Biblical Counseling
In Effective Biblical Counseling, Larry Crabb shows how church-based and faith-focused counseling provide ideal models for deepening Christian lives and Christian communities. The goal of Christian counseling is not to make people happy, but to spread the word of the gospel by opening minds and hearts to God's word. With serving God as the primary goal of spiritual counseling, Crabb's approach is distinctively Christian and therefore provides a strong foundation for future work.
Reframing the counseling process as being oriented toward God is a radical departure from traditional psychology. Traditional psychology serves the ego and the self, not God. Christian counseling serves God first and foremost. Individuals who come to the Christian counselor do so precisely because they need to know how they can serve God better, even if their problems are articulated in more mundane or selfish ways. The Christian counselor's objective is to liberate the person from mundane and selfish concerns, to allow that person to find God.
Crabb frames human personality pessimistically but within a Biblical context, as the author assumes original sin and acknowledges the inherent sinfulness and selfishness embedded in human nature. The wide variety of problems that clients will present to the Christian counselor includes those that reveal the common ground of sin. Personality structure is important enough to Crabb that the author devotes an entire chapter to the topic. Moreover, Crabb offers a separate chapter devoted to human motivation. Crabb discusses the structure of the human personality in terms of the conscious mind and unconscious mind. In the chapter on human motivation, Crabb describes human beings in scriptural terms. Human beings seek gratification, and that gratification is often rooted in false beliefs. Fulfillment only comes from Christ, and never from the pursuit of shallow goals, whether those goals be related to money, power, or prestige. The Christian counselor recognizes this, and tries to help dispel the myths that lead a person away from God.
People do change, which is why the Christian counselor exists to provide a church-based service. Via prayer, reading scripture, and listening to services at Church, exposure to the gospel motivates the type of positive change that is desirable from the perspective of Christ. Human development is framed in spiritual terms, as an individual will grow in accordance with where that person places his or her energy. Energy devoted to God will be rewarded in spiritual benefits, including closeness to Christ and the ability to spread the gospel affirmatively. Energy devoted toward insecurity, fear, doubt, or anger will result only in divergence from the Holy Spirit, according to Crabb. However, guilt can be a powerful motivator for a person to seek change. The Christian counselor can help the person recognize the power in feelings like guilt, which can motivate change. Change should always…
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Reference
Crabb, L. (1977). Effective Biblical Counseling. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
"Personal Integrated Counseling Theory." Retrieved online: http://coltsfankana.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/personal-integrated-counseling-theory/
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