I am so sorry you received such reductionistic counseling. It is painful and disorienting.
There is a movement of biblical counselors who are taking seriously the need to promote holistic care (biblical counseling that has a high view of the brain-body-soul connection).
Not all “biblical counsellors say that most mental illnesses find their roots in further sins of selfishness and pride or spiritual doubt and discouragement.” The Association of Biblical Counselors is growing and includes many counselors who are skilled and faithful licensed clinicians. The counselors in this movement are seeking to counsel from a trauma/clinically informed perspective, with some licensed clinicians using different modalities (Neurofeedback, EMDR, etc)in their scope of care.
There is a lot to undo from the nouthetic movement. But I see faithful biblical counselors rising in ABC. Eliza Huie, Esther Smith, Jeremy Lelek, Jonathan Holmes, Beth Broom with CTHN and many more, all seeking to help redeem what has been painfully lost through a distorted view of people and Scripture.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful and helpful comment, Christie! I appreciate your pushback. I completely agree that there are wise and knowledgable people in the biblical counselling movement who are striving to do things right.
Brad Hambrick is one of those who I respect and have learned a lot from. He's actually one of the people who helped me sort through many of my concerns about biblical counselling in his article series where he pushes back on the 95 Thesis of Biblical Counseling that ACBC published a few years ago: https://bradhambrick.com/95theses/ I also found David Murray's work (another biblical counsellor) who has critiqued the movement through his book, "Christians Get Depressed Too" and on his blog in a series of articles: https://headhearthand.org/blog/2016/04/11/biblical-counseling-and-a-theology-of-scripture-4/
There is definitely good in the biblical counselling movement, and many who are striving to do things right. My concern is for the poor foundation that biblical counselling was built on, starting with Jay Adams (the founder) and major schools like The Master's College/University. Many of the major people in the movement are continuing to teach the kinds of reductionistic counselling that harms many.
I am very grateful, however, for those who are striving to do biblical counselling differently. I hope that more people strive to do that, to the point that the movement as a whole can be changed.
Thank you again for bringing up this point! I really appreciate it!
I am grateful that you and others are speaking into this and courageously sharing your experiences. Your voices and stories of shame and harm are needed so there can be assessment and learning from mistakes.
Well, I followed you many years ago when I was also deep into biblical counseling. I have now since disentangled myself from it. I am glad you are seeing the problems with it.
I don't know if the Biblical Counseling movement can ever be redeemed. I feel thatvthe undercurrent of Biblical Counseling isn't to help, but to control and to compete wit what is out there in the world just to prove a point. Not to mention how many women this movement has harmed.
Honestly, if anyone wants to be a counselor, they need to get licensed. Going to a seminar or a talk isn't a replacement for actual training.
It took me years to love my Bible again and not see it as some counseling manual.
Don't apologize for long comments! I don't mind. I remember chatting with you when we were both starting out in the biblical counselling world. It's such a difficult thing to untangle ourselves from this kind of movement; I found it engrained itself into the very foundations of my understanding on many issues.
I agree that to be a true counsellor, a person must be licensed and go through much training; one weekend of seminars, a single exam, watching a few counselling sessions, reading a thousand pages, and doing 50 supervised counselling sessions doesn't equip someone to deal with mental illnesses.
I'm so sorry biblical counselling made it so hard for you to read the Bible and not view it as a counselling manual. Like I said, it's like the doctrines of biblical counselling engrain themselves so deeply in our minds that it's hard to unroot them. I had to work through what the sufficiency of Scripture truly meant to help me undo those teachings.
I love that you wrote this. I’ve been “feeling” this (which is another bad word in the biblical counseling movement) for awhile. I’ve sat under countless advice “just do that” or “if you would just do this”, I’ve also heard my troubles described as pride, disobedience, and controlling/lack of submission. I’ve been asked if I’ve prayed and asked God to take it away and had it implied that the right amount of faith would heal. I’ve heard “if you wanted to do ______, you would”. I’ve heard the argument that anything we do or don’t do flows immediately from desire - but strangely this is only applied to things to give them a self-motivated spin. We don’t hear it applied to things we don’t want to do that are good, but do anyway by the help of the spirit.
And your post comes 1 day after I’ve given up trying, against what I really believe is true, to pull myself up by my bootstraps. I’ve sought help - and am now really trusting God. 🙏🏻
I’ve asked God (Mark 4:38) do you care?I’ve asked God (Mark 1:40) are you willing?
And I believe he’s been there all the time and even the painful journey was even part of his best for me to truly know him. I’m comforted to read this article today. 🙌🏻
I'm so grateful my words could encourage and comfort you today, Jacqi! I've many of the same answers to my mental illnesses, and it is so frustrating, hurtful, and burdening to hear. I'm sorry you've heard those words from others.
I love what you said at the end: "He's been there all the time." That's such an important truth to cling to through any suffering—despite how alone or broken we may feel, God will never abandon us. "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).
I think you are so brave ! To write such an article as one who suffers , as one who is in the throes of the very thing you are writing about. Can’t wait to read part 2!
As someone who suffers with (at times) crippling scrupulosity (OCD), thank you for writing this. Thankfully, no one who has counselled me has labelled my disorder sinful - but I am aware many mental sufferers have had a horrid time at the hands of people who should know better.
I’m so sorry you likewise suffer from OCD. It’s such a hard and exhausting thing to face some days. And I agree--many of those who teach such things should know better.
I am so sorry you received such reductionistic counseling. It is painful and disorienting.
There is a movement of biblical counselors who are taking seriously the need to promote holistic care (biblical counseling that has a high view of the brain-body-soul connection).
Not all “biblical counsellors say that most mental illnesses find their roots in further sins of selfishness and pride or spiritual doubt and discouragement.” The Association of Biblical Counselors is growing and includes many counselors who are skilled and faithful licensed clinicians. The counselors in this movement are seeking to counsel from a trauma/clinically informed perspective, with some licensed clinicians using different modalities (Neurofeedback, EMDR, etc)in their scope of care.
There is a lot to undo from the nouthetic movement. But I see faithful biblical counselors rising in ABC. Eliza Huie, Esther Smith, Jeremy Lelek, Jonathan Holmes, Beth Broom with CTHN and many more, all seeking to help redeem what has been painfully lost through a distorted view of people and Scripture.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful and helpful comment, Christie! I appreciate your pushback. I completely agree that there are wise and knowledgable people in the biblical counselling movement who are striving to do things right.
Brad Hambrick is one of those who I respect and have learned a lot from. He's actually one of the people who helped me sort through many of my concerns about biblical counselling in his article series where he pushes back on the 95 Thesis of Biblical Counseling that ACBC published a few years ago: https://bradhambrick.com/95theses/ I also found David Murray's work (another biblical counsellor) who has critiqued the movement through his book, "Christians Get Depressed Too" and on his blog in a series of articles: https://headhearthand.org/blog/2016/04/11/biblical-counseling-and-a-theology-of-scripture-4/
There is definitely good in the biblical counselling movement, and many who are striving to do things right. My concern is for the poor foundation that biblical counselling was built on, starting with Jay Adams (the founder) and major schools like The Master's College/University. Many of the major people in the movement are continuing to teach the kinds of reductionistic counselling that harms many.
I am very grateful, however, for those who are striving to do biblical counselling differently. I hope that more people strive to do that, to the point that the movement as a whole can be changed.
Thank you again for bringing up this point! I really appreciate it!
I am grateful that you and others are speaking into this and courageously sharing your experiences. Your voices and stories of shame and harm are needed so there can be assessment and learning from mistakes.
Well, I followed you many years ago when I was also deep into biblical counseling. I have now since disentangled myself from it. I am glad you are seeing the problems with it.
I don't know if the Biblical Counseling movement can ever be redeemed. I feel thatvthe undercurrent of Biblical Counseling isn't to help, but to control and to compete wit what is out there in the world just to prove a point. Not to mention how many women this movement has harmed.
Honestly, if anyone wants to be a counselor, they need to get licensed. Going to a seminar or a talk isn't a replacement for actual training.
It took me years to love my Bible again and not see it as some counseling manual.
Sorry, this comment is a lot.
Don't apologize for long comments! I don't mind. I remember chatting with you when we were both starting out in the biblical counselling world. It's such a difficult thing to untangle ourselves from this kind of movement; I found it engrained itself into the very foundations of my understanding on many issues.
I agree that to be a true counsellor, a person must be licensed and go through much training; one weekend of seminars, a single exam, watching a few counselling sessions, reading a thousand pages, and doing 50 supervised counselling sessions doesn't equip someone to deal with mental illnesses.
I'm so sorry biblical counselling made it so hard for you to read the Bible and not view it as a counselling manual. Like I said, it's like the doctrines of biblical counselling engrain themselves so deeply in our minds that it's hard to unroot them. I had to work through what the sufficiency of Scripture truly meant to help me undo those teachings.
Thank you for your kind words. I would love to chat with you some more. ❤️
I love that you wrote this. I’ve been “feeling” this (which is another bad word in the biblical counseling movement) for awhile. I’ve sat under countless advice “just do that” or “if you would just do this”, I’ve also heard my troubles described as pride, disobedience, and controlling/lack of submission. I’ve been asked if I’ve prayed and asked God to take it away and had it implied that the right amount of faith would heal. I’ve heard “if you wanted to do ______, you would”. I’ve heard the argument that anything we do or don’t do flows immediately from desire - but strangely this is only applied to things to give them a self-motivated spin. We don’t hear it applied to things we don’t want to do that are good, but do anyway by the help of the spirit.
And your post comes 1 day after I’ve given up trying, against what I really believe is true, to pull myself up by my bootstraps. I’ve sought help - and am now really trusting God. 🙏🏻
I’ve asked God (Mark 4:38) do you care?I’ve asked God (Mark 1:40) are you willing?
And I believe he’s been there all the time and even the painful journey was even part of his best for me to truly know him. I’m comforted to read this article today. 🙌🏻
I'm so grateful my words could encourage and comfort you today, Jacqi! I've many of the same answers to my mental illnesses, and it is so frustrating, hurtful, and burdening to hear. I'm sorry you've heard those words from others.
I love what you said at the end: "He's been there all the time." That's such an important truth to cling to through any suffering—despite how alone or broken we may feel, God will never abandon us. "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).
I think you are so brave ! To write such an article as one who suffers , as one who is in the throes of the very thing you are writing about. Can’t wait to read part 2!
Thank you so much for your encouragement, Zina!!
This is a much-needed message. Thank you for writing it!
Thank you for this encouragement! I'm grateful for the friends who gave me the courage to publish it!
As someone who suffers with (at times) crippling scrupulosity (OCD), thank you for writing this. Thankfully, no one who has counselled me has labelled my disorder sinful - but I am aware many mental sufferers have had a horrid time at the hands of people who should know better.
I’m so sorry you likewise suffer from OCD. It’s such a hard and exhausting thing to face some days. And I agree--many of those who teach such things should know better.
Wise, beautiful, compassionate, life-giving writing. This piece is a gift. Thank you, thank you.
Thank you so much for those kind words--I’m speechless. Thank you 💛
Thank you for writing this, Lara 💛
I'm so glad this piece was helpful, Alicia!