How is Faith-Based Counseling is Different from Regular Counseling?

When a Christian client goes up to a secular therapist’s door, there can be some apprehension.  Questions like, “Is this person going to be able to really understand and respect my beliefs” and “What if they make me do something I’m not spiritually comfortable with” might come up.  

One great thing about the counseling profession is that counselors are not ethically supposed to impose their personal viewpoints on clients.  So, while every therapist has their own beliefs, as long as they attend to the client’s values in the therapeutic relationship, the potential difference in belief systems should not be an issue.

However, there can be great benefits to seeking out a therapist who does share the same faith as you, too.

Here are some ways faith-based counseling for Christians is different from secular counseling:

-Christian therapists understand that prayer is a powerful tool in the healing process and, hopefully, seek to bring God’s Word and standards into the counseling relationship as much as the client desires.  Secular therapists are likely to practice from a more humanistic worldview and lack the foundation of Biblical wisdom and the understanding of how prayer works and can be incorporated into the healing process.

-Christian therapists can counsel clients towards their ultimate end goal for healing as it relates to a closer relationship with God because it is not just about the here and now perspective for the Christian client, unless they would like for it to be.  Secular therapists are primarily focused on the functioning of the client in the earthly space and may miss the spiritual component of a person entirely.

-Christian therapists can know that they can do nothing to heal clients in and of their own power but are gifted of God by His Holy Spirit to minister to the clients that He brings along their path.  In this way, the counseling process becomes one of seeking God’s will first rather than the human will’s desires as in secular counseling.

-Christian therapy can incorporate valuable spiritual resources such as referrals to Bible studies, churches, prayer groups, books by Christian authors and thought leaders, speaking the same language as some Christian clients.  How many non-believers can tell you what K-Love is or reference Paul’s struggle with a thorn in his side?

-Also, Christian therapists will understand the concepts of sin and salvation, whereas secular therapists have only human understanding to guide them in understanding the basis of right, wrong, and one’s bottom line.

Overall, a good therapist is a good therapist, and a poor therapist is a poor therapist, no matter if the therapist is a Christian or not.  However, for the Christian believer who is considering their therapy options, the best fit may very well be finding an excellent therapist who also has the heart of a Servant of Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit to be able to use the great tools of the therapy world in conjunction with the faith for the ultimate goal of helping the client who is a believer to reach not only their earthly goals by earthly means but their spiritual goals by the best of both worlds.

We offer faith-based counseling to those who desire for it to be incorporated in their healing journey.  Let us know how we can help you to meet your therapeutic goals.

Blog written by Michelle Croyle