Without Christ, Counseling Psychology Fails
Christian counseling psychology is grounded in an awareness firmly imprinted into us by God that there are things which simply are right and wrong. Moreover this sense of right and wrong emanates from that deep self, the soul. Indeed it is the failure of someone to live rightly which fills our counseling office, the Day Spring Center, today. Someone, has breached the covenant of their marriage, became addicted to drink or drugs, is rebellious to their parents, is sold out to vanity or fashion or greed or lust etc. These topics are soul topics. They are sin categories. It is the participation in these sinful acts which grind against the souls of mankind producing the myriads of ailments which counselors classify as depression, anxiety compulsive disorders and such like. These topics reside in the arena of the spiritual alone and are not the property of the non-religious pyschotherapist or counselor.
As ironic as it is, psychology, meaning, the " science of the soul or study of the soul" , rejects the very existence of the soul. It refuses to admit even the concept of the possible existence of the soul. How can this be? Imagine, for example, a mathematician rejecting the concept that there exists a variety of number theories or an electrical engineer who rejects the belief in electricity. Yet this is exactly what secular psychology purports, the soul is but a myth and God is but a human idea which developed over time. So it" s not too surprising for this author to ask the reader to view psychology, as it stand today, to be an incomplete science, a pseudo science.
Unfortunately, counseling as well, at least secular counseling stands under this same criticism. A routine scan of the phone book illustrates this point quite well. Seldom is it seen that a counselor inserts the word Christian in their phone book listing. Perhaps they fear some potential client would find the listing objectionable, perhaps they are not believers or perhaps they think there is not much interest in a faith based approach to therapy. Never the less the opposite is true. A Gallup stugy taken in the late nineties revealed that approximately 87% of people receiving counseling at that time would prefer a faith and values based approach to their counseling.
This should tell all psychologists, counselors and therapists two things. First, a large segment of their client base want counseling that provides a sure and correct moral and ethical grounding. Clients want a yes to be a yes and a no to be a no. They do not want the current counseling trend which asserts " anything one does is OK, provided no one is hurt by it". Such relativism is simply not acceptable to your clients, is objectionable to your clients and ultimately will do them harm should they take such unwise counsel. Second, people need and want an atmosphere of accountability. Behaviorists have been asserting this fact all along. Loving and directed accountability is needful for the development of good self esteem, a positive mental attitude and an overall sense of spiritual wellness. Schools which promote not on merit but on tenure fail the student, marriages which permit bad behaviors collapse, religious organizations which prize political correctness end up being a perversion of all they would like to represent and governments which operate without accountability morph into dictatorships. History has proven these things over and over.
Ye have not chosen Me but I have chosen you, and ordained that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain Jn. 15:16
The Christian counselor is called upon to analyze the outworked consequences of sin in a clients life and to prayerfully consider the remedy for the transgression. On a human level this is a responsibility which has no parallels. The counselor is offering advice which directly impinges upon the soul of the client, the very soul of his brother or sister! Unlike automobile insurance, there is no such thing as no-fault-Christian-counseling. The counselor is responsible to God for what is said and he or she will one day be called to give an accounting for the words which have been spoken. While the reader is allowing this thought to sink in, I' like to encourage all the Christian counselors who are reading this article to re-commit to the great task they have undertaken. If you have in the past taken pride in your professional approach to Christian counseling, I'd like to ask you to reconsider using the word, professional. Instead, approach this subject with true humblness, with fear and trembling ever mindful that one day you will be called to give an accounting for every word which has proceeded forth from your mouth. We are all the servants of our Master and we have been called into a great calling and have been tasked with the greatest task of all, to assist in the restoration of souls.
If you like this article will you please send it to a friend or leave a few kind remarks on this article page or both? If you need the services of a Christian counselor for some issue you are struggling with and would like to set an appointment, please feel free to do so just to go to our Christian counseling in Dallas Texas website. Also we offer telephone
As ironic as it is, psychology, meaning, the " science of the soul or study of the soul" , rejects the very existence of the soul. It refuses to admit even the concept of the possible existence of the soul. How can this be? Imagine, for example, a mathematician rejecting the concept that there exists a variety of number theories or an electrical engineer who rejects the belief in electricity. Yet this is exactly what secular psychology purports, the soul is but a myth and God is but a human idea which developed over time. So it" s not too surprising for this author to ask the reader to view psychology, as it stand today, to be an incomplete science, a pseudo science.
Unfortunately, counseling as well, at least secular counseling stands under this same criticism. A routine scan of the phone book illustrates this point quite well. Seldom is it seen that a counselor inserts the word Christian in their phone book listing. Perhaps they fear some potential client would find the listing objectionable, perhaps they are not believers or perhaps they think there is not much interest in a faith based approach to therapy. Never the less the opposite is true. A Gallup stugy taken in the late nineties revealed that approximately 87% of people receiving counseling at that time would prefer a faith and values based approach to their counseling.
This should tell all psychologists, counselors and therapists two things. First, a large segment of their client base want counseling that provides a sure and correct moral and ethical grounding. Clients want a yes to be a yes and a no to be a no. They do not want the current counseling trend which asserts " anything one does is OK, provided no one is hurt by it". Such relativism is simply not acceptable to your clients, is objectionable to your clients and ultimately will do them harm should they take such unwise counsel. Second, people need and want an atmosphere of accountability. Behaviorists have been asserting this fact all along. Loving and directed accountability is needful for the development of good self esteem, a positive mental attitude and an overall sense of spiritual wellness. Schools which promote not on merit but on tenure fail the student, marriages which permit bad behaviors collapse, religious organizations which prize political correctness end up being a perversion of all they would like to represent and governments which operate without accountability morph into dictatorships. History has proven these things over and over.
Ye have not chosen Me but I have chosen you, and ordained that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain Jn. 15:16
The Christian counselor is called upon to analyze the outworked consequences of sin in a clients life and to prayerfully consider the remedy for the transgression. On a human level this is a responsibility which has no parallels. The counselor is offering advice which directly impinges upon the soul of the client, the very soul of his brother or sister! Unlike automobile insurance, there is no such thing as no-fault-Christian-counseling. The counselor is responsible to God for what is said and he or she will one day be called to give an accounting for the words which have been spoken. While the reader is allowing this thought to sink in, I' like to encourage all the Christian counselors who are reading this article to re-commit to the great task they have undertaken. If you have in the past taken pride in your professional approach to Christian counseling, I'd like to ask you to reconsider using the word, professional. Instead, approach this subject with true humblness, with fear and trembling ever mindful that one day you will be called to give an accounting for every word which has proceeded forth from your mouth. We are all the servants of our Master and we have been called into a great calling and have been tasked with the greatest task of all, to assist in the restoration of souls.
If you like this article will you please send it to a friend or leave a few kind remarks on this article page or both? If you need the services of a Christian counselor for some issue you are struggling with and would like to set an appointment, please feel free to do so just to go to our Christian counseling in Dallas Texas website. Also we offer telephone
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