Biblical Counseling
Understanding Inspiration, Inerrancy, and Authority of Scripture
What is the inspiration, inerrancy, and authority of Scripture and how do they work together to help us? As the ultimate standard for life and living, there will never be any facts or findings that can contradict it. Because of the inerrancy of Scripture, we can hold it as the total truth and standard for all ethical, social, spiritual, and life science issues.
You Can Cry On Me. Your Tears Are Warm.
Loss hurts no matter when it comes. Even necessary endings have a way of hurting – though we knew that or they had to go. As a biblical counselor, tears are a regular part of my day. When people come in my office and feel the freedom to cry, I am honored. I don’t take it for granted when someone...
Six Strategies for Developing a Caring Relationship with My Counselee
The Bible is the source by which I provide all biblical counseling. It is not just a filter by which I pass all my theories and thoughts. Rather, the truth I impart comes solely from Scripture, and in doing so, I will provide biblical and practical care for my counselees. The following are six biblical strategies to develop a...
Free Counseling Notes Template
As a counselor, taking notes is one of the most important parts of my job. The details shared with me in a counseling session are sensitive and critical, so I want to capture what I can. I also hear a lot of information over the course of many cases, so taking notes helps me keep the details straight. I...
A Proven Tool for Breaking Sinful Habits
Breaking a sinful habit can take a lot of faith and work. The prophet Jeremiah asked a provoking rhetorical question when he wrote in Jeremiah 13:23, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil." He was making the point that evil that is so ingrained...
Biblical Counseling After Suicide or Suicidal Thoughts
Suicide is one of the most difficult types of suffering and pain we can experience. Counseling those who are in the wake of a tragic loss, or those who are contemplating taking their own life, requires deep biblical wisdom. The Bible has hope and help to guide us. The Association of Certified Biblical Counselors has given me permission to share...
6 Essential Strategies For Building Rapport with Clients in Counseling
When a person sits down with you and asks you to give them wisdom on something they are facing in their life, it can be nerve-racking. What do I say? Will they like me and trust me? Can we build rapport fast so I can speak the truth in love? These and the questions will plague the mind of a...
7 Items for a Pastoral Care Team Meeting Agenda
Every week I sit with our Care and Counseling Team to review the current people we are caring for. This is not always a short meeting. On any given week we may have as many as 60 active cases to review. A "case" is someone that we we are currently engaging in biblical counseling or are caring for in...
Forty-Eight Things you Can Do to Relieve Anxiety
Dealing with anxiety can be an up-and-down journey. The hills and valleys come when you least except them. We would love to just take the short cut to avoid them, or the straight path that will cut right through them, but it is not always that easy. Believe me, I know. Anxiety is a frequent feeling that I have dealt...
The Search for a Biblical View of Counseling (A Helpful Article Review)
Dr. David E. Carlson wrote an intriguing article in the mid 70’s that was delivered at the Research in Mental Health and Religions Behavior Conference in 1976. It was title, "Jesus’ Style of Relating: The Search for a Biblical View of Counseling”. His goal for this article was to “Bridge the gap between carrying helping professions and dedicated to communicating...
7 Essential Elements of a First Session in Biblical Counseling
A first session in biblical counseling can be intimidating. Even the best Certified Biblical Counselors can experience some nervousness when meeting with a person for the first time. In some ways, we should; we are being allowed into a very intimate and hurting part of another person's life. This should come with a dose of apprehension and humility. Yet,...
Taking a PAUSE to Pursue Peace
When it comes to describing the current state of our world, peaceful is not the word most people would use to characterize culture. God calls us to a kind of peace that doesn’t mean living in the absence of conflict. Instead, He gives us a roadmap for navigating the struggles and disagreements that come when sinful people engage with one another, inevitably leading to broken relationships. Here is a way to take PAUSE to pursue peace.