This article will shine light on why Christians need a Christian therapist. Studies suggest improved outcomes when the client’s and therapist’s faiths align. Christians benefit from faith-integrative therapy.
In my last post I wrote about the benefit of therapy for believers individually and for the body of Christ as a whole. If you missed that one, click here.
Today I want to get more explicit about the importance of seeing a Christian therapist who is comfortable integrating faith into your therapeutic work. This post will not be exhaustive; it will not cover every last reason why a Christian will benefit from seeing a Christian therapist, as opposed to a secular therapist. If I covered all of them this post would be a book. Instead, I am going to name what I believe to be some of the most important reasons here.
Why a Christian therapist for a Christian?
First, I want to define what I mean by Christian therapist. Here, I do not mean a therapist, who just so happens to be a Christian. I mean a therapist, who is a Christian, but who is also intentional, skillful and ethical in explicitly integrating elements of the Christian faith and the overall Christian worldview into the therapeutic endeavor (with ongoing consent from the client, and after gathering an understanding of the Christian client’s worldview as they would describe it).
The importance of seeing a faith-integrative Christian therapist can be summarized by Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 1:18:
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
The Christian worldview sharply contrasts from that of the world and culture. This is true on so many levels.
The purpose of life
For the believer, the purpose of life is to glorify God. God has always wanted to be in close relationship to and dwell amongst his people. God put us here to worship him.
We see this celebrated throughout scripture. In Isaiah 43:1, the Word says, “ Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” And, verse 7 goes on to say, “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
1 Corinthians 10:31 exhorts us, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Matthew 5:16 advises us, “…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven.”
The late theologian Tim Keller, makes an excellent point related to the intersection of life purpose and worldview within the counseling relationship (Keller, 2010):
“There is no way to determine what a person ought to do, whether behavior is good or bad, unless we know for what purpose a person was made. Is the purpose of the human being to glorify God, pursue individual freedom, or promote honor within his or her family? Each of these examples presumes a distinctive worldview. Science cannot answer the question of human purpose; therefore it cannot by itself provide advice about what people ought to do.
“Consider this example. Secular psychologies generally assume that people should be individually free to choose for themselves the life they want to live. That assumes the secular view of the world: that we were not created, we just evolved; therefore there is no purpose for which we were created. We are free to determine our purpose for ourselves. But can this psychology be proven by empirical science? Of course not; it is a faith assumption.“
Our worldview informs our understanding of what life’s purpose is. Our theology around the purpose of life informs our ethics, morals and values and the goals and aims we are seeking to accomplish in therapy.
As an example, let’s say a secular therapist who is an atheist sees the purpose of life as achieving one’s own happiness on one’s own terms. Despite the therapeutic models and interventions they are using in therapy, this will inform their idea of what the client should and shouldn’t work toward and how they qualify “success.” Clinicians aim to be free of bias, but clinicians are human.
A research study by J. Giglio proved exactly this- the therapist’s biases, attitudes and values entered the therapy room (Giglio, 1993). The study found that the secular therapist’s values can conflict with their religious client’s values leading to negative counter-transference (negative biases and assumptions about what the client believes, thinks, feels, needs, etc) and can result in negative treatment outcomes.
Again, as believers we know that for many a non-believer the word of God sounds like foolishness, as Paul wrote- it would take an incredibly self-aware and ethical secular therapist to keep their personal negative biases about Christianity out of the therapy room.
The focus of life
What we believe to be the purpose of life, as informed by our worldview, then informs our focus for life. In culture at large, and within secular therapy, the focus is on the self, sometimes even written with a capital “S” or spoken about in an elevated manner (i.e. “higher self”).
Self-idolatry is the mark of this culture and secular therapy is not different. This is where we get ideas like, “you are enough,” “protect your peace.,” or the new age idea, inspired by an Eastern religious worldview, that God is within.
As Christians we are asked to be like Christ. Philippians 2:5-8, tells us, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature, of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
Christ Jesus did not “protect his peace,” when he needed space to grieve his friend, John the Baptist, he was still taken with compassion for the masses that followed him, and He healed the unwell in the crowd (Matthew 14:13).
The Word teaches us that we are to “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).
The secular world focuses on self. One of the therapeutic models I use, Internal Family Systems, which I find highly useful for Christians, (especially those navigating spiritual dilemmas) champions the goal of therapy as being “Self-led.” As a Christian counselor I adapt this model to align with a Christian worldview. As believers our goal is not to be “Self-lead,” we seek to be Holy Spirit-led. It is a priceless gift in this life to be blessed with the Holy Spirit and to be led by Him (Ephesians 1:13-14).
Jesus taught us that following him involves denying ourselves and taking up our cross. He goes on to say…“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26)
Denying ourselves doesn’t mean we neglect ourselves; if it did I wouldn’t be an advocate for therapy. No one benefits when we ignore our trauma and repress our pain. Denying ourselves means yielding our will and way to God’s. This is being led rather than aiming to become our own God and take the lead.
To walk like Christ, we awake each day with a servant’s heart, asking “how can I serve others?” We aim to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul and mind and love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39). We recognize that life is about something greater than our seeking our own happiness at every turn and running toward every fleshly desire.
When we are in Christ, we find that we don’t need to protect our peace, because when Christ dwells in our hearts, we have access to his peace. He is peace.
As Christ tells us in John 16:33, one of my favorite verses of scripture, “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.”
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The question I pose to you is this,
Do you wish to centralize God in your life? Do you wish to deepen your walk with Him? And if you do, what would happen if you also centered Him in the sacred healing space that is therapy?
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What’s next?
+ Check out my next blog:
How Internal Family Systems Therapy Integrated with Christian Counseling and a Biblical Worldview can Deepen Your Faith
+ Reach out to schedule your free 15-minute consultation and explore how I could support you you Christ-centered therapy: click here