Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Effective Biblical Counseling
Summary
Primary Goal
The primary goal of counseling should not be to “make the client happier” but rather to get one to a point where the client wants instead to do God’s will. This is the Christian approach to counseling that often goes missed and it is a goal that many people seeking counseling often forget they should be trying for, even though they are Christian. They imagine that if they do everything right they should be rewarded with peace and happiness—and yet the Christian’s life is only peaceful and happy when it is lived in accordance with God’s will, and that is the point that Crabb (1977) makes here. The goal of counseling should be to get the patient to see how he or she could be more in line with God’s will because that is where peace is to be found.
Development of Problems and Personal Need
The personal need that people have to feel some satisfaction, some freedom, to fill some hole in their lives all stems back to pride—the pride of Mr. A who cannot afford a new home but loves receiving compliments from people so buys one anyway; the pride of Mrs. B who likes the idea of having a lover on the side because she doesn’t owe him anything; the pride of Mr. C who lies to avoid facing the truth about his own shortcomings…all these people have a personal need to feel bigger or better than they actually are. Crabb refers to it as “security and significance” (p. 80), but ultimately it is rooted in a desire to find that in ourselves, which really only comes from God. They are all affected with the sin of pride because they do not want to give up that portion of the self that is preventing them from being united wholly to God. Pride is at the root of all the troubles that people have.
Biblical Integration
Biblical integration refers to the use of Scripture as the guiding point for this intervention. When people see that all the direction they need is available within Scripture itself, they realize that they are trying to put their own direction on life without referring to the Word of God. The Word of God is there to be used, to be practically applied in life.
Formula for Change
The formula for change starts with recognizing that the Christian counselor’s goal is to turn the patient into a better Christian. Some defect, some flaw, some shortcoming is preventing the patient from realizing his potential as a Christian. He is confusing the Christian life with the secular life that the world wants him to live. Instead of living for Christ, he is living like he thinks the Declaration of Independence is his guide—as though life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were what mattered most. The Declaration of Independence has little to do with Christ. Christ made no such promises and He Himself suffered crucifixion and many martyrs suffered death for their faith. Change that is focused on simply becoming “happy”...…embraces a wave by diving into it so as not to be crushed by it in an attempt to get away. The Christian life is about embracing what God sends our way and accepting it happily because it is from God and is proof of God’s will. When we try to flee God’s will and assert our own, that is when we become unhappy and end up needing counseling. This theory therefore can be used by me to counsel my people and help them get back to seeking God in their lives rather than their own selves.
Example
For example, if I have a husband come to me and he says he wants to leave his wife because she does not appreciate him, nags him all the time, will not listen to him, and will not let him make any decisions in the relationship, the human side of me might say I fully understand, you are right, go ahead and leave her—find someone new, be happy. However, the Christian side of me sees a higher path—the path to God—and that path is defined by duties that one owes. In this case, the Biblical duty is clear: husbands must love their wives. They owe it to them. That is the lesson I would have to convey to this husband, even if it meant suffering for the rest of his days. However, I would point out that when we follow Christ we find that the burden is light and not as heavy as we feared.
" The most surprising thing I learned was that I actually had some long-held resentment. Fortunately for me, these resentments were not over any really significant issues, but they were things that held me back. I had always noticed that the most attractive and smartest people seemed to be at an advantage to other people, and I had a hard time struggling with the idea that some people start out with
Summary Primary Goal The purpose of David Powlison’s Biblical Counseling Movement is to provide readers with a history of the approach and then to provide readers with Powlison’s own perspective on what works and why. The aim of the book is to provide context about the nature of Biblical counseling, how it has been used throughout history, and then to make rational, common sense assessments about how it can be applied in
(Byrd and Byrd, 1993) The process of healing can be found, for example, in Luke 13:10-17, which refers to a woman who has been crippled for eighteen years. The healing takes place by the laying of hands on the women by Christ. In John 5:1-18 we have the story of a seriously ill man placed at pool waiting for healing. This episode stresses the importance of listening to Christ's instruction and
Counseling Model A Practical Pastoral Counseling Model Counseling Setting Where Will Counseling Take Place? Boundaries for Safety and Security Relational Style Relational/Communication Style Structure/Strategy Sessions Summation Supportive Feedback God's Riches at Christ's Expense Annotated Bibliography A Practical Pastoral Counseling Model This is an overview of the counseling position that I will take when working with clients/parishioners. I realize that this cannot encompass every eventuality that may occur during a counseling session, but it should be comprehensive enough to account for most of the possibilities
Biblical foundation is of utmost important for a practicing Christian in today's tenuous, and arduous, times. There are several different sources that acknowledge the fact that "the truth of the Bible is applicable to every area of a person's life: to every sphere of society, to every aspect of creation" (Fey, no date). The Bible helps to provide the word of god in a relatively unadulterated form. As the preceding
D.). When these counselees overcome the various obstacles, they will be able to know the spiritual battle in their lives and move towards freedom in Christ. Conclusion: The topic of discipleship counseling has developed to become an important subject in the church, psychology, medical, and sociology fields. Dr. Anderson's book is a balanced and reasonable tool that provides an outline of the process of Christian-based counseling and how it can be established