Religion and Theology

This critique is primarily an in-depth analysis of the books Boundaries in Marriages written by Henry Cloud and John Townsend and Hurt People Hurt People Hope and Healing for yourself and your relationships by Sandra Wilson.  The books take on a religious perspective on the aspect of healing and liberating one self from emotional and psychological responsibilities.   Readers will gain insights on how to control situations and directions of life and strengthening relationship with others.

The book of Townsend and Cloud emphasizes the theory that individual boundaries are vital to achieve happiness and to develop a rational and emotional wellbeing.  Wilson advances the theory that hurt is one vicious cycle that is considered endless not unless an intervention to correct it occurs.
A Critique of Theoretical Models of Boundaries in Marriage by Cloud and Townsend
and Hurt People Hurt People by Dr. Sandra Wilson

The Theory of Cloud and Townsend
The book title expresses a clear definition of its total message.  Clouds and Townsends book emphasizes the theory that individual boundaries is crucial to attaining happiness in life and developing rational and emotional well-being a vital component to maintaining health.  How we define boundaries greatly affect our relationships with others, be it in marriage, workplace, school or in the family.  Boundaries are invisible lines that make a distinction on who we are and who we are not.  Boundaries define ones soul and they help you to guard it and maintain it (Proverbs 423). This means when a person defines his territory on where to begin and where to stop grants him a sense of responsibility over his space.  Boundaries preserve the freedom of ones spouse without at the same time enabling the irresponsibility of that spouse (Boundaries in Marriage, 76).

Cloud and Townsend describe how boundaries facilitate freedom and responsibility in marriage other-control is the antithesis of having boundaries in page 1 of 7 marriage. Boundaries relinquish other-control for self-control. (Galatians 523)                  

Boundaries therapy proves to be a useful approach in counseling married couples given the fact that marriage is an absolute breeding ground for boundary confusion.  As Cloud and Townsend stated, If there were ever a relationship where boundaries could get confused, it is marriage, where by design husband and wife become one flesh (Ephesians 531). There is a significant number of failed marriages mainly because of poor boundaries than for any other reason (Boundaries, 150).

The Theory of Wilson
Dr. Sandra Wilson laid out the premise of the book mainly about hurt people hurt people.  It implies the idea that hurt is a cyclical phenomenon.  Wilson (2001) illustrates her theory that hurt people hurt people in her introduction All of us have been hurt by people who all were hurt by other hurt people. In turn, weas hurt peopleall have hurt other people to one degree or another. Enough evidences support the theory of Wilson. It requires no mastery to recall one example of the Holy Bible. The book of Genesis tells the story of Eve whom Garden of Eden Satan in the Garden of Eden had fooled.  
Her first instinctive move was to place the blame on the serpent. She told God The serpent deceived me, and I ate (Genesis 313). Eves first response was to try to find relief for her hurt by hurting someone else. Adam, also, responded in a similar manner, when God asked him whether he had eaten of the tree, he answered The woman you put here with me-- she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it (Genesis 312). Adam also decided to pin point the blame to Eve and God for giving him a woman.  Hurt people do hurt people. The hurt comes in a variety of forms such as actions, words and attitudes regardless if they are intentional or unintentional, visible or invisible, hands-on or hands-off, other perpetuated or self-inflicted, and barely survivable to hardly noticeable (Wilson, 2001, p. 9).

Analysis of the theories
The theories advanced by Wilson and Cloud and Townsend signifies the need to reevaluate the imbalances that afflict the self-concepts and relationships of people.

The approach presented in the books of Cloud and Townsend, and Wilson are cognitive behavioral in approach.   The boundary therapy as conducted by Cloud and Townsend do not specifically stipulates therapeutic methods aiding clients to develop strong boundaries. The authors utilized a style of counseling in its way is direct and confrontational made clear from the counseling stories mentioned in their book.  Their therapeutic goals focus more on action rather than insight.   Their counsel involves methods that enable clients to change their thinking and behavior.  Consequently, their therapeutic approach can be most easily classifies with the cognitive behavior counseling models.

Wilsons theory of change is behavioral.  She writes that, making and consistently practicing new choices produces change (Wilson, 2001, p. 87).  The truth can be seen resulting to new choices made based on that perspective. A consistent practice of these new choices will result in new habits. New habits ultimately will result in a changed person. Beyond the Cognitive Behavioral Theoretical principles in her model, Wilson also incorporates a Systemic or Family Systems view of understanding client difficulty and distress.  She recognizes that in our sin-broken humanness, we normally adopt defensive, self-protective thinking and behavior patterns when we feel emotionally or relationally threatened and wounded (Wilson, 2001, p. 12). The focus of the therapeutic counseling process is to recognize, understand, take responsibility for and change these maladaptive thinking and behavior patterns.