Biblical Counseling – part 1

by Dr. Tori Ferrari

Since the garden, sin and unrighteousness has plagued mankind.  Sin has been there from the beginning.  And long before the DSM (Diagnostic and statistical manual of Mental Disorders) came along outlining a wide variety of disorders and diseases, the Bible existed calling our selfishness, pride and lack of self-control sin. Long before Freud, Collins, Rogers, and Jung began analyzing people to determine why they did the things they did, there was Paul, a non-licensed counselor using the words of scripture to teach others how to live a life fully committed to Christ. Paul was a Biblical Counselor.

There is great confusion over Biblical Counseling.  What it is… and what it is not. Questions abound as to how effective it is in helping those we encounter – individuals struggling with drug and alcohol issues, low ‘self-esteem’ (which we will discuss later), and any number of sins that the world now claims are illnesses.

In these articles, we will focus on Biblical Counseling and what it is rather than define other methodologies (Christian counseling and Psychology).  Suffice it to say that Biblical Counseling relies entirely upon the Word of God and does not incorporate or integrate any other methodologies.  Christ alone is sufficient.

So… what is Biblical Counseling?

Biblical Counseling is targeted discipleship. It begins and ends with the Word of God, recognizing that Scripture is the only tool effective for the teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness to fully equip the man of God for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16)
While most Christians are good at the Who and the what, many are confused about the ‘how’.

We know Jesus is the answer. We know what He did for us.  We may even know what is expected of us (righteousness) but many times we miss the HOW.  How can we live as He desires us to live? HOW do we live righteously – in a very practical sense?  Biblical counseling addresses all three – Jesus as the answer because of what He did on the Cross for us, what living righteously looks like (and why it is important) and how we can change our unrighteousness into righteousness.

Why Biblical Counseling is critical in Teen Challenge.

Teen Challenge is a ministry – a discipleship program.  Our mission is not to help people become clean and sober.  Instead, our mission statement says that ‘we endeavor to help people become mentally sound, emotionally balanced, socially adjusted, physically well and spiritually alive’.   We are entrusted with helping people of all ages become fully committed followers of Christ!  In the process, those sins that brought them to us in the first place will be shed as old skin.  We are in the ministry of reconciliation and rehabituation.   Rehabilitation is not Biblical – but rehabituation is.

What do I mean by rehabituation?  Consider your students… each one of them began using drugs or alcohol, cutting or inappropriate sexual relationships as a response to life circumstances.  They began drinking or using because they were abused.  They sought out sex because they felt neglected.  Perhaps they could just not stand up to the pressures of the culture around them.  Regardless of the reason they started doing the things they were doing, those responses soon became a habit – an unrighteous habit of responding to life.  They learned to put a needle in their arm instead of seeking peace and comfort from their Savior.

They drank to forget their problems instead of allowing God to reveal sin (either theirs or someone else’s) and change them.  They sought out pornography because they didn’t know the Father’s love.  They formed ungodly habits.  Rehabituation is the process of teaching followers of Christ how to respond to life biblically and righteously.  To form new habits that honor God.  To ‘put off the old’ and ‘put on the new’!

Think about it

• Has my understanding of Biblical Counseling been accurate?
• What type of skills should we as Teen Challenge staff have to be able to counsel others Biblically?
• How is ‘rehabituation’ different from ‘rehabilitation’?​

Dr. Ferrari is the director of Teen Challenge Springboard Home for Girls in Tucson, AZ.