Counseling Philosophy- Final Draft

Here it is! This is the final draft. A little something to give those who wonder what Biblical Counseling is all about. It is not exhaustive, but I hope it is helpful. There is power in the Word, and we are all in this together!

Counseling Philosophy of Arielle Corcoran

People Face Problems

Do you find yourself struggling to trust God in the midst of ongoing trials? Have you replaced Him with wants that are over emphasized in your life? When you face struggles, whether self-imposed or imposed on you by others, you also come face to face with God. You need to seek the truth about Who God is, and what He has promised you. When in a confident relationship with God you can find peace of mind and purpose.

 

God Offers Promises and Principles

When you struggle with issues you need to start at your circumstances and move inward, deeper to the beliefs and wants you have about the issues at hand. This includes a look at your expectations about the situation and the people involved. At that heart level you can figure out God’s guiding principles for changes, endurance, and for hope you need to go on day to day.

 

Freeing and powerful change comes at that heart level through God’s Bible and His Spirit. Just changing behaviors is not enough to endure the messy ugly stuff of life.  Daily you have things that you need to submit to God. Sometimes you face something too large to tackle on your own, and your perspective is too wrapped up in emotion and circumstances to see God or His promises and commands to which you must cling. It is not unusual to need the counsel of another going along with you to help you find life giving perspectives that return you to a strong relationship with the Lord, for His glory and your joy.

 

God Has Tools for Your Help

We are in all the messy stuff of life together. The church is all the Christ-followers in every nation. He has told us all and equipped us all to mentor, or disciple, one another. In times of crisis a biblical counselor’s “one anothering” is able to offer you hope, and purpose, as well as personal change. Their tools and skills come straight from the love, grace and power of the Lord through His Spirit and the Bible. A biblical counselor is under the authority of the Lord through His Bible and His Spirit, and a biblical counselor is also under the authority of the elders of their local group of Christ-followers, their church. The elders hold the counselor accountable as they help you stay accountable to the Lord and what He asks of you as you. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”(2 Corinthians 1.3-5)

 

Though it is helpful to use resources along with the Bible for the practical application of God’s principles, a counselor must handle these with great care, using materials from authors that believe the Bible is authoritative and inerrant. A biblical counselor ought not use materials from authors that have their foundation in psychology, which does not have a godly foundation and often is at odds with the Lord and what He says in the Bible. What we have been given in His word is sufficient to: bring Him glory, endure life with hope for tomorrow, transform us to Christ’s image, give us strength and guidance. “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1.3-4)

Some great resources are at: CCEF, NANC, and  Biblical Counseling Foundation