Christian Counseling Principles in Gary Collins' 2007 Text

Overview of Collins' Christian Counseling

Counseling others through difficult times, challenging personal crises, or the simple complexities of everyday life requires patience, compassion, and selflessness. These are also features of a good Christian life. This is the notion at the crux of Gary Collins' 2007 text Christian Counseling. At its most basic, the text is an outline of the roles, responsibilities, and pitfalls that come with Christian counseling. Taken with greater scrutiny, however, it can be seen as a blueprint for counseling through a Christian perspective in a modern world where that perspective is often overshadowed.

The text is organized according to issue types. Each section is designed to address an issue area such as Developmental Issues, Identity Issues, and Family Issues. The nine-section text addresses each of these areas through the lens of the modern Christian, who must learn to function in the world while protecting and living the Word of God. Each section details the strategies and philosophical undercurrents that must drive the counseling profession.

The strength of the text is that each section incorporates a thorough understanding of the difficulty often presented in living a Christian life given the temptations and pressures around us. Collins shows that it has never been more difficult — nor more necessary — to reinforce one's Christian values. In asserting this, Collins also demonstrates that the Bible is a markedly more modern document than one might assume. As such, the answers to most of our modern quandaries may be found within its pages.

For instance, in the section entitled "Control Issues," Collins points out that the Bible includes recognition of the realities of mental illness. According to Collins, "even though there are no biblical classifications of mental disorders and little is said about treatment, it is clear that psychopathology was recognized and perhaps common. King David once pretended to be insane. His behavior was feigned but it gives a brief insight into some of the symptoms of psychopathology that were recognized in Old Testament times" (p. 637). This underscores a common theme throughout the text: the demonstrated relevance of scripture to contending with even the most seemingly modern or complex counseling issues.

Personal Experience as a Change Agent

The text by Collins accurately reflects some of the personal experiences I have had as a developing counselor. In fact, some of the descriptions Collins uses to explain the role of the Christian counselor are highly evocative of my early experiences in the field. I feel a particular sense of familiarity with the role of change agent that the author describes. According to Collins, "as a counselor, you are a change specialist. Your job is to help people deal with the changes that come into their lives and make changes that will improve their lives. If you want to counsel effectively, it is essential that you understand that change process. You must have knowledge of how people try to change themselves, why change is difficult, and what makes change last" (p. 4).

I am reminded here of a personal experience that truly helped me hone my focus on a future career as a Christian counselor. I observed a close friend suffer a debilitating injury. As a result of a traumatic fall, my friend is now paralyzed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair. The change in his life, his plans, and his expectations for the future was dramatic. At the same time, he would have to find new ways of pursuing the same goals and aspirations.

During this incredibly difficult time, I was able to help him cope with the heavy emotional toll of the experience. I held to a philosophy of both compassion and realism. Christian counseling teaches us that change is the natural state of things — a constant we cannot control. It would fall upon my friend to find ways of coping psychologically with the reality of his changed circumstances. I remember telling him at one point, when he was feeling particularly discouraged, "There is no way to know what Jesus has planned for you, but He knows that you will rise to this test. This will change your life, but if you let it, it could also change you for the better. Make every day count."

My friend would ultimately heed this advice, making the best of his life. He came to accept that the change would have a profound impact on him but that it needn't define him — and most particularly not in a negative way.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the text by Collins functions as a primer for the complexities one must face as both a Christian counselor and as a Christian in general. The text's honest and objective discussion of the sometimes uncomfortable relationship between Christianity and modernity provides cautionary notes for those pursuing a counseling career. But it also offers reassurance by presenting modern challenges as readily surmountable with the proper balance of humanism, practicality, and spirituality.