Christian Counseling & the Use of Spirituality

Psychology in Counseling

• According to the book "Psychology, Theology and Spirituality in Christian Counseling," some Christian counseling incorporates psychology into the sessions. Christian counselors do this by gleaning valuable information from psychology models. Integrating psychology into Christian counseling is a recent development that emphasizes how spiritual disciplines can be added to psychotherapy sessions.
  
  

Biblical Behavior Therapy

• In contrast to psychoanalysis, Christian counselors often use a model called biblical behavior therapy. This type of therapy spends less time trying to understand the reason for past hurts and focuses instead on helping the patient fix the problem they face. Biblical behavior therapy is gaining popularity with individuals who want to view problems from a religious perspective.
  
  

Biblical Advice

• Prayer
  
  Christian counselors who base their sessions on spiritual practices give their clients advice based on a biblical perspective. Counselors may share biblical wisdom, offer encouragement and help a client resolve conflicts. Christian counselors often will incorporate spirituality into the session by praying for their client.
  
  

Benefits

• People who desire to receive their counseling from someone who shares their religious beliefs appreciate the use of spirituality in counseling sessions. Christian counseling has found success with treating a myriad of emotional problems such as anger, anxiety, addiction, depression and stress. More severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia can also be treated by using spirituality.
  
  

Considerations

• Christian counseling and secular counseling have the same goal in mind--to help people overcome emotional problems and obstacles that are infringing on their quality of life. The difference is that Christian counselors incorporate spiritual practices like prayer and meditation and use biblical concepts to instruct and heal people.