Will God be Mad at Me if I Go to Counseling?

Sally had been raised to believe that she could only trust her parents and church and that reaching out to outsiders could lead her into sin.  It was as if God was waiting for one misstep from her to disqualify her from the faith.  However, the Bible says that love keeps no records of wrongs and that God is love.  So, when Sally wanted to reach out for professional mental health care, she was nervous.  Unfortunately, there is a toxic belief out there in some Christian circles that implies that getting psychological help is not okay with God.  While a human counselor will never be the Ultimate Counselor as Jesus is, and trusting in anything more than trusting in God can be sin, God isn’t likely getting mad if you choose to go to counseling.  In fact, He likely rejoices when you find a professional who is ethical and skilled and can do their job well and show up to serve and help you.  So, if you’ve encountered well-meaning but misinformed people who advise against Christian believers getting counseling, you may want to consider how that advice is actually contrary to God’s character.

5 Reasons Counseling Is Okay With God

God made the brain, the body, and the emotions- He knows how they work and function, and He knows how they heal.  He know the spiritual and the mental, the relational and the internal, the thoughts and the feelings, and Genesis tells us His creation is good.  So, if the study of the mind, ie. Psychology, is the study of how our human brain, nervous system, and experience works, doesn’t it make sense that it works because God designed it and metaphorically wrote the users manual?

This leads to another fundamental reason that I don’t believe God is mad at you for seeking therapeutic help…

All truth is God’s truth- If something is true, we are to think on such things, and every good and perfect gift comes from God above, and God came for us to have life and have it abundantly.  If God designed us, and He gave us the Bible to instruct us on how to live this life best, then, we can trust His words as truth.  If science or psychology has hit upon anything that works, it only works because it is based in the laws of the universe, how humans are designed by Him, and how our systems heal.

So, if something truly works, truly heals, and is true, it is in the fabric of the universe, and created by God Himself, even the study of the brain.

We are made in God’s image, and Jesus is the Mighty Counselor- So, it stands to reason that some human beings would carry the counseling traits of God’s Holy Spirit.  For this reason, it seems reasonable to conclude that at least there are some counselors who have been gifted by God himself to comfort and come alongside others.

God’s Word says that “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” – God made us for community.  We are each members of one body, and each person has gifts to serve and minister to others as equipped from the Lord.  The Bible also tells us that two are better than one, as when one falls, the other can help him up.  

Finally, God’s Word says that there is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” – So, if you need counseling help, God already knows your need.  He is already with you right where you are, and He is not mad at you for getting support and healing.  He likely already has someone perfectly positioned to help you get your mental health care needs met.

Let us be that help from God to you, contact us at: 541-275-0412

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