All Christians

When I was growing up, I was always told that having God at the center of your marriage will ensure you have a happy marriage. My parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles all not only said this, but showed it by praying together, worshipping together, and doing Bible studies together. And the research supports this very sentiment.

If you have not yet visited our mental health resource page, we have a whole list of resources that Christian Counselors and pastors should have readily accessible in case they need it. (While you are at it, check out our Books We Recommend of (mostly) Christian literature about mental health.) Of those resources, the one we intentionally put at the top was the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline with the United States phone number listed right there in case you immediately needed it. Well, that number has officially changed in the United States to 988.

The big news with in the United States last month was the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe versus Wade, a landmark case that specifically talked about abortion. If you have not educated yourself about why this decision was made in 1973, please go read the details here so you are informed. The decision has sparked not only frustration and political arguments, but as a counselor, I have found that this can become a clinical issue too. More on that in a minute.

Church Responses

Before discussing thoughts as a Christian counselor, I think it is important to discuss the response. I’ve seen many personal comments by Christians and pastors, some of which I share below, but the one that started it off was from a Texas pastor who gave an interesting perspective:

To every Christian proudly claiming not to know anyone in their church who is anxious or afraid about Roe being overturned, I have news for you…

You actually do. In fact, you probably know a lot of them.

They just don’t tell you because they know you’re not a safe person.

— Zach W. Lambert (@ZachWLambert) June 30, 2022

There were certainly others from non-Christian authors that condemned Christians for “taking a victory lap at the expense of people,” those we hope to witness to. I don’t want to encourage you to hide from being happy about being pro-life, but the souls of those wanting the abortion are as significant as the baby we hope to protect too.

I don’t have a public link for the full email sent out from Denver Seminary’s President Dr. Mark Young, but I love how he made what seems like an us versus them that the hateful words make it seem into something so much more:

We believe that human flourishing should be protected and nurtured at every stage of development, from the beginning to the end of life. And we believe that we must not reduce abortion to just a philosophical, legal, or political issue. We recognize that considering an abortion is a complex and multi-faceted decision with moral, medical, psychological, relational, and financial factors. We also acknowledge that the lack of adequate and affordable health care, adequate childcare options, and parental leave policies contributes to the dilemma that many face with an unplanned pregnancy. Our concern must be for all of those whose lives are affected by an abortion—baby and mother, as well as father, siblings, and extended family.

Dr. Mark Young, July 5, 2022

Another man I admire is the president emeritus of Youth for Christ/USA who has the gift of story telling and you should check out his full post he shared online here:

“It wouldn’t be so bad if my Mom just smoked pot.”

A 12-year-old. A camper at our YFC middle school camp. A throwaway line to a cabin leader who had helped to get this boy to camp. A leader who had shopped for clothes and paid for a haircut so that this young man could feel comfortable entering into the camp experience.

A 12-year-old.

It’s been three years since Mary and I participated in YFC Camp. Three long years. But years that have a new weight after being with 300+ middle schoolers.

While I was complaining about masks and shots, this young man was quarantined with addiction and promiscuity.

While I was arguing politics, this young man was living in an unimaginable hell.

While Christians were finding new ways to fracture, this boy was watching his life explode.

Dan Wolgemuth, July 1, 2022

Finally, our church also made an immediate response to this that I find steadfast and yet important: (Again, read the full post here)

This decision will cause people on every side to rethink what abortion looks like in the future. But while this victory will echo throughout the pro-life world, the battle for life will continue. We believe this decision only provides the beginning of a new phase in the movement to protect all human life. As this decision with massive implications will be discussed, debated, and applied over the next few months, we do not believe this is a moment to back down. God continues to use all Christians, churches, and partnering ministries like Richland Pregnancy Services to fulfill our mission of offering the message of life to men and women. We will remain steadfast in our work to protect the most vulnerable among us, care for families in need, persuade our friends and neighbors to support life-giving ministries like RPS, and pray for the life-giving hope of Jesus Christ to overwhelm lives caught in the lie that death is the only option.

Dave Vance, June 24, 2022

Our Stance

We believe in human life and that life begins at conception. Life is God-ordained, God-breathed, and something that He cherishes, therefore we should defend. But that is a simple statement and only a small component of what we want to advocate for. We will stand with the decision on abortion, but we will not support shaming and taunting when there is SO MUCH more Christians are not doing.

More Needs Done To Protect Victims

We know that domestic violence is rampant in America and the impact on an individual’s mental health is severe. Sexual assault statistics are under reported and even with that number, it feels unbelievable.

I’ve heard it said that almost all churches are in support of helping people. That may be true in philosophy, but not monetarily or with our time and energy. At best, I’d say of the churches I have been moderately interacted, less than 50% offer moderate support or more.

We can financially support victims, get education on current concerns and help advocate, and go to local shelters to help or even put boots on the ground to support men, women, and families directly. I’d love to see the numbers of what is actually being done, but I fear they would make the American church look bad and probably will never be released.

Teen Pregnancy and Single Moms

The latest statistics from the 2020 American Census shows nearly 19 million children, amounting to 25 percent of American children are living in single-parent families. That is nearly three times the 1960 figure of 9 percent. Unfortunately, Christians truly have a poor reputation for support of single moms and teens. We are seen as calling them sinners, spewing hate, and shutting the door on their needs. This is certainly a generalization, but one based in some truth.

What are we doing for helping those who cannot help themselves? I see Jesus in Scripture turning others away so that he can specifically help this population of hurting, lonely, sinful people that need Him. Are we doing the same?

Being About Jesus’ Work

The way I see Christianity is one of redemption and sanctification that leads to witness and service to the world. It’s one that starts with my salvation in Christ, but something that happened because of others investment in me. I don’t know where I would be without the evangelism and love of my grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, and friends that lead me to know Jesus at age 16. It is also my job to do so for others in word and deed.

Unfortunately, I see too many people worried about themselves, their own rights and comforts, that we lose ourselves in it. In fact, our light of Jesus to shine to others becomes soiled and covered up or tinted with anger and greed.

As Christian Counselors

Our job as Christian counselors is to be in service to our clients who may struggle with PTSD, anxiety, and depression. It is our responsibility to guide, educate, advocate, and empower them in their recovery. This current climate is important for us to step in and address these worries, fears, and illness. I also hope you are deeply in prayer about the daily obstacles our clients face and that God may miraculously intervene for them.

In support of this, I want to end with this ideology that is in Scripture over and over.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.

1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (NIV)

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

Mark 12:30-31 (NIV)

[This article is part of a series of books we have reviewed over the years. Click the link to check out all the other books we’ve reviewed here.]

The general perception of counseling is that one who struggles with mental illness or substance misuse needs to go talk out their problems and in so doing, everything will be better. While talk therapy is still very much alive and well and effective for many situations, in the last two years, we have found that clinical counseling many times goes beyond “just talking about our problems” and a need for much deeper addressing of mental illness. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk is a new way of understanding that we don’t communicate our depression, anxiety, trauma, substance misuse, and psychosis just through words, but that it comes out in our actions, our lack of actions, our relationships, and even in our body’s chemistry. Therefore, we are missing how we can use actions, relationships, and even physical healing to improve our mental health.

If you have been reading our website for too long, you know I love how much our church has stepped up to be a thought-leader and proactive for Christians and community members about mental health with relationship to mental illness. It’s growing into a tradition to be able to talk to you about what we have been doing at our church to connect further, deeper with those in our community, specifically with faith and mental health.

This week has been tough for Christians in the news in the United States of America. Between the report of the Southern Baptist Convention investigation reporting thousands of unreported sexual abuse cover-ups and scandals with pastors and congregation members to the debate of gun control again coming to the forefront with another mass shooting that has spurred another conversation about what Christians should say about gun control.

Nine years ago, I was in my last two semesters of my Masters degree at Denver Seminary that would lead to my Masters in Clinical Mental Health and propel me into counseling services. In that time, I took a required class that was not a part of the CACREP Accreditation for my degree to be used by licensure boards in the United States, but a requirement of the seminary to further explore my Christian faith within my profession. In that time, we looked at how Christian beliefs and doctrine work alongside and possibly in opposition with longstanding secular counseling ethics and laws, how Christianity can be used in the counseling session, and which counseling modalities work within our faith.

One conversation that directly impacted me is a conversation of how we see faith and psychology interacting with each other. You’d think it is a simple answer until you start to flesh out the differences. I will say that I have researched where this conversation came from, so far as to grab the old PowerPoint, look on several Christian counseling research journals, and even contacted the professor directly. There is no published conversation about this outside of what was discussed in class, though it is modified from a presentation by Larry Crabb, a forerunner in Christians integrating faith into counseling.

Here is a quick graph of the six types of interactions faith and counseling can have and a discussion of the implications of each. (Note that depending on where you lay with your own interpretation, it can impact the treatment of the client, the techniques that you do or how you do them, if you end up using counseling in your practice, or even if you should be practicing as a clinical or Biblical counselor. I will also note that the within the last four options, none of them would be deemed as wrong but a preference, though some would argue within their Christian doctrines it does not fit well.)

Faith, Not Psychology

The idea that faith should only be considered when talking about a person’s struggles goes towards a long-established belief within the Church that mental illness is actually sin. In this understanding of faith and psychology, clinical counseling has no place, instead it should only be the Bible that we use. If you are someone that holds to this, you need to consider not doing any clinical counseling as you will not be within good standing of a licensure board’s ethics. I would go so far as to say that Biblical counseling is not an option as this profession is still informed by psychology. Instead, you may find yourself as a pastor within a strongly conservative or fundamentalist church.

Psychology, Not Faith

This was the belief of many mental health professionals for the last century, that you cannot bring any faith into the counseling room because it does not have any clinical significance. In the last two decades, a stronger emphasis on culture and spirituality within counseling ethics and higher education would say this is also inappropriate and you be doing more harm than good for a client as we know that any spirituality has significant clinical improvements for clients and this would not be a viable option in the mental health field.

Faith Over Psychology

Within this ideal, both faith and psychology have their place in a counseling appointment, but you are going to favor faith. This gets commonly associated with Biblical or pastoral counseling where you meet the spiritual needs of an individual, understanding that a person may be struggling with a diagnoseable mental illness disorder such as depression, anxiety, trauma, eating disorder, or substance use disorder. Coping skills taught may include prayer, Bible reading, fasting, discipleship, and service with the hope of reducing mental illness symptoms. There is no resistance to psychiatric medication, psychiatric hospitalization, or talking about thoughts and emotions. These sessions are not billed to insurance as they are not recognized as evidence based practices.

Psychology Over Faith

Within this ideal, both faith and psychology have their place in a counseling appointment, but you are going to favor psychology. Here we find counselors many times not wanting to explicitly state they are Christian, wanting to be able to serve everyone. This is an individual that may not bring up faith unless the client identifies it as important or bringing it up first. You will find yourself leaning more towards clinical skills such as mindfulness, thought records, relationship interactions, and breathing exercises. You encourage clients to go to church, but leave the activities solely to outside church activities or ministries. The risk is that you may find a divorce from clinical skills and faith.

Faith Separate From Psychology

This may feel similar to the first two ideas of faith, not psychology or psychology, not faith, but it isn’t. Instead, it looks at having an understanding that you can have faith within your counseling practice, but you should not use it directly in session. When you practice counseling techniques such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or Family Systems, this idea would say that Christianity was never in mind with the authors of the treatment modalities and you should only ever discuss faith when a client brings it up or practice faith practices such as praying over the counseling session before or after the client comes in. It is not saying that one is better than the other or that one needs to be excluded, but just as oil and water don’t mix, neither should faith and psychology. Yet, as Christians, this goes against compartmentalizing our faith, so there can be a tension of wanting to not break ethics of counseling and not wanting to “dilute” ones faith.

Integration of Faith and Psychology

In my mind, this is the choice that is what I seek to be, yet I would also say it is the hardest to accomplish. Our Christian faith says we should be Jesus to all people and shine our light at all times, especially to those who are hurting. But that does not mean we have to proselytize at all times. Further, we know that spirituality is effective for clients when they seek it, so we need to be open to talking about it in counseling and not avoiding it.

That being said, it is hard to truly stay integrated when you may find yourself leaning out of the integration towards psychology over faith or faith over psychology. At times, it is a proactive balance on a tightrope between these two ideologies. Further, you have to make sure to understand the ethical implications of faith with proper boundaries in the counseling session or you may find yourself being filed grievances’ against you and standing in front of a state licensure board due to malpractice.

This is an initial conversation and I would love to hear your struggles with these types, where you find yourself in one of these six types, and what questions you have. Leave your comments below and lets start a dialogue.

Mental health is starting to have more of an awareness culturally than ever before and thankfully Churches are beginning to appropriately talk about the issue. In fact, from a clinical view, the integration of faith has been happening for a couple of decades with a now established bio-psycho-social-spiritual model. I would encourage Christian counselors to research and see if this aligns with your practice as well as pastors to continue to have these needed conversations of what the Church can do for the kingdom with regards to mental illness.

With this understanding of needing to be educated, the video below is a great understanding of how trauma impacts a person’s, especially a youth’s, brain. We’d love to hear your thoughts this can have not only on a person’s recovery with mental health, but also in regards to spirituality and the Church’s need to support them.

It was heartbreaking to see in person. From the front row of the Michelob ULTRA Arena—the Stanford women’s basketball team was wearing Stanford Soccer t-shirts during warm-ups before their basketball game against Oregon State a month ago in Las Vegas for the PAC-12 Conference Tournament. They were publicly honoring their fellow athlete and friend, Stanford goalie and co-captain of the women’s soccer team, Katie Meyer, who had only just died by suicide a day or two before.

If you have not yet noticed, we have released a new eBook now available to the public. We are so happy with the response that people have been giving for this book as it was a personal project that we took three days to complete the whole thing for start to finish.