What Is Christian Counselling & How Does Psychology Fit In?

Christian counselling that aligns itself with God’s word is done correctly when it doesn’t hinder the work of the Holy Spirit.

You may ask, “How does Psychology fit in?”

I love Bufford’s (1997: 120) definition of Christian Counselling, “Counselling is most truly Christian when the counsellor has a deep faith; counsels with excellence; holds a Christian world view; is guided by Christian values in choosing the means, goals and motivations of counselling; actively seeks the presence and work of God; and actively utilises spiritual interventions and resources within ethical guidelines”, but it does, however, leave me asking the question, What do I do with psychology, do I include it in my Christian counselling practice or do I exclude it?

Different models give you choices and preference depends on your Christian worldview.

1. The Against Model

Holders of this view maintain that psychology and Christianity are essentially incompatible. The secular proponents see science as the only source of truth, and religion as being antithetical to scientific thinking. Christian proponents, like Adams (1973: 23) say there is a biblical solution to every problem (nouthetic counselling) and that the Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit are sufficient. Narramore (1992: 119) dismisses those who hold to this belief saying “they lack understanding of psychology, have a limited Christian world view, do inadequate biblical hermeneutics and distort facts.”

2. The Of Model

Proponents maintain that there is a great deal of common ground between psychology and religion that should be explored. Christian proponents “generally come from theologically liberal traditions that, like their secular counterparts, reject the supernatural elements and only uphold the universal aspects of the Bible (Carter & Narramore, 1979: 85).

3. Parallels Model

Proponents of this model hold that as psychology is scientific and objective, and religion is personal and social they are not related, so they advocate they be kept separate but equal.

4. The Integrates Model

Integration is the attempt to combine in some fruitful way two distinct areas of study.

But no secular approach can be fully integrative with a Christian approach because it does not hold to the existence of a personal God, who has revealed himself through nature and his Word.

5. The Eclectic Model

This is an effective Christian approach to the integration of theology and psychology. The Australian Institute of Family Counselling Ltd. (aifc) have such a model in their Christian Counselling courses. It has a “plundering the Egyptians” (Litchfield’s, 2012: 66) approach that can be employed in relation to four streams of psychotherapy which can be utilised together with theology in counselling.

It is a selective eclecticism approach, being insight-oriented (the past – understanding a person’s background), cognitive behaviour oriented (the mind-changing false beliefs), experiential oriented (the feelings) and medication oriented. It is a comprehensive approach to the whole person – spirit (personal, relational), soul (rational, volitional, emotional) and body (physical).

The underpinning Christian worldview is that the Bible contains God’s truth (special revelation) and while some Christians contend you cannot find truth outside the Bible the aifc position is that all truth is God’s truth. Truth can be found in God’s creation (general revelation), in nature (Romans 1:20) and, as Paul says, God “has not left himself without testimony” (Acts 14:17).  This theological foundation makes the model work. However, in our interpretive framework, the Bible must have primacy and so whatever is immoral or unethical or unbiblical (i.e., anti-biblical) should not be integrated or accepted. Where the Bible is silent and there is no contradiction then ‘the discovery’ in the sciences including psychology may ultimately be truth (Tan, 2001: 18) and if helpful may then be included in the eclectic model.

By David Mitchelmore
Credentials – B Theol; Master in Counselling; Grad. Dip. Ch. Counselling; Adv. Dip. CFT; Cert. IV TAE.

Bibliography

Adams, Jay E. (1973). The Christian Counsellor’s Manual. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. Bufford, Rodger K. (1997). Consecrated Counselling: Reflections on the Distinctives of Christian Counselling. Journal of Psychology and Theology. 25(1): 111-122. Carter, John D. & Narramore, Bruce. (1979). The Integration of Psychology and Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. Dr Bruce & Nellie Litchfield. (2012). Christian Counselling and Family Therapy. Third Edition. Volume 2.  Gungahlin, ACT: Litchfield Family Services Proprietary Limited.  Milne, Bruce. (1998). Know the Truth – a handbook of Christian belief. Second Edition. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press.  Narramore Bruce. (1992). Barriers to the Integration of Faith and Learning in Christian Graduate Training Programs in Psychology. Journal of Psychology and Theology. 20(2): 119-126.   Tan, Siang-Yang. (2001). Integration and Beyond: Principled, Professional, and Personal. Journal of Psychology And Christianity. 20(1): 18-28.

Find out more about becoming a Christian Counsellor. Study the CHC51015 Diploma of Counselling at aifc.