.