We are often asked if we provide group or individual therapy or counseling for our students. Some may be tempted to simply answer this question with a “no”. As a discipleship ministry we do not offer “therapy” or a “therapeutic” program by the definitions and processes recognized by government or other non-Christ centered based agencies. However, we should not feel intimidated by this question and feel that because we cannot answer that question with a “yes” that we are somehow inferior or have less to offer our students.
Shawn Blankenship, the director for the Oklahoma Teen Challenge adolescent centers, came from a secular treatment therapy background. He is a LPC and worked providing therapy in one of the largest community centers in his state for over 10 years. He worked in these environments as a Christian and personally witnessed the ineffectiveness of these programs. I wanted to share his training and experience in order to frame the thoughts he shared on the Teen Challenge discipleship studies in a session at our recent Teen Challenge national conference in Denver.
Shawn says:
When I came to Teen Challenge, I found myself apologizing to parents and others who would inquire about the program, telling them that we don’t offer traditional therapy. But as a Teen Challenge director, I began to learn about and use the Group Studies for New Life in Christ (GSNL) and Personal Studies for New Life in Christ (PSNL). Although GSNL and PSNL do not offer secular treatment “therapy” in the traditional manner, I began to realize this is Christ-centered Bible-based “therapy”.
When I really looked at PSNL, I began to see what it really was. I observed that PSNL correlates with what individual therapy attempts to do in secular programs, if done as it is designed and done well; much like a good therapist would begin with some basic issues with the client and then get them to discover what’s really going on inside themselves. Through the PSNL work students self-identify their problems and then take ownership of them by deciding what changes need to be made. The studies, along with the trained PSNL staff member’s guidance, leads the student through that process.
A good therapist will sometimes need to be directive at the beginning of treatment and so must we in TC. Students start with very basic PSNL contracts with studies such as Who is God?, but as they grow and progresses through various PSNL contracts they should be doing contracts in which they cover issues they have identified themselves or you have helped them to identify. The student is taking ownership. It’s about them coming to a self-discovery of the issues in their lives and then guiding them to know how to change, because if our students have gone through your program and they’ve never made self-discoveries and self-decisions and their changes were all about changes you told them to make, then they leave and fail.
So, instead of apologizing for not having “therapy”, describe PSNL to the parents. As they begin to see the process and the value, they have an “aha” moment and accept what we offer as valid and important. A large part of the “individual therapy” we all use is PSNL. You’re helping students when the PSNL contracts are individualized. If you’re using nothing but standardized contracts, and you’re giving those same contracts to every student then you’re not truly realizing the full potential of PSNL. It should grow into individualization which correlates with the individual.
The other aspect of what we have to offer is the GSNL. Most groups done in hospitals and inpatient psychiatric units are on standardized topics. It’s usually a group on anger, or depression, or self-esteem and they have a standardized worksheet that they work from to run this class. Or, they have a video that they pop in. That’s group therapy in an inpatient unit.
GSNL classes offer thorough outlines with much more information than any groups I’ve seen or done myself in inpatient settings. GSNL does a good job of giving the facilitator the information they need to lead a very good group session. Plus, an inpatient residential stay is usually 7-10 days and the clients get only one group session on any given topic (depression, anger, etc.). Whereas with GSNL, you’re dealing with a given topic such as Attitudes an average of 5 classes so you’re able to pour into them and cover the topic in-depth. Not only that, you’re giving them homework that they do throughout that study, thus providing even more time for thought and reflection.\
Whether you’re explaining and showing the program to a parent or a secular business man that wants to donate to you, it’s beneficial to show them some of the specifics of the GSNL and PSNL studies. They will see the value and strength of what you have to offer. Don’t apologize for who you are, but share the curriculum details to help them understand. Every grown man typically understands anger and personal rights because they’ve either experienced it personally in their own life or they’ve experienced it with their friends. They understand having to overcome anger. Everyone understands growing through failure. I hand people a GSNL student manual and study guide or a Character Qualities book and say this is what we do. They look through it and read it and say “Wow! This is great stuff.” Spend $5 and show people what you do. As you begin to talk about those topics that they understand they will grab hold and realize this is powerful stuff.
I can tell you that PSNL and GSNL really work and they really do correlate to secular personal and group therapy. Some in TC may feel pressured to adopt a therapeutic model and I think that comes from not understanding the strength of what we have to offer and thus feeling we have to apologize for who we aren’t.
Realize that PSNL and GSNL are therapeutic if taken seriously and done correctly. Take the initiative, that step of faith to add to your program, and get someone that is dedicated to discipleship and watch the change in your program. Watch the impact it has on your program. Watch the insight your students begin to have.
We need to realize we are the best at what we do; secular or Christian. Let’s just look at numbers. What other program has over 1000 programs in 92 countries all over the world? NONE! Why does TC grow? Because we are effective, we don’t have to apologize. We have to realize that what we have parallels and exceed what the world is asking for.
