Christian Counselors Are Needed Now More Than Ever 

It should come as no surprise that Christian counselors are needed now more than ever.  We are living in uncertain times with mounting levels of stress, fears and anxiety. These strains affect us internally with our health, within relationships, in the community, financially and at work. If you have not yet been affected, I'm sure you know others who have been. 

[For those who lead a church: You may find your counseling resources stretched to a breaking point. There is no shame in admitting you need help. God has entrusted you with your flock and each person who needs care, should be able to access it. Bringing on more helpers is truly the best thing you can do during tough times because you sure don't want to risk burnout. If you agree it's time to add 1 or more counselors, PCCCA will train them for you. (More on that below.)]

We need more Godly influence if we are to solve society’s current problems. And society's issues must first be addressed one to one at the heart level. 

"Where there is no guidance the people fall,
But in abundance of counselors there is victory.”
​ ~ Proverbs 11:14 NASB

Christian counselors can work one-to-one with clients or with groups, in person and online.  If you are considering becoming a Christian counselor with training and formal certification, this article will give you more details about what to expect.

In general, Christian counselors, (also known as biblical counselors) and secular counselors have similar goals in helping their clients overcome their individual challenges. There are some significant differences though.

A primary difference between the approaches used in Christian Counseling and secular counseling is that Christian counselors are able to employ a range of tools and resources, including, prayer, the Holy Bible scriptures, education, affirmations, meditation, and more to help the client overcome their problems and emotional pain.

Christian counselors don’t trust that secular counseling alone can completely address or correct the vast number of issues a client may present with. As a result, Christian counselors will combine your spiritual needs with your counseling needs. This is a hybrid form of counseling with Christ at the center that can be most effective.

"Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is
impossible, but not with God;
all things are possible with God.” ~ Mark 10:27 NIV

Another way to explain this is that Christian counselors will focus on improving their client’s relationship with Christ, and through prayer as well as other Christian counseling modalities, their client’s problems can be alleviated or healed.

Types of support a client may expect from Christian counseling:

• Prayer
• Scriptural support
• Education and supplementary materials about the client’s issue
• Practical strategies for improved mental health and/or coping
• Homework assignments
• Education and support for the client’s family
• Coping skills for major life events such as grief, loss, illness
• Support for decision making
• Referrals to other healthcare specialists (if needed)
• Continued work with a Christian coach to maintain healthy behaviors as well as learn strategies for growth. (Ideally the Christian counselor will also be trained and certified as a Christian life coach so they can keep working with the client. Referrals tend to cause disruption to the client's progress as they have to start over by developing a trusting relationship with the new coach.)

Counseling the whole person

A Christian counselor begins by working to understand the whole person, who they are today and how they got here.  It would be a grave oversight to overlook the effects of a troubled youth. When children, who God means to be nurtured with love and care, are instead neglected, abused or poorly guided by their parents or guardians, it can profoundly affect them later internally, within personal relationships and in work situations.

There are many times, that we have to look back in order to gain a better understanding of those influences our client experienced. This will guide us to clarity about why they approach life as they do now. Each of our lives is a combination of nature and nurture within a social context.  And each story has been impacted by others in their lives.

The purpose of gathering this information is clearly not to place blame or judgement, but rather so that we can better understand our client and help them create a plan for healing solutions.

Christian counseling offers additional benefits that are unavailable through secular counseling.

As Christian counselors, we acknowledge a higher authority.

Secular training leans heavily on leaders in psychology such as Freud and Jung to explain the origins and solutions of problems. Here at PCCCA we believe that the scriptures in our Holy Bible offer the practical principles we need to achieve the abundant life that Jesus spoke of and exemplified for us. And these views are reflected in all our training.