What Is Christian Counseling - Research Paper Example

? Discipleship Counseling Discipleship counseling, which can also be referred to as Christian counseling is a very effective way of counseling if approached from the correct perspective and when the correct essentials are addressed. Three very important and essential approaches are needed if the counselor is to succeed in the counseling ministry. This is when the counselor will approach the problem at hand by establishing whether it is as a result of spiritual warfare, takes a wholistic approach in investigating it and deals sympathetically with the counselee. The absence of these three approaches in the counseling ministry will result in an ineffective ministry that will not adequately meet serve the members of the Kingdom of God. It is imperative to note that spiritual warfare includes the area of prayer, battles waged in the spiritual realm and the effects of spiritual oppression. When the concept of spiritual warfare is properly utilized without overemphasis that it is the only cause, it can be very effective. The Wholistic approach is when the body, soul and spirit are considered, even as relevant Christian theologies are also considered, taking care not to involve secular thoughts or those that are not Biblical. Dealing with counselee with compassion entails allowing for connection with the counselee so as to allow the individual to move out of the situation. Introduction While the aspect of discipleship counseling is often overlooked, it is a very important duty that should be practiced by Christian leaders upon their flock, considering the Lord Jesus Himself practiced it often upon His disciples and to the people who followed Him during His ministry on earth (Anderson, 2003). It should dawn on Christian leaders that counseling of the flock that God has laid into their hands is one of the most important aspects of their responsibilities. Proper training and readiness then by Christian leaders is important if the needs of the many people who are suffering from stressful and emotional problems are to be addressed in The United States of America and all over the world (AACC, 2004). Christian counseling can be more effective than psychological or normal counseling because of these three important aspects, spiritual warfare, the wholistic approach and compassion which are included, this is in spite of the fact that the counselee must be a Christian, one who believes Christ’s work of redemption (Anderson, 2003). In the world today, there is a wave of spiritual attack which has bound many people and made the surrender to the Kingdom of God and the mind like that which was in Christ difficult. A well equipped Christian counselor will recognize this fact and take the necessary approach to counseling like being grounded in prayer and in the word of God from whom counsel and guidance and power will originate. This will place the counselor above an ordinary counselor whose efforts are only guided by human knowledge. The Christian counselor should always remember that effective counseling will be guided by the ability to wage effective spiritual warfare to the forces of opposition from beginning to the end. Compassion will also be actively be exercised to be effective at all times if the leader is to be effective. The effective counselor will also approach the problem at hand from a wholistic perspective, but not from a singular one for the best results. Spiritual warfare, which is essentially waged by spiritual forces on the mind is a very important concept to consider in discipleship counseling but not solely as the only concept. The statistics of divorce, rebellion in society and drug abuse among many problems are extraordinarily high all over the world and, an ill equipped Christian counselor can be over awed by individuals who come for his assistance to solve them (Anderson, 2003). Many people are on medication for high blood pressure resultant from anger and frustration. While ordinary counseling and Medicare will advocate for medical solutions and concepts, the Christian counselor will also approach the issue from a spiritual warfare perspective, considering that it could be a case of spiritual oppression and will need prayer among other things to address. It is important to note the importance of prayer in Christian counseling due to the fact that spiritual forces of wickedness will oppose every step towards healing and the effective weapon against them is prayer. The effective and well equipped Christian counselor will not over rely on denominational practices alone, ignoring other counseling practices. The notion that it is only evil forces that can cause the problems at hand and that they are the only ones to be fought can proof detrimental and thus a balance should be maintained as a solution is sought. The wholistic approach involves not only considering the spiritual aspect, body or mental conditions but also exploring many other aspects as a solution is sought to address the problem (Anderson, 2003). It is thus very important for the counselor to consider other biblical standpoints and not only have theirs while also taking care not to deviate from sound Christian doctrine and also to avoid legalism. In the treatment of anger, for example, there are different ,ways which can be used to treat the problem for best results. Anger has a spiritual, physical and mental aspect and thus the best treatment will include spiritual, medical and mental methods to effectively address. It is important to note that when people can take medicine to treat a bodily illness, they can not take the same if they want to treat a condition that involves a problem of the soul or spirit. It is thus very important to wholistically identify the factors which, for example, have caused the anger, as they identify the best treatment. It could be caused by stress or burnout at the work place, body illness or spiritual dryness or attack and the approaches to treatment due to all this causes are very different. Compassion while engaging in Christian counseling is also a very important aspect because it enables the counselor to truly understand the person whom they are dealing with and get to the depth of their problem (Anderson, 2003). Effective counseling involves the art of taking time to listen, so as to enable the counselee to open up, which in itself is a part of the healing process. Ill prepared counselors will start offering solutions prematurely instead of first listening to the issue deeply so as to grasp all or most of the aspects that led to the problem so as to get the best solution to address it (Massey, 2000). During a compassionate discussion, the counselee can even discover the solutions to the problem themselves or even feel relieve as they release bottled up emotion which are sometimes the causes of many problems. Without such a forum, it would be very difficult to reach to the heart of many problems that effect many people and, most problems linger due to the failure by counselees to have a person to whom they can pour out their problems. Conclusion These three approaches will are very important but are often ignored by many Christian leaders who should be well versed in them since they have been called to tend the flock the flock under their care, even as Jesus Christ did. These will help them to solve the many spiritual, physical and mental problems that many people are suffering yet solutions are possible if the best approaches are used. The aspect of prayer and the acknowledgement of God is also a very important aspect because no human effort is adequate to solve the problem without God. The truth of the word of God must also be emphasized in every of these undertakings. References American Association of Christian Counselors. (2004).AACC Code of Ethics: The Y2004final Code. Forest, VA: AACC. Anderson, N. T. (2003). Discipleship counseling. Kindle edition. Ventura, CA: Regal Books. Massey, D. L. (2000). Theological and Biblical Interpretations of Current Movements and Emerging Paradigms within Bereavement Studies. Pastoral Psychology, Volume 48, Number 6. pp 469-486. Siang-Yang Tan. (2011). Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Christian Perspective. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic. Read More