Christian Counseling
——
While I am open to seen clients of any or no faith or creed,
I am a Christian. For clients who seek someone of the Christian Faith I welcome your discussions about Faith
and how your therapy fits within a Christian understanding.
I believe that the Author of being has given us a pathway for joy that matches strongly with our scientific understanding of humanity.
Christian Counseling
——
While I am open to seen clients of any or no faith or creed,
I am a Christian. For clients who see k someone of the Christian Faith I welcome your discussions about Faith
and how your therapy fits within a Christian understanding.
I believe that the Author of being has given us a pathway for joy that matches strongly with our scientific understanding of humanity.
Will my Christian
Beliefs be Accepted
by my Therapist?
When you come to therapy you can fell unsure how the therapist will accept your faith. Psychology has been associated with an intolerance of faith in the past. You may be worried about what a therapist will think of you, how the therapist might respond. My clients’ relationships with the divine are an important part of their being. I accept any faith presented. As a Christian, I am commanded to be loving and respectful. As a therapist, it is not my job to impose my beliefs. I promise to hold your beliefs sacred with you. I have spent many years exploring my own faith and I am strong enough for us to disagree as well as agree.
I believe that His Word offers us the way to do this. God is our Creator and he has bless us with an instruction manual on how to live on this Earth and to walk with Him. You can find great power in the integration of your Christian Faith into your psychological work. Indeed, I often feel Paul speaking to me about myself and my clients in Romans 7:15-20:
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
This is so true for me, how true is it for you? I find that we can take solace in the fact that Paul himself struggled with changing his behaviors and following through with his desire to self-improve. If God can forgive that in His chosen instrument of Paul, then He can do that for me, and He can do that for you.
What are the Advantages of Counseling with a Christian Therapist
Because we share the same faith, we have a common understanding and vocabulary. We have the same starting point. Together we can explore the meaning of Christ in your life, and how your faith can help you grow into the person God has made you to be.
In His Word, God tells us he wants us to experience peace in our lives.
John 16:33 ~ “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Is my Faith Strong Enough for a Christian Counselor?
You can be concerned about the reception of your faith because your therapist is a Christian. You can be afraid to approach bringing up your faith with a Christian counselor because you are not sure your faith is “good enough”. I understand all of this because I have been there too. So have many of us. In Genesis 32:22-32, Jacob wrestles with God. These leaves him with a broken hip and a blessing: His name is now Israel. Israel translated means “To Struggle with God”. Jacob, now Israel, has 12 sons to become the 12 tribes of nation of Isarel. Surely God is telling here the struggle is understood.
I spent time in my youth not believing, even being proud of my unbelief. It took years of study, of community, and of searching for the missing element of my life to come back to the Lord like the Prodigal Son, through frankly, maybe I was more like Jonah as God constantly redirected me upon the path He had chosen for me.
If you are not sure about your Christian faith and want to explore it more deeply in therapy, I would welcome the opportunity to share that journey with you. Christian Counseling is not two people fully agreeing on every aspect of faith. It is about your faith and your journey.
Your decrease in energy might even be worse. Have you ever had so little energy you have days where you cannot do anything? The weekends, without work responsibilities, are wasted on the couch or in bed. The lack of energy grows worse, making any duties impossible. Even if you normally are able to get the big things accomplished, sometimes your lack of energy makes you feel almost paralyzed.
Do I have to talk about God in Every Session?
The amount of discussion around God and your Christian faith is up to you. My experience is that it flows naturally as we work through the process of Therapy. Your Christian faith will act as an additional foundation upon which you can grow. As my grandmother used to say “The Spirit will move us”.
Will this get in the way of Therapy?
Christian Counseling by a trained therapist is therapy. Bringing God and Christ into the room enhances the work we will be doing. Prayer is as powerful as meditation. Sometimes you may want to pray with someone else but are afraid to be open about that prayer. I can join you as that other brother in Christ to pray together.
If I change my mind can we just do Therapy?
The inclusion of your faith into your therapy is totally up to you. Each hour of therapy is your time for your development. While I can act as a guide, you are the one setting the destination and you choose the tools you wish to use to get there.
Christianity Informs
my Therapy
As a Christian, the message of Christ informs my understanding of our place in the world, our relationships with each other, and our relationships with God. We can explore many of these ideas together in session, but I wanted to mention a couple here.
Forgiveness is for You
Christ commands us to forgive “70 times 7”. As a child I thought this was just for the other person. As an adult I know far better: this is for me. I have seen it written that resentment is taking slow poison hoping the other person would die. Resentment burns our hearts and destroys our connections to others. It can consume us and drive us too evil. Wrath is one of the seven deadly sins for a reason. The only true answer for resentment is forgiveness. He commands forgiveness of us for the care of our own souls. Forgiveness is one of the hardest things we can do in life and it is the pathway to peace with others. It is a classic work of therapy. For Christians, finding forgiveness fulfills our duty to God.
Christ Answers the Yearning of the Human Heart
My years of working with many different people has brought me to believe that humans hold within us the fear that if we are truly known and if our darkest corners are seen by others, we are unlovable. And yet, we yearn to be fully known and loved anyway. I see this again and again in my practice. Does it seem familiar? It is the desire for the very Grace that Christ offers to us. Christ tells us He knows our hearts and minds and he knows we are not perfect. And Christ loves us anyway. The Good News is the love of God despite all our faults and flaws. So much of therapy is understanding that you are worthy of love. God Himself has told us as much in his Word. The Truth of the Gospel is that you have value. You are worth loving and your love is a gift to others. God commands us to love ourselves and love each other.
What are the Next Steps?
I encourage you to explore what I have to say about counseling for anxiety, depression, anger, life transitions, stress management, relationships, and other issues. Christian Counseling can be a part of any treatment. If you wish to explore the intersection of your faith with your mental health, please let me know. If I sound like the right fit for what you are seeking, we can set up our first appointment and get started. Like all important work, this will not be easy. I promise that you will be uncomfortable at time as we challenge the old ways and build new ones. I invite you to face this challenge with the faith and understanding that, made in God’s image, and supported by His Son, you have the strength and ability to become the person He made you to be.
Therapists providing
counseling in Atlanta
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