Professional Counseling vs. Pastoral Counseling

One of the first and most important distinctions to make is that the role and mandate for the Pastoral Counselor is different than that of the Professional Counselor. Pastors have a responsibility to speak truth, offer correction and accountability. Church members look to Pastors to exercise some level of biblical authority as they seek their guidance and care. Conversely, Professional Counselors do not operate with that same level of authority which allows them to suspend corrective conversations. A Christian therapist might have their own belief on what is right or wrong, good and bad, God’s best or less than, but ultimately they are first and foremost concerned about offering clinically sound mental health and relationship help. In this way, faith-based counselors are able to dive deeper into issues without ever needing to speak into sin issues. For the faith-based therapist, it’s all sin and brokenness. It’s the reason why people are in therapy to begin with. There is brokenness within and all around the client that they seek healing from.

Counseling (by Christians)

Some therapists are licensed mental health professionals who also are Christ-followers. This doesn’t necessarily mean matters of faith are included in therapy. Only that the therapist is personally committed to a relationship with Jesus and obedient to God’s Word. For many Churches and Pastors, this is the basic requirement to refer members. Matters of faith and biblical truth need not be taught in the counseling room. Only that there is personal guidance for the therapist through their faith when it comes to counseling for or against various life matters and decisions.

Christians (that Offer Counsel)

Others claim to be counselors by offering and basing their counsel only on Scripture and intercessory prayer. While as Christ-Followers, we believe in the power of God’s Word and prayer and believe there is a place for this type of ministry within the Church, we do not offer this type of support or believe it is truly mental health counseling. Therapy includes a dimension of digging deeply into issues, discovering hidden layers of pain and brokenness that go far beyond what the typical lay counselor will be able to see and discern. It also includes an element of intuition and empathy to know when to time the delivery of truth. Speaking God’s Truth can heal, but it takes gifting and training to know when to deliver it for the most amount of transformation and impact.

Integrative Christian or Biblical Counseling

Most of our team would be what are called Biblically Integrative Therapists. This means we are trained just as well as any other licensed mental health professional, but we are also trained in sound theology and knowing biblical narrative enough to integrated God’s Truth almost seamlessly while working with our clients. At times, our clients are Christians and invite the inclusion of God’s Word and Truth. In these situations, biblically integrative therapy is powerful and can move clients and couples toward incredible leaps in their own growth and healing. At other times, for clients that aren’t Christians that means we can offer biblical truth and principles in less overt ways, allowing us to discern what the best approach is in therapy and when it’s best to take that approach. In short, the Biblically Integrative Therapist simply has more gears and tools to work with than the counselor that happens to be Christian and the Christian that does lay counseling.