Temperament Therapy

By Dr. Phyllis Arno

Two of our Key Scriptures

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." Psalm 139:14

"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

Understanding who God created you to be will help you to live a victorious Christian life. You will understand your weaknesses and learn how to surrender them to the Lord and, with His help, learn how to develop your strengths.

You may say to your counselor, "I have taken these behavior tests before." And your counselor will tell you that the APS does not measure behavior, it measures your God-given temperament.

In Romans 7:19 the Apostle Paul wrote: "For the good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do."

Paul's question was not HOW am I behaving? It was WHY am I behaving the way I do? The APS will help you to understand WHY you do the things you do. This is because the APS can gets to the root of your problems, by revealing your strengths, weaknesses and needs. We can then teach you how to meet these needs in godly way.

In Hosea 4:6a the Bible states: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…."

Having this new knowledge will not only draw you closer to the Lord Jesus Christ, it will help you in your relationship with others, e.g. friends, co-workers and family members.

What is Temperament?

Temperament, in simple terms, is the inborn (not genetic. i.e., brown hair, blue eyes, etc.) but the part of man that determines how he reacts to people, places and things. In short, it is how people interact with their environments and the world around them. Temperament pinpoints our perception of our-

selves and the people who love us. It is also the determining factor in how well we handle the stresses and pressures of life. Temperament can best be defined as spiritual genetics or God's imprint upon each of us. Three are involved in the conception of a child, the mother, the father, and the Creator.

Temperament is a determining factor in:

a. Finding a career that is most comfortable for us.

b. Finding hobbies that will bring us the most satisfaction and enjoyment.

c. How we can make decisions and take on responsibilities.

d. How dependant or independent we are.

e. Our spiritual development.

Happiness in marriage is greatly dependant on how well each spouse understands his or her spouses' temperament and how willing he or she is to meet their spouses’ temperament needs.

The Building Blocks

We developed a simple, unique way to break down the complex subject of the "inner man" that you will find helpful; it is called "The Building Blocks."

· Self-Selected "Personality" (mask)

· Man/Environment- Affected "Character" (learned behavior)

· God-Created "Temperament" (inborn)

The first building block of understanding human behavior is God-created. This is called our temperament. When we are conceived our unique temperament is placed within us by the order of God.

The second building block of understanding human behavior is that we are man/environment-affected. This is called our character.

Upon our birth we begin to interact with our environment and our environment interacts with us. The environment is everything we see, hear, smell, feel and learn. These perceptions are forever locked into our brain and these things slightly mold and alter our temperament, forming character, (i.e. temperament ´ environment = character).

The third building block of understanding human behavior is that we are self-selected.

This is called our personality. This may, or may not be part of our temperament or character. This is the way we perceive how we must behave to survive in the world in which we live.

There is one major problem with personality. It is a mask we wear for the world and, as with any mask it cannot be worn for very long. Eventually, the person must revert back to temperament and character. This explains why a person may act differently at home than they do in public.

There are Three Areas of Interpersonal Needs: Inclusion-Control-Affection

Inclusion is the need to establish and maintain a satisfactory relationship with people in the area of surface relationships, association, and socialization and intellectual energies.

Control is the need to establish and maintain a satisfactory relationship with people in respect to control and power.

Affection is the need to establish and maintain a satisfactory relationship with others in regard to love and affection. These are your deep relationships such as spouse, children, siblings and parents.

Introduction to the Five Temperaments

Choleric: Leaders, task-oriented, organizers, people-motivators, fast-paced, confident.

Melancholy: Independent, task-oriented, perfectionists, thinkers, artistic, loners, creative, rebels.

Phlegmatic: Negotiators, slow-paced, peacemakers, stubborn to change, task-oriented, easy-going, low energy.

Sanguine: Friendly, outgoing, inspiring to others, hot-tempered, optimistic, enthusiastic, talkative.

Supine: Followers, great capability to serve, gentle-spirited, relationship oriented.

Strengths and Weaknesses

We have spiritual imperfections, physical imperfections, and temperament weaknesses. In each temperament and within each of the temperament need areas, there are perfections (strengths) and imperfections (weaknesses).

Through the freedom of choice, man has been given the ability to sink to his weaknesses or rise to his strengths. With an understanding of our strengths and weaknesses and submission to God, we can bring great glory to Him.

Weaknesses are man's reactions to his unmet needs. Once the temperament is identified, a person learns how to meet their unmet needs in a godly way and thus a growing spiritual experience is facilitated.

Copyright © 2016 Dr. Phyllis J. Arno