Biblical Approach to Counseling
In essence, although counseling is applied to help overcome some trouble, it is no less beneficially applicable to predestining individuals to attain certain goals by helping them to refocus their minds on these goals and avoiding unnecessary distractions. There are different approaches to counseling the Biblical way and the contemporary historical or professional way being some of them. Actually, counseling that is beneficial and that has been known to yield the greatest returns has encompassed a reference to many ways, including Biblical approaches as well as the professional ones. This paper examines the Biblical approaches to counseling and compares them to the professional counseling approaches not with the aim of discrediting any but to best understand how a Biblical approach can be used to a real life situation of counseling. Finally, the paper discusses how lessons learnt from the Biblical and professional perspectives of counseling can impact one in ones role as a counselor.
The Bible at a Glance
The Bible has been reputed as the word of God, the very authoritative voice of God. It is therefore no surprise that it is in the Bible that the wisest counsel is to be found (Barker, 2002). From the onset of the creation of the universe as documented in the first book of the Bible Genesis the authority of God in commanding issues and having them come out according to his plan is observed. And not a few of these commands have great ramifications in counseling. A common starting point is when he commands light to shine over the darkness that had pervaded the scene, and when the light comes, God affirms it saying it was good (BibleGetaway.com, 2010). Now light in this context refers to an enlightening of a situation which is otherwise shrouded in darkness - which is a state of confusion. It means ensuring that the person who has been in a state of confusion is made to have a clearer perception, all obstacles removed and one being made capable of seeing clearly again.
The other term that has a lot of relevance to counseling and is used severally in the Bible is counsel. This word is largely used in the Bible to mean advice or insight (Barker, 2002). It depicts a case where one person informs the other on a matter in which the informer is more enlightened than the one informed. Counsel is depicted as being good or bad, and it is therefore important that before one gets counsel, one has to determine that is important as not all people will give wise counsel. Counsel in the Bible is most of the time being given by seniors andor superiors to junior people. For instance, before any king goes to war, he seeks counsel not only from his advisors but also from the God so that whatever decision is reached is based on sound information and facts (Easton, 2006).
In the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, King Solomon is relentless in encouraging people to seek wise counsel - he himself being a source of such counsel because people with problems came to him for dispute resolution. The verb form of counsel is to give advice and to ensure that the advice given is well understood by the recipient it is not just an event but a process that might be ongoing or continuous until the recipient is able to grasp or really understand whatever is being suffered. Advice and counsel are closely related although they differ depending on the specific context. A notable difference between the two is that any person can give advice to another. Advice is seeking to have another person have a view which one might never have had before or which one never took seriously.
Quite often than not, advice is sought and given when there is a situation needing a decision to be made. Advice, like counsel, can be helpful to the recipient or not depending on how it is taken and the intentions of the advisor. Some advice can be really damaging to the recipients. A good example in the Bible of advice that is wrong and aimed to cause destruction is where the serpent deceives Eve to eat the fruit that God had forbidden, claiming that they would not die as God had warned them (Genesis 3). After eating the fruit, their eyes are opened up and they bring upon themselves the wrath of God. Each gets to be punished, and in addition to this, death comes to mankind.
Wisdom is used many times in the Bible, especially in Proverbs. According to the Bible, wisdom is the rightful use of knowledge (Barker, 2002). It is an endowment that can be imparted by men, but can also come through divine impartation. The Bible underscores the value of wisdom which is being associated with the fear of God. In the book of Job (2828), it is said that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and that to shun evil is understanding. Actually, understanding is used in conjunction with wisdom many times to symbolize the outcome of having wisdom as being the ability to have understanding. In Proverbs, there is an exhortation for everyone to seek wisdom even if it costs one all one has because it is more precious than any jewel and its value exceeds that of gold. It is also said to yield better returns than any form of investment.
Plan is used to mean prearrangement the act of deciding beforehand the way and manner to go about something. In proverbs for instance, the Bible says that it is the duty of mankind to plan but it is Gods work to decide the fate of the plans and that plans fail to succeed when there is lack of counsel. Without planning, failure is sure to come. Counsel needs proper planning (Barker, 2002).
Help in used to mean assistance or aid. As a verb, it means assisting someone who is in need. Helping is the basis of all counseling approaches. Anxious is a term used in the Bible to mean the state of being when one is not mentally at peace because of expecting something good or bad to happen (Philippians 46-7). Anger is used to mean wrath that unless it is controlled can lead to negative effects. Finally, simple is a term used to denote a person who is morally deprived or without direction. The word is widely applied in Ecclesiastes and Proverbs as the opposite of a wise or understanding person.
The Biblical View of Counseling
Although the Bible is full of incidences which are ideal for application to counseling, a few stand out. The first one is the fist chapter of Proverbs where a father pleads with a son to heed his wise counsel. The father details the benefits of finding wisdom and fleeing from the snares of this world. He goes on to inform the son of the consequences of simplicity, and cites destruction as a sure destination for one who ignores sound counsel from a father or from wise people. The same message is repeated many times in the book of Proverbs. In fact there is a specific address being made to the son in every introductory verse of the first seven chapters of Proverbs (Chapman, 2006).
The second incidence is found in the book of Ecclesiastes. Again the entire book, also written by King Solomon who was the wisest man who ever lived, illustrates the best approach to counseling. It involves the counselor telling the counselee the consequences of either action for or against what is advised. Then the counselee is given freewill to choose the way forward, not from compulsion but from fact and personal choice. Then there are the lessons from the entire book of Titus where Paul is writing to one of his spiritual sons on how to go about with life in ministry. Apart from requiring him not to be fearful, he explains to him how to approach and handle different people in the church, including the elderly, the women, the youth, and the married (Thomas, 2005).
There is also the case of a short yet very unique passage of scripture in the book of Philippians (chapter 46-8) where there is an exhortation not to be anxious about anything but for everything one ought to make ones concerns or needs known to God, who will respond by giving them inner peace - the peace of mind. A similar one is in Mathew 633 where there is a charge to people not to worry about anything because worry can add nothing to any person. Each of these scriptural passages is relevant to counseling for different purposes. Starting with Proverbs, there is involving of the people concerned in the counseling process. There is no better way than to counsel someone with love and compassion as opposed to using hatred or doing it just for the sake of it. I believe that for counseling to be effective and so successful, the counselor must make the counselee understand that the advice being given is not for the benefit of the counselor but the counselee, and so get the counselee to understand the entire process stems out of love.
The passage in Ecclesiastes is ideal to any counseling situation because there is the application of past experience. Counseling ought to be based on knowledge and a deep understanding of the way matters are. Counselors ought to have a vast wealth of experience in the subject matter so their information cannot be doubted. King Solomon says (Ecclesiastes 112-14) he is making conclusions based on experience. As such, no one can challenge his reasoning or insight in the areas of wisdom, counsel, and general approach to life. The Titus (chapter 1,2, and 3) case is ideal because counseling must be different for different people as far as age, gender, culture, social class, marital status, among other diversities, are concerned. Counseling ought to focus on the particular person, and ought to vary from person to person.
Finally, fear, anxiety, and worry are the three leading causes of psychological distress that calls for counseling. The passages of scripture in Titus, Mathew, and Philippians give a remedy for the three problems. The antidote for fear is having faith in God the antidote for anxiety is trusting in God to provide, and the antidote for worry is understanding that it adds nothing to anyone. Counseling ought to emphasize these there aspects (Barker, 2002).
Professional versus Biblical Approaches to Counseling
There are aspects of Biblical counseling that are fully in line with what professionals in the field of counseling advocate. There are, however, differences as well. For instance, professional counselors as well as the Bible emphasize the aspect of the need for a through understanding of the counselee so that the counselor can help based on what the one is suffering from. However, while professional counselors underscore the importance of cultural and ethnic issues of the counselee, the Biblical approach is more universal. It points to a case where anyone can be counseled irrespective of who one is socially, ethnically, and culturally. In essence, Biblical approaches are very much cross-cutting and can reach all people. Although this is not what professional counselors advocate, citing the differences in value systems and tastes of different clients, the Bible seems to have it that its approach to counseling can help anyone whether they are Christians or not (Baker Mackie, 2001).
This is the point where there has been a great rift between professionals and religious counselors. In the professional way, it is only possible for a counselor to counsel a client on the basis of ones faiths and beliefs so that recovery can be faster and sustainable (Koegel, 2001). The tendency is that unless a client is counseled based on ones unique requirements, then one is less likely to recover. The Bible also does advocate for giving the client a lot of room to make personal choices as opposed to the professional counselors who tend to be strict and bent on a certain outcome. For instance, in behavioral therapy, professional counselors are focused on having the client recover from a bad habit and become a better person in society. They are bent on having the client change whether one likes it or not.
The Biblical approach is rather different. It a counseling of choice where one has to choose what one thinks is right. One has to have an understanding of the consequences of each of the choices one makes in life so that in the event that a certain outcome results, then there is no one to blame as one knew beforehand where one was headed for (American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Children with Disabilities, 2001). Professional counseling does not really give the client such an option. It is mandatory that the client follows whatever approach is presented to one. Biblical counseling, however, is so much based on love and care for the client just like professional counseling. It is paramount that the client is made to feel important through a demonstration of attributes like love, care, concern, and a general accommodative approach so that one is reassured. Reassurance is an aspect that is critical to counseling because clients are more or less in a state of confusion, even despair (Volkmar, 2001).
The Biblical approach to counseling, just like professional counseling, is based on ethics. Ethical issues are important to an individual and even the community. Ethics entails doing what is acceptable to humanity and avoiding what is generally considered bad. In the Bible, all sin is abhorred and sinners are not so much welcome in society (Exodus 201-11). However, there is also an offer for all who sin or who turn away from the right ways the ways of truth to repent and be restored to the fold. The treatment of such people in society is therefore based on their willingness to act in the way society approves (Smith, 2002). It would seem that many clients, especially those who have engaged in acts like drug abuse or other acts considered evil in society, might not really be accommodated in society as per Biblical principles (Barker, 2002). Instead, the forgiveness aspect clears away these barriers and allows for all people to be welcome in society regardless of what they have done in the past but only as long as they are willing and ready to change. This, once more, underscores the Biblical emphasis on giving the client a chance to choose.
Professional counseling, just like Biblical counseling, is about having the client releasing ones emotional tension so that a chance at a new beginning is provided. Holding up past events or hurts is a major cause of mental and psychological breakdown, and the faster a client is made to forget about the past the easier it is for one to recover. Ethics in professional counseling is a critical factor. Confidentiality, for instance is paramount (Lovaas, 2000). The Biblical approach also encompasses issues of ethics and requires that clients are counseled in privacy and all details kept private. The one point where Biblical principles of counseling are out of step with professional counseling as far as ethics is concerned is the emphasis on purity and sanctity. The Bible so much bases its counsel and advice on purity of heart, fear for God, and general sanctity (Mallett, 2003).
There is not a lot of room for the rebellious or those who engage in acts of disobedience willfully and who will not turn away. Counseling ought to be all-inclusive and any unnecessary conditions ought to be removed before it can really be approached. There is no much success to be expected if counselors are too demanding and set forth so many conditions for the client. Instead, all barriers ought to be removed and the two must be come to start at the point where they agree or are equal. There ought to be no wrong or right in counseling procedures so that the client can benefit fully (Haas, 2003).
Lessons Learnt
Having had a thorough review of the Biblical as well as the professional counseling principles, there are key lessons that can be learnt. The first one involves the very counseling session itself and how it ought to be approached. Counseling is more likely to succeed when the setting it as ambient as possible, meaning that the client is in a position to best feel as free as possible. Always, the needs of the counselee are to be given preeminence and it pays for the counselor to bow as low as possible to the level of the client so that this aim is achieved. Then there has to be paying a lot of attention to ethical issues, such as being sensitive to the religious and cultural needs of the client and ensuring that the counseling makes the client to be more inclined to seek to get reintegrated into the society as much as possible (Burke, 2005).
I now understand that there is no shortcut to a counseling process, and that emotions held within one ought to be released to enhance recovery. I also understand that there has to be a combination of Biblical and professional principles of counseling if the process has to succeed. Based on this, my counseling will be based on both principles, and it will be done in settings where the clients best identify with. I will work with the youth who are trapped in various addictions like drug abuse. I will work closely both with churches, the community, and rehabilitation centers to help bring about a turnaround of clients lives. I will need to train in cognitive-behavioral therapy, and set up a facility to counsel and offer short term care services for the clients. This will give me satisfaction that I am using my skills for the welfare of the community and the nation, and this will in turn encourage me to do ore. It will also enhance my relationship with the church because the cases that the church will not be able to handle will be done by me professionally (Grutter, 2000).
Conclusion
Counseling from a Biblical point of view is mainly focused on the need to have the client understanding the consequences of whatever one is doing, and the decision reached by the counselee reflects this understanding. While a Biblical approach to counseling is highly valuable, there is always greater gain when it is associated with professional counseling because some aspects that are deemed critical to client recovery might be lacking in the Biblical approach but present in the professional one. Blending the two is the key to successful counseling. As a future counselor, I have learnt a lot regarding what the Bible advocates in counseling and combining this with what the counseling profession has to offer, I look forward to being a successful youth counselor in the area of drug and substance abuse and addiction. The Bible offers a deeper insight into ethical and spiritual aspects of counseling, but professionalism adds a real-life touch to it. Blending the two, I believe, is the remedy to current addiction problems facing young people in schools, churches, and colleges.
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