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Theories of Counseling in Christian Perspective
Theories of Counseling in Christian Perspective
A case study to integrate both Christian and counseling principles using three theories
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Recommended: Theories of Counseling in Christian Perspective
Dr. Larry Crabb’s book “Effective Biblical Counseling: A Model for Helping Caring Christians Become Capable Counselor” Crabb, (1977), this book models how counseling can be gracefully integrated into implementation of the local church. Dr. Crabb says that “any approach to counseling that is truly biblical will work most effectively when carried out in the context of a local body of believers” (pg. 15).
Part I: Goal of Christian Counseling
The Goal of Christian Counseling that Dr. Crabb states within his book Crabb, (1977), is “any approach to counseling that is truly biblical will work most effectively when carried out into the context of a local body of believers” (pg. 13). As Dr. Crabb states within his book that “The goal of biblical counseling is to promote Christian maturity, to help people enter into a richer experience of worship and a more effective life of service” (pg. 31), This allows them grow spiritually and allow them to focus what there issue is in a biblical scriptural manner. The goal of Biblical Counseling is to assist believers or non believers through the word and Prayer. Ephesians 4:22-24 states “You were taught, with regards to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, to be made new in the attitude of your minds, and to put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness”. Our old ways of life before we believe in Christ is completely in the past, a Christian counselor should inform the client or clients to put pas behind you and let it go. The Christian development is by dealing with the immediate problem in a method dependable with scripture, and develops an inward personality that conforms to the spirit of Christ, show...
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...f” (pg. 179).
Dr. Larry Crabb’s book is very informative for Christians who are interested in counseling. Dr. Crabb presents many different thoughts of counseling in a secular view and a Christian view; in doing this he also shows his own thoughts and views. Dr. Crabb is very respectful when it comes to the other views, and come at them in a Biblical aspect and so that as Christians we can see how to appropriately counsel them in that setback.
The Bible informs us how counseling should be handled as well, 2 Timothy 3:16-17
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work”, one other scripture that is great for counseling is Proverbs 15:22 “Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed”.
As a Christian counselor, we have the power of the Word on our sides, but so many of us do not understand how to properly apply scripture into the counseling relationship in an effective manner. In Interventions that Apply Scripture in Psychotherapy, Garzon (2005) attempts to accomplish the following; educate individuals on the various techniques one can use to apply scripture, and to encourage and stimulate God ordained creativity in the hopes to create new techniques and methods for applying God’s Word in the counseling relationship.
They may help someone “feel better, but where is the true transformation of his life? Are these things even goals worthy of a biblical person? Where is love? Where is joy? Where is gratitude? Where’s obedience? Where’s the willingness to sacrifice? Where’s the courage to love our enemies in ways that are both merciful and yet tough-minded? Where are all the good things that are part of human life in Jesus’ image? Such self-confidence is not the image of Christ!” Which is the point…secular worldview counseling leads the counselee to find their identity in themselves or in the counselor or in the plan instead of in Christ alone. In the article by Paul Tripp, The Present Glories of Redemption, he takes the book of Ephesians and breaks it down to see exactly how we are to care and counsel because of the great work of Christ and His plan. “When we counsel people, we must find out what their real view of God is. We will often find that our counselees have a big gap between their functional “theology” and the truth. In other words, when they tell their story, God is not in it.” We as
Clinton, T. & Ohlschlager, G. (2002). Competent Christian counseling: Foundations and practice of compassionate soul care. Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook Press.
Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling written by Mark McMinn and published by Tyndale House in 2011 notions towards the idealization that Christian counselors need to be privy in the most recent psychological methods as well as theological theories. “This is a book about counseling processes techniques” (McMinn, 2011, p. 150). McMinn also alluded that Christian counselors benefit from having a spiritual maturity. With having these attributes counselors are better prepared to take note of prayer, Scripture, sin, confession, forgiveness, and redemption. McMinn (2011) model flows in the direction of healing while equating to a more advantageous relationship with The Lord Jesus Christ as well as with other relationships (McMinn, 2011).
Confidentiality. Confidentiality is just as important in Christian counseling as it is in secular counseling. According to the American Association of Christian Counselors (2014), “confidentiality recognizes that every client has a fundamental, moral and legal right to privacy and to have a wide range of personal thoughts, opinions, beliefs, and behaviors that are protected from public knowledge” (p. 22). It is crucial for counselors to maintain client confidentiality unless what a client discloses brings harm to themselves or other people. Confidentiality should be kept at all
Mark McMinn purposely writes this twofold book to first, address the pragmatic assimilation of psychology, theology, and spirituality. Secondly, he explores the spirituality of a Christian counselor, and how this aspect of character affects the methods he or she may use to represent Jesus Christ when dealing with clients. Altogether, this book discusses the dual need for Biblical Counselors to multitask with clients while pursuing personal development in spirituality to advance a Christian worldview. The objective is to “help Christian counselors and researchers unite around certain key questions and perspectives so that our interventions become increasingly relevant and effective" (p. 6).
Gary Collins, a Christian counselor, helps individuals to comprehend their full potential using a God-centered way of coaching. He believes that, through coaching, an individual builds up a vision for their life and a desire for a good future. The book aids coaches to acquire skills that they require to help others, to emerge winners during difficult and challenging moments in their life. The book is also designed to develop Christian coaches’ in questioning, listening and responding. These can help Christian coaches to assess themselves and build up a strategy for their work. Collins rewrote the second edition in order to simplify his coaching methods. The second publication develops his practical skills as a new head in the world that is changing quickly, which includes how to use diverse situations, insights based on the Bible and customized forms among others.
However, it does not matter how strong a person’s faith is or how weak a person faith is, everyone in Christian counseling starts off the same. It is a process how a person develops overtime. This is similar to a child learning how to tie his or her shoes. At first they do not get it but overtime, it becomes of habit and the person get better. According to Clinton, Hart and Ohlschlager (2005),” they believe that Christian counselling has to do with and learning applying the principles of the kingdom on living to the chronically sins, fears, failures, and dark areas of our life (p.21). When people are at their lowest point he or she turn to Christ to get the throughout tough times. Furthermore, in chapter two a person learns about the trust and fined our truth. In chapter two it discusses becoming a trust worthy counselor. In Chapter two, I realized that is all about gaining the clients trust. If the client, does not trust the counselor then no typ of relationship can be bonded. The client is in a venerable state and the counselor has to make sure that the can feel free to be
Bryant and Brunson have done a terrific job of assessing the pastoral ministry and giving sound advice, to the young or prospective pastor. The present author believes that this book should be standard in every pastor’s library. “God promises to be with his servants as they follow” (Bryant and Brunson 2007, 16) The apostle Paul gave three rules to keep the pastor on the track of a good reward: “Fight the Good Fight; Finish the Race; and Keep the Faith.” (Bryant and Brunson 2007, 240-242) The greatest joy for a pastor is to, “Finish well.”
According to McMinn (2011), “confrontation should be a valid option for most Christian counselors under many circumstances” (p. 167). He goes on to say there are “four approaches to appropriately confronting sin: silence, pondering, questioning, and direct censure” (McMinn, 2011, p. 167). In confronting sin in a client’s life, counselors must proceed with caution. Each client is different, so it is important for counselors to choose an approach “with regard to the particular client, the situation, and the nature of the therapeutic relationship” (McMinn, 2011, p. 167). Counselors must discern when it is appropriate to confront sin in their client’s life. They will not automatically and quickly confront sin in the client’s life because it is all about timing. The counselor must build a trusting relationship with the client before addressing sin in their life. The sensitive counselor will “start smaller, with
Biblical Counseling is making a strong impact in today's churches and community. Counseling is seen as one of the most productive ways of helping a
On the down side there are a limited number of educational programs that adequately deal with the issue of incorporating religion and spirituality in therapeutic/counseling settings. This can be attributed to the fact that counseling is based in psychology, a scientific field, which has traditionally neglected issues of a spiritual nature (Nelson, Kirk, Ane, & Serres, 2011) as well as the practice used within the United States to separate education and religion (Cashwell and Young, 2011). This then results in a significant portion of therapist and counselors who are not prepared to address the issue of spirituality and religion with their clients. One would think that with the value many Americans place on the topic of religion and spirituality that there would come a time when a client would want to address this topic during his or her session.
Kottler, J. A., & Shepard, D. S. (2008). Introduction to counseling: voices from the field (6th ed.). Australia: Thomson-Brooks/Cole ;.
The shepherd and sheep relationship is the best illustration for the relationship between pastor and parishioners. When Jesus asked Simon Peter does he love him three times and said to him “Feed my sheep”, the shepherd and flock relationship has been set. Since Jesus is our good shepherd (Jn. 10:11a), he laid out a good example for us to follow - to lay down his life for the sheep. (Jn. 10:11b) Thus, the wellness of both in and out of the parishioners should always be the concern in the pastors’ hearts. Soul care for the people is essential. Christian friendship is the foundation of Christian soul care. Pastoral ministry including preaching, teaching, and worship forms the broad context of pastoral counseling. Pastoral care is within pastoral ministry but broader than pastoral counseling. God’s love is the source and motivation. Within the pastoral care, there are spiritual direction and pastoral
There will be counselees who do not know the Lord, and it will be important to do pre-counseling with those individuals. If there is an opportunity to share the gospel, the counselor will certainly talk to the counselee about repentance of sin—turning away from a sinful lifestyle and turning to Christ alone for salvation. It is important to understand as biblical counselors that we cannot counsel unbelievers because they have not repented of sin and turned to Christ. Therefore, the counselee cannot do anything to please God. Paul said, “Those in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8). The biblical counselor understands his responsibility to share the gospel to those who do not know Christ if there is an opportunity to do