Christian Counseling has Unique Assumptions: Christian counseling: vs. Traditional psychology: Starting point-God Starting point-man Authority-Scripture Authority-man’s knowledge “God has spoken” Man speaks Biblical value system Societal & personal values

Christian counselors believe in the deity of Christ, salvation through Christ alone and the authority of scriptures: Jesus said, “I am the way the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me.” Jn. 14:6 St. Paul wrote in 11 Tim. 3:16 “All scripture is inspired by God…” vs. Secular counseling is based on humanistic teaching and philosophy: https://www.hookupdate.net/nl/snapsext-overzicht Sigmund Freud said “At bottom God is nothing more than an exalted father.” Karl ous line..”Religion is the opiate of the masses.”

The Christian’s goal in life is to live wholly for Christ and His purpose, and to worship, love and serve God forever

Premise of Christian counseling: God has spoken and revealed Himself through the Bible and Jesus Christ His Son. People are separated from God by their sin, need to receive the salvation offered through Christ’s death on the cross and be reconciled to God. The Bible is inspired by God and functions as a guide for the Christian’s daily life.

Christian Counseling has Unique Goals: Stimulate spiritual growth Encourage confession of sin & experience divine forgiveness Model Christian standards, attitudes, values, & lifestyles Present the Gospel & encourage commitment to Jesus Christ. Stimulate development of Christian values & biblical living.

Christian Counseling applies Unique Methods: Consistent with biblical teaching….ex: living a moral lifestyle Praying for client and encouraging a meaningful prayer life Reading scripture Gentle confrontation with Christian truths Teaching & encouraging biblical thinking and behavior Encouraging worship and involvement in local church

Christian Counselors have Unique Counselor Characteristics, training: -Ability to counsel & respect clients who prefer traditional counseling as well as those who prefer the Christian counseling process. -Has an understanding of problems (how they arise & how to resolve), a knowledge of biblical teaching about the problems and how to apply that teaching to life. – Prepares self by prayer, and meditation on the Bible. -Uses techniques which Jesus modeled such as the directive-confrontational approach or non-directive “client-centered” techniques. -Displays the fruit of the Holy Spirit in his/her life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. – Teaches the Bible and commitment to Jesus Christ. -Determines to be used by God to touch lives, change them and bring others toward both spiritual and psychological maturity. – Training, courses in Christian & biblical counseling

How great is the need for Christian counseling? Carl ong all my patients in the second half of life…there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life.”

We are a society which places great emphasis on respect for individuals with diverse beliefs, lifestyles and differences. Counselors are taught to respect these differences and allow individuals to make choices in their lives accordingly. The health care field has various choices of treatment as does the mental health care field. Clients need to be able to choose counselors and centers which provide guidance based on their values and belief systems.

Born again Protestants-35% 2. Not born again Protestants-25% 3. Born again Catholics-7% 4. Not born again Catholics-17% 5. Jews-2% 6. Atheists & agnostics-9% 7. Others, not born again-9%

The need statistically: Statistics about America’s spirituality based on surveys conducted within the last 12 months: 1

These fears may hinder Christian clients from seeking help in times of crisis due to distrust of the traditional counseling process: 1. Ignore spiritual concerns 2. Treat spiritual beliefs and experiences as pathological or merely psychological 3. Fail to comprehend spiritual language and concepts 4. Assume that religious clients share nonreligious cultural norms (e.g., premarital cohabitation, intercourse is acceptable outside of marriage, etc.) 5. Recommend “therapeutic” behaviors that clients consider immoral 6. Make assumptions, interpretations and recommendations that discredit revelation as a valid epistemology. 7. Fear having values changed and misunderstood or being misdiagnosed because of beliefs.