There are many methods and techniques used in the world of psychology to evaluate and to test their effectiveness. There are two ways to approach counseling and one of them is from a Christian perspective and the second being a non-Christian perspective. There are diverse reasons why a counselor upholds a specific approach over the other. Anderson, Zuehlke, and Zuehlke, (2000) discussed various issues related to the Christian Centered Counseling and various limitations that exist in attempts to incorporate Christian worldview in client counseling. The book identified different categories of counselors in the contemporary world.
Bible only counselors: counselors who use the Biblical values and principles when working with clients. The Bible-only counselors do not acknowledge the legitimacy of the different types of therapy approaches of psychology and therefore do not see the need to apply such methods in the counseling period. Next the reasoning of bible only counselors is completely spiritual in both orientation and methodology point of view. Also sin is seen as the major source of all problems or psychopathology. This group of counselors relies completely on their treatment and integrates the treatment with the Bible and the power of the Holy Spirit. In Bible only counseling ordinance is crucial and individual who are not trained may also be endorsed as counselors. This approach views the integration of psychological principles with Biblical teaching as demeaning theology. Last but not least, the human is seen as an individual who has control over their life through proper reasoning, activities and attitude.
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Closed counselors: these are Christians who practice exclusively secular methodology. They omit Christian teachings in their practice despite having a Christian foundation. The psychotherapeutic methods used in this approach are based on humanistic training experience. Counselors using this approach highly value worldview and clients are helped to deal with situation using diverse strategies. A sharp contrast exists between the Bible only counselors and the secular counselors. Bible counselors accuse secular counselors of omitting the Biblical worldview in therapy while the secular counselors accuse the Bible only counselors of neglecting the proven scientific methods of counseling in their practice.
Closet counselors: These are Christian counselors who understand the spiritual application to therapy but omit them due to fear of prejudice in therapy. Closet counselors fear offending the client or breaching the standard professional values. The major reasoning why such individuals avoid the use of spiritual treatment processes is due to unresolved matters associate with individual insecurity or inadequate knowledge in the counseling field. Next, counselors who use this approach also avoid it based not diversity of their clients and they believe introduction of religious matters may scare away the clients. Some also feel that they have no capability to articulate Christian assumptions correctly and in a meaningful manner. Another reason counselors who use this approach fail to initiate spiritual matters during counseling is apathy or ignorance. As a counselor it is important to overcome life challenges such as fear, insecurity, ignorance and apathy it is them who assist client experiencing these matters in life.
Conjoint counselors: Counselors who incorporate the Christian worldview in therapy. Individuals who use this orientation acknowledge Biblical teachings and psychotherapy teaching. From this approach, mentally sound individuals are persons who have a clear understanding of God, know that they are children of God and a clear understanding of Biblical Worldview. The enforcement of this counseling approach integrates physical, psychological and spiritual elements of the entire person. The integration of all these components helps the client to understand that their past deeds contribute to the current challenges and that by resolving their individual and spiritual conflict one becomes born again and live a free life in Jesus Christ. This approach does not draw line between psychological and spiritual factors and that the existing challenges are due to conflict with authorities and evil spirits in the heavenly realm.
From the examination of the issues raised by Anderson, Zuehlke, and Zuehlke, (2000), it is evident that scientific approaches and Biblical approaches can be applied in counseling. Spiritual needs are important to clients with a Christian foundation and can be useful in improving the client’s resiliency. On the other hand, proven scientific models cannot be ignored in therapy. Therefore, Christian counselor should know the best time to apply scientific models and Biblical approaches in therapy.
