Church's and Counseling

In Chapter One, Collins discusses the church's attitude toward counseling. Pastors who first begin their ministry are often dismayed at the diverse emotional needs of their congregations. And tackling the wide array of books and articles on counseling methods is equally daunting. Church leaders must, however, help their congregations because counseling is a necessary part of any ministry.

Distinctions can be made between three types of care and counseling. Pastoral care is a broad term which refers to the preaching, teaching, and nurturing that forms the most basic part of a pastor's duties to his or her church: "The Christian counselor seeks to bring people into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and to help them find forgivenessness and relief from the crippling effects of sin and guilt" (Collins 16). Pastoral counseling is specialized pastoral care, the work of an ordained pastor, the goal of which is to help counselees achieve healing, learning, and growth consistent with biblical teaching. Pastoral psychotherapy involves long-term, in-depth healing that is the purview of the trained specialist.

Christian counseling is unique from secular counseling because of four distinctions. The Christian counselor works from unique assumptions about the nature of God, human suffering, and healing that are based on biblical teachings. The ultimate goal of Christian counseling is to help the counselee to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. Granted, the counselor

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tting of the counseling sessions, examining one's own sexual attitudes, and seeking protection from support groups. Ethical dilemmas often arise in counseling. Confidentiality is a major issue, generating questions with no easy answers. The Christian counselor must act in accordance with spiritual principles: "In every ethical decision the Christian counselor seeks to act in ways that will honor God, be in conformity with biblical teaching, and respect the welfare of the counselee and others" (Collins 35). Counselors often must contend with burnout, feelings of ineffectiveness and lack of energy. During these periods Christian counselors must realize that Jesus Christ himself is the counselor's counselor, and the Holy Spirit is an ever-present source of help. In addition, the fellowship of the church strengthens the Christian counselor. Christian counselors are blessed with remarkable resources to aid in their ministry. In Chapter Three, Collins examines the foundations of effective counseling. Unfortunately, the majority of counselors are ineffective and a significant number are even harmful. Counselors who are skillful know how to help their counselees achieve specific goals. Few clients come to Christian counsel

Category: Psychology - C