Christian Counseling Certification
The Biblical Basis of Christian Counseling for People Helpers
By Gary R. Collins, PHD.
In Living Color: An Intercultural Approach to Pastoral Counseling
By: Emmanuel Y. Lartey
Competent Christian Counseling: Foundations and Practice of Compassionate Soul Care
By: Dr. Timothy Clinton and Dr. George Ohlschlager
The Biblical Basis of Christian Counseling for People Helpers
By: Gary R Collins, PHD.
This book preceded to discuss several different topics of interest that are commonly asked questions of clients regarding Christianity. These questions prefaced include: Who Christ is and what he did for us to enjoy a life with him both in heaven and on earth, correct and thorough interpretation of the Bible, How God is incorporated into counseling, Human nature and how it is used to illustrate a working comprehension of God, Sin, Guilt and forgiveness in counseling, The Holy Spirit, Supernatural agents, The church in unity with counselors as the Body of Christ, New Age Counseling, and Spirituality, and Counseling. As supplementation to these topics, how the world view of a counselor effects clients and the different ways that we assess other people and apply this learned knowledge are discussed.
Our world view in counseling affects how we interpret and process information, our techniques used, and even our emotions. Different methods are discussed in detail such as medications, past experiences (The subconscious drives and desires), Family and Systems theoretical basis, and the physiology of the human body pertaining to treatment. Different points of view are needed to form an eclectic or prescriptive form of treatment for clients. “It is popular to assume that using a variety of approaches is healthy. Since no two counselors, clients, or problem situations are identical, shouldn’t we develop an assortment of techniques that can be pulled out and adapted to each unique counseling situation? (Collins, G; pp. 13-14).
How to test and choose a world view are imperative in how we counsel our patients. There are 5 different methods that are discussed which include using, reason, contemplating past experiences, checking/ comparing with other people, looking at the data, and testing it out. This process can aid in the transformation of our world view and identity as Christian counselors. “Christian counselors need a basic understanding of what they believe and why they believe” (Collins, G; pp. 19).
The Bible was discussed in its relevance and application to counseling in conjunction with how we observe the world around us in chapters 2 and 3. There were two types of revelation that form the basis for God’s counsel. General revelation which is how God communicates through what we observe in the world and universe. Special revelation is another type that are words of God recorded in the Bible. Through- out the book, Collins interprets how counselors can use the words of scripture simultaneously with what we observe in nature about God. The verification of the Bible is discussed in detail regarding the manuscript evidence, the internal evidence, and the external evidence. One of the discoveries marked by a non-Christian Archaeologist asserts that there is no evidence that contradicts of disputes the statements of the bible and that an impressive body of literature supports the accuracy of Biblical statements (Collins, G, pp. 38-39).
In summary, theorizing the basic premise of this book, The Holy spirit and the role of the church are discussed as many Christians discount the role or even comprehend who the Holy Spirit is in the Trinity. How we are to use and interpret our observations in nature and human behavior in conjunction with the living word of God via the Bible are described in expansive detail through-out the book. The role of counselors and how we test and verify information to form our world view is addressed.
Reactionary Essay
| https://community.wongcw.com/blogs/179247/How-to-Publish-Guest-post-on-Forbes-com |
| https://community.wongcw.com/blogs/179588/Dnaindia-Guest-Post-Guest-post-on-Dnaindia |
In my opinion, this book is relevant to my world view and the way I will counsel my clients. An excellent point that I will ascribe to is using various methods of Christian theology in conjunction with the counseling methods such as Rogerian, Adlerian, and Cognitive Behavioral Theories. I agree that these theories are can be integrated along with the Holy words of God through- out the scriptures. Although many of the theories are not Christian based, I believe that they hold some “Surface level” truths that are vital to our understanding and application of counseling. For instance, even non- Christians recognize the beauty and splendor of God’s creation by observing the splendor of the stars and nature itself even if they do not ascribe to the one who is creator overall.