One of the most harrowing decisions a person can make is choosing to pursue counseling for an emotional or mental struggle. There is even more at stake when it is a Christian making the decision, given the controversial history of counseling and psychology as often being anti-Christian. A believer will want help but not help that undermines or minimizes their faith.
Due to this, Christians often intentionally seek out counseling that is congruent with their beliefs. It is then logical to look for someone who shares one’s basic commitment to Bible and the Gospel. This may be more complicated than it seems. This article aims to offer some clarification on the matter, guidance to believers seeking counseling, a grid to assess counseling that is already in process, and insight to leaders and others who offer direction to those seeking direction for getting help.
What is a Christian Counselor?
Commonly the first thing such inquirers want to determine is whether a given counselor is a Christian. Faith is fundamental to followers of Jesus, and so they will likely find a comfort in knowing the counselor shares that faith. Let’s define a “Christian counselor” as one who confesses the Name of Christ. Some counselors will publicly announce that their identity is in Christ; other Christians who counsel may be more low key about their faith, not mentioning it on their websites or other advertising.
Though much can be said for seeing a fellow believer for counseling, seeing a counselor who is a Christian does not tell you anything about what will happen in counseling. Stated differently, just because you see a Christian doesn’t mean there is anything particularly ‘Christian” about the counseling that takes place.
We need to look beyond the Christian identity of the counselor to the counseling itself.
Biblical Counselors
It can be helpful to look at the counselor’s training, but even that doesn’t predict what will take place in offices - unless you seek out someone calling themselves a “biblical counselor”. Though even this term can be misused, most commonly these people have training that fits the label. Programs in biblical counseling focus on knowing Scripture and theology to apply it to the problems encountered in counseling. Examine the programs: you’ll see they are almost always found in Christian colleges or seminaries, and there will be little or no coursework in scientific psychology. While there is variation among biblical counselors, most see scientific psychology and secular counseling theories as unhelpful, and some may see them as harmful if not evil. Since their training is only in a Christian model, they will not meet qualifications to be licensed by a state to provide professional counseling. Insurance will not cover them as a result. The positive is seriousness about addressing problems biblically, yet negatively they will not incorporate insights from empirical research and you won’t be able to use your insurance.
Licensed Counselors and Psychologists
Psychologists, licensed professional counselors, licensed clinical social workers, and marriage and family therapists are the major professions that are licensed by the state to provide counseling and most of them will be covered by health insurance. Some of these programs are housed in Christian colleges or seminaries while most are not. Those in Christian schools offer varying degrees of training in how to relate secular research and techniques to the Christian faith. Christians will have three options among professionals with training leading to licensure.
Religiously Competent Secular Counselors. Most of these professions have developed guidelines for dealing with persons of faith in a way that honors it. A client’s faith is actually considered a form of diversity (along with race, gender, sexual identity, etc.). Training professionals in these competencies varies, but many unbelieving counselors do respect the Christian faith and will inquire about what their patient believes and how it impacts the problems they are experiencing. They then endeavor to incorporate this into their treatment. In fact, any truly ethical counselor should inquire about your faith and seek to involve it in treatment. Regrettably, this type of diversity is often overlooked, and many secular therapists do their work while ignoring the client’s faith. Our main point here, though, is a secular counselor may be more active in addressing client faith in session than some Christian counselors.
Christian Graduates of Secular Counseling and Psychology Programs. Some of our brothers and sisters attend secular schools for their training. When they practice, they may or may not involve faith in it. Some have been diligent to explore on their own, apart from their formal training, how to draw on the resources of faith in clinical work. There is an abundance of resources for doing so. On the other hand, they may brand themselves as Christian therapists but treat believers with the same tools and approaches as you would get from an unbeliever – though at least faith is held in common. Here we find Christian counselors who don’t do Christian counseling. For example, I recall one colleague who was a leader in his church but proudly stated that you couldn’t tell any difference in his counseling because of his faith. He felt doing secular therapy well was how he brought his faith to bear on his work.
Graduates of Christian Counseling Programs. As we observed, there are a number of programs that lead to counseling licenses that are housed in Christian higher education institutions. Here your options get a bit fuzzy. First, some who attend these programs are not Christians, or are Christian but not as serious about faith as maybe you are. Don’t trust the name of the school on the diploma; look deeper.
Beyond who goes to these programs, there is quite a variety of ways that training in Christian therapy is handled. First, any program that will lead to a license (with rare exception) must be accredited by the professional association of that profession. For example, to be qualified for a license as a psychologist, one must attend a program approved by the American Psychological Association. These associations have compulsively detailed lists of what must be taught (including ideology that does not fit well with traditional Christian beliefs) in classes. No matter how “Christian” the program, it must demonstrate that all these details are covered in its training. Beyond that the school has freedom to add on training in relating faith to counseling (or simply Bible or theology classes), and they do so with considerable variety in intentionality. So, graduates are well-versed in the philosophy and science of the profession and must pass an exam on that to be licensed. Yet, they may or may not graduate with a clear idea of how to bring their faith into the counseling office.
This means that even a Christian who goes to a Christian counseling program may or may not actually practice Christian counseling in a way that systematically and intentionally involves the client’s faith in the process. In short, the positive is that these counselors will be licensed and so you can use your insurance; the negative is that it is caveat emptor, and you are wise not to make assumptions without researching your potential counselor individually.
What Makes Counseling Christian?
Thus far I’ve only answered this in the negative, noting that the counselor being a Christian and/or going to a Christian counseling program does not make the counseling you would actually receive any different than if you saw a run of the mill therapist. So, what are you to look for? Much has been said on this topic, and space will not allow me to develop this much, but let me offer a few guidelines:
1. Seek a counselor who acknowledges God’s presence and action in the counseling process. Christians generally hold that God must be at work for change to occur, commonly seeing that as a function of the Holy Spirit. Why would that be different in counseling?
2. Seek a counselor whose goals in counseling are consistent with biblical goals for the Christian life. Counselors without faith focus on minimizing pain and maximizing happiness in this world, generally from an individualistic perspective. Secular theories and techniques do not see beyond this world. Yet, Christians see themselves as moving toward holiness, finding fulfilment in eternity with Christ, and navigating suffering to maximize spiritual good while accepting some degree of suffering. In short, feeling better is great, but being better is the goal.
3. Seek a counselor who builds on or at least does not contradict biblical truth. Christian counselors vary in how much they use specific Scriptures in the counseling process, but a biblical view of the world and psychological health form the foundation for genuine Christian counseling. Even if secular techniques are used, they are used toward spiritual ends.
4. Seek a counselor who explores how your faith impacts your problems and how you are coping with them.
I’m sure more could be added, but this is the bare bones list.
Choosing a Christian Counselor who Counsels Christianly
For those seeking help, and for those who seek to point them to it, let me summarize: Do your homework! My hope is that this article helps to guide your investigation. Seek out discerning people for advice or try to find someone who has been counseled by the person you are considering and see what their experience was. Ask the therapist detailed questions, not just, “do you do Christian counseling?” These might include: how does your faith inform your understanding of what mental health is? What role do you see sin as playing in problems? How do you use the Bible in your work? Spiritually what will be different if I get better under your care? What are the goals of your counseling? How do the theory you work from and techniques you use fit with Scripture? How is faith woven into a typical session?
Good counseling can be vital in our troubled times, and Christians are not immune from needing it. Yet, the treatment needs to fit with our faith and help us grow in it. Finding good care takes some work. I pray you find a godly guide to feeling and – more importantly – being better.