Faith-Based Counseling For Renewed Hope

By Kate McMahon


Faith-based counseling is best for Christians, since the advice offered will follow biblical principles that ensure the help and support of God, both at present and in the future. Secular people cannot understand the participation of a loving deity in an individual's life, and any advice given by a trained professional without a relationship with God may run counter to beliefs that are important to the Christian client. While Christians do suffer from broken or toxic relationships, failure, and depression, they have a hope that others will not comprehend.

Counseling is difficult for many people to initiate. It is normal for troubled individuals to feel that they can handle their own problems. It is also usual for people who have serious difficulties with addictions - to drugs, alcohol, gambling, pornography, over-spending, or other self-destructive activities - to blame those around them rather than to accept responsibility.

Once the need for sessions with a trained professional is acknowledged, people need to find the person that can best help them. Now is when the world view of the advisor should be investigated. A shared belief system is important, which is one reason that people often seek advice from their pastor or someone within their church.

For instance, forgiveness is a fundamental rule and tool for Christians. It is human nature to hold on to resentment, hurt, and self-recrimination. Moving beyond a problem and making a fresh start is harder when bitterness and unforgiveness is not dealt with. Some programs of healing start with confrontation of others, not in a forgiving spirit but in a systematic understanding, acceptance, and 'bringing it all out in the open' manner.

For a Christian, it is important to forgive hurts and injuries from the past - forgive both others and self - and move beyond circumstances to the future. The realities of healing, peace, and hope for the future is extended by God to His children. Understanding God is a more important life skill than understanding the past and all its pain.

People can relive rotten experiences from the past over and over, both those that resulted from the actions of others and those that they themselves caused. This mental self-flagellation can effectively stifle initiative and ambition, and often leads to depression. Many people, both private and professional, feel that only a relationship with God can break this cycle.

The goal of someone going to counseling, unless it is court ordered, is to build healthy relationships and learn how to cope with difficult circumstances in better ways than by resorting to addictions, retreating into depression, or acting out in anti-social ways. Having a relationship with the deity, who has promised to never leave or forsake, can give a shaky life a foundation for future happiness.

Of course, being a Christian as well as a trained counselor is not a sure-fire certificate of competence. It is still important for those seeking faith-based counseling to choose carefully. Getting recommendations from pastors and people who have been helped, as well as seeking direction through personal prayer, can help those in need find the advice and support they require to move forward in a new direction.




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