What is Biblical Counselling?

Biblical counselling, at Life to the Full, is a faith-based approach to mental health and personal growth that fundamentally involves the integration of evidence-based psychology with a Christian worldview. This approach aims to promote holistic Christian flourishing and help individuals discover a deeper sense of meaning, purpose, and hope throughout their healing journey.

Here are the key aspects of biblical counseling according to the sources:

• Holistic Understanding of the Individual:

  This form of counselling views individuals as "whole people, heart, soul, mind and strength". It acknowledges that psychological struggles can be multifaceted, arising from spiritual, mental, emotional, and even biological issues, such as "genuinely misfiring neural pathways in the brain" or "chemical imbalances" for conditions like clinical anxiety. It explicitly differentiates clinical anxiety from a mere "lack of wisdom" or faith.

• Purposeful Use of Scripture and Theology:

  Scripture is utilised not through "out-of-context Bible verses unhelpfully" but by engaging with fundamental theological "paradigms". This involves exploring:

  ◦ Identity: What the scriptures reveal about who the individual is.

  ◦ Character of God: Understanding God as a loving Heavenly Father and discerning a client's functional beliefs about God, which may differ from their confessional theology. This allows for honest exploration of feelings like anger or perceived punishment without condemnation.

  ◦ Worldview: Examining a client's beliefs about the world, suffering, and relationships through a biblical lens, aiming to replace unhelpful beliefs with a biblical understanding.

  ◦ Redemptive Story: Helping clients see their suffering and difficulties as part of a "redemptive story," fostering hope because "God is good," which serves as a powerful counter-voice to anxiety and stress.

• Integration of Prayer and Spiritual Disciplines:

  Prayer is a welcome and permitted part of sessions if the client desires it, applicable to psychologists, relationship counsellors, and spiritual counselors. Christian meditation is also considered a "biblical idea" and a "very important corrective to our modern age". It is distinct from other forms of meditation as it focuses on "emptying to always to refill with what is good and noble and pure" through biblical truths, challenging thought patterns, and reorienting the brain. Prolonged prayer is viewed as a form of Christian meditation.

• Professional Expertise and Confidentiality:

  Biblical counseling is delivered by suitably qualified professionals who are members of their respective accrediting bodies. It aims to provide a non-judgmental and confidential space, which is particularly important for Christians who may fear condemnation if they disclose struggles within church communities. Client discussions are not reported back to management or employers unless they involve self-harm or illegal activity, with utmost care taken to ensure privacy and trust.

• Application in Specific Contexts:

  In areas like marriage counseling, biblical values are highly prominent. The Christian understanding of marriage as a covenant is emphasised, viewed as a "higher call" than secular societal expectations. This includes acknowledging that "life will be hard" with "peaks and troughs," with God as the center of the marriage, providing hope and grounding through challenges. It also incorporates biblical perspectives on "equal value but different roles" for a man and a woman, carefully guarding against misapplication of power or mistreatment, and reinforcing that a husband's role is to "lay his life down".

• Distinction from Pastoral Care:

  While pastoral care often involves "sitting with somebody without necessarily having to fix their problems" and walking alongside them, professional counseling adds "specific technical qualifications and modalities" to offer more "precise and technique-oriented" methods. This distinction helps triage issues, with spiritual struggles typically falling under a pastor's domain, while symptoms of depression, anxiety, or relationship issues may require a professional counsellor or psychologist. A good counsellor is understood to possess a "pastoral heart" with added professional skills.

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