Compare and Contrast Paper

Introduction
We have all struggled with situations such as grief, loss, or stress at some time in our lives. When we seek counseling to help us overcome the feelings that are associated with these hardships it is good to know the best way to approach them. We usually just want the problem to go away and we want to feel happy and rejuvenated again. However, there are steps we must take in order to experience freedom and true happiness. Most counselors are using techniques that involve cognitive and behavioral therapy and pharmacological intervention. It isn’t that anything is wrong with these approaches; however this won’t take care of the problem. We must take a biblical approach and seek the Lord when we are faced with struggles.
Goal of Christian Counseling
When reading through Crabb’s book Effective Christian Counseling, it is clear that the goal of Christian counseling is to not just make a client happy but to bring them closer to God by helping them mature in their faith. This would include using biblical methods of dealing with their problems rather than relying upon secular methods. Crabb specifically states that “the goal is to free people to better worship and serve God by helping them become more like the Lord.” We want to help mature our clients spiritually and psychologically. (Crabb, 1977)
There are steps to maturity which includes immediate obedience and long-range character growth. (Crabb, 1977) We need to be able to understand that Jesus is the only one we should be trying to please. He is who we should compare ourselves to because He is perfect. He loves and accepts us and tells us we should not look to others for acceptance and approval. As counselors we should help the client move over to the path of obedience. This means that they must develop a new attitude and a new way of thinking. Crabb describes this as the “UP” goal. Our normal behaviors when faced with a difficult situation cause us to act out in anger and frustration. If we are acknowledging of these behaviors, we can remind ourselves to behave in a way that would please the Lord.
Unfortunately, there are counselors condoning such behaviors and allowing them to be part of the teaching as a way for the client to express their feelings. For example, in the article Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, it teaches the approach towards “religious clients.” Although there isn’t anything wrong with being sensitive to the needs of clients with religious preferences, REBT is teaching both secularly as well as religiously. It seems to be a way to include biblical teaching but not involving God as part of the counseling process. It mentions the dangers of mixing the two “the devil can quote scriptures, and you can use almost any kind of idea to help persuade and induce people to use REBT or any other sensible philosophy. That doesn’t mean that the idea you are using is good, it just means that you can use it to good effect.” This type of practice reminds me of the churches and how priests are beginning to change the way that they approach the gospel to appeal to the masses. If you are not completely committed to one belief and reason for counseling and are not of sound doctrine, this could mean harmful things for your relationship with the client. (DeLeon, 2000)
The goal of biblical counseling is not to only help and please the client but to help them mature in their faith. (Crabb, 1977) This would be developed by following scripture through their journey of healing and teaching them to follow Christ by acting in a way that aligns with scripture. We want people to be able to use these methods when they are on their own and are faced with struggles. This is what Jesus asks us to do and we are called to follow in His word.
Basic Concepts
When we are counseling, we need to recognize the needs of our clients. The most basic need according to Crabb is a sense of personal worth. People need to understand that there is a reason they are here and that they are significant and loved unconditionally by God. (Crabb, 1977) The two primary inputs are significance and security which are different for men and women. A man’s highest need would be to feel that he is significant and worthy. A woman’s highest need is security, which means she needs to feel that she is protected and safe in a relationship. When these needs are in jeopardy during a relationship, they will want to walk away from it quickly to avoid rejection and fear of losing security. We know this to be true according to the bible. In Genesis, Adam and Eve are totally secure and confident until they sinned against God. Once they did this, they felt ashamed and insecure with themselves. This is why we must always put God in the forefront of our teaching because we must always be reliant on God to provide these things as they can always be disposable on earth. God can meet all of our needs and desires if we allow Him to. (Crabb, 1977)
In the article Rogerian Theory, it is said that each client behaves differently and should not determine how other people should behave. The therapist should respect that people are different and allow their clients to make their own decisions about their growth and direction. (Kensit, 2000) Although the client might favor this type of teaching, it isn’t doing them any good. Who are we as people to make decisions on how we should behave and respond to situations? True, we all behave differently but if we were to follow in God’s path we would have direction and purpose.
If we try to do things our own way, Crabb says we end up hurting people, killing, engaging in homosexual behavior, premarital sex and promiscuity. We become selfish and work only towards pleasuring ourselves and giving ourselves power over our lives. Basically, we could do whatever we wanted. True significance and security is only available to Christians. When we do whatever it is we want, we don’t have the security of knowing that we are doing the right thing and will have eternal life. We also look outside of God to meet our needs of acceptance whether it is idolizing money or possessions to gain acceptance by others. We need to teach people that there will always be a void unless they follow God’s path for our lives. (Crabb, 1977)
Basic Strategy
When following a biblical approach to counseling tragedy, the first concept would be need. People have needs and although physical needs are all going to differ, our needs for significance and security make us the same. (Crabb, 1977) We all want personal things to make us happy but what happens when we are lying on our death bed? Are we really thinking about how much money we have or how many things we accomplished in life? No. We want security and significance. People want to know that they are going to heaven when they die. They want to know how they line up with scripture because it would then tell them what their judgment will look like. I wonder if atheists have thought all the way to the end of their life
In the online articles, they spoke a lot about teaching people to change the way they think. Although this may be a good teaching method at times, this sounds like a never ending cycle. If we have to tell someone to journal instead of sitting with their thoughts or using a calendar to keep up and participate in events. The problem I see with this is that it is all temporary. It doesn’t really provide fulfillment and joy. It provides a band-aid therefore people will become co-dependent on counseling every time they need a quick fix. We want them to be able to turn to God and they will have a permanent path that leads to fulfillment, purpose, structure and joy. It won’t always be easy and we can be there to provide encouragement to keep on that path, but it would not be recurring if they are in obedience with the Lord.
Developing a counseling program in the local church
I found this concept of counseling to be extremely beneficial. Counseling in the church would allow for members to be trained in Level 1 counseling. This would meet the needs of people needing encouragement and dealing with problem feelings. Then there would be some members of the church like pastors and community group leaders who would have Level II training. This would assist those with problem behaviors and exhortation. There would be only a few who would have Level III training which would assist those with problem thinking and would provide enlightenment. If so many of the church body was involved, more people could be helped within the church and the trained members would have similar methods of counseling. (Crabb, 1977) We should be helping others by becoming available to more than just our groups of people that we may know at our church. I believe this would encourage unity and warmth within a church.
In the article on rational emotive behavior therapy, there is a drastically different approach to counseling religious clients. When you mix secular and biblical approaches, things could become very confusing for a client. If the client is naïve and not as grounded in their belief, they could be taught secular methods for dealing with their issues. In Ellis’s case, he went back and forth between using a religious approach or secular. If someone you are seeking therapy from is not biblically grounded, neither will you be. Unfortunately, too many people are caught up in appeasing others rather than helping others. We can’t put God in a box and only pull him out when it seems necessary or appropriate. We must be following Him in everything that we do all of the time.
Conclusion
If we use a biblical approach when dealing with our struggles we would not need to seek counseling as often and if we did it would be more beneficial if it were a biblically sound counselor. This would help encourage a relationship with God, teach about what God asks of us and how He asks us to behave and to give all of our struggles to Him. It may be easier said than done but when we pray and ask God to take away our pain, if we listen He will show us how that can be done. We don’t need to find temporary band-aids for our problems and we certainly don’t need to seek secular counseling to deal with them. When we turn to God, we can find everything that we need.

References

Andrews, Linda Wasmer. "Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy." Encyclopedia of Depression. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2010. 112-13. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 18 Aug. 2014. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? Crabb, L. (1977). Effective Biblical Counseling. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. Johnson, W. B., Ridley, C. R., & Nielsen, S. L. (2000). Religiously sensitive rational emotive behavior therapy: Elegant solutions and ethical risks. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 31(1), 14-20. Kensit, D. (2000). Rogerian theory: a critique of the effectiveness of pure client-centred therapy. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 13(4), 345-351.