Why I'm Not a Christian Counselor
I'm a therapist who is a Christian
Hey everyone, my name is Joe Wilkie and I’m a Licensed Professional Counselor. I’ve been practicing therapy for over 8 years. This Substack was started to share my therapy thoughts. Yes, I am a firm Bible-believing Christian who speaks on Christian podcasts and preaches at my local church of Christ, but I’m also a therapist who has many ideas on therapy. In the church’s silence on mental health, people have begun to look elsewhere for answers on things like trauma, abuse, addiction, depression, anxiety, attachment, inner child, parts work, and more.
We realize the Bible is not the DSM-5 and does not speak to things like healing sexual trauma or breaking free from a chemical addiction so we largely avoid those subjects. And yet, a foundational belief in God and His love is so important in working through them. After all, He created mental health.
Many Christians are wary of the world of therapy because they believe therapists will attempt to pull them away from God or criticize them for their Christian beliefs. Unfortunately, that is sometimes the case. However, the answer for many is to seek Christian counselors so as to not be swayed by secular thinking.
I can certainly appreciate that, but as you’ll soon find out if you subscribe to this Substack, I am not the biggest fan of Christian counseling. Though many have called me one, I do not consider myself a Christian counselor. I am a therapist who is a Christian. That may be confusing so allow me to explain:
I’m Not a Christian Counselor
Christian counselors believe the Bible is the key to most or all mental health struggles. They are quick to open the Bible to tell people what the Scriptures have to say on their struggle. For those struggling with panic attacks, they might turn to Philippians 4 and discuss winning the battle in the mind. Is that wrong? Of course not. But is that what the person actually needs? Do they need a lecture on not being anxious? Is overcoming panic attacks really so easy as to pray it away or learn to cope with the thoughts? Is that what Paul intended to teach in Philippians 4?
Christian counselors often teach Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. In this modality in Christian counseling, a person learns to challenge unhelpful thoughts through prayer, meditation, and journaling. In no way are those bad pursuits and they do have the potential to help some. However, they fail to understand why a person has an unhelpful thought pattern. They are quick to run to coping instead of solution. For instance, instead of asking where the thought to self-harm came from and processing potential past trauma they are quick to run to Scriptures about the body being a temple and/or how a person can cope with the thoughts by snapping a rubber band on their wrist or something similar.
Christian counselors often provide personality tests to determine things such character traits, what biblical character you’re most like (Yes, that’s a legitimate test), your Meyers-Briggs personality, or your Enneagram number. I’ve always failed to understand how those are helpful. If anything, they serve to pigeonhole people and cause them to think they are a certain way (“Well, I guess that’s just me being an Enneagram 7”). Once again, do you know why you are that way? How did you get there? Was it all nature or is there any nurture? Christian counselors often fail to dig to the deeper level as they seek the quick solution.
Christian counselors are rarely prepared to handle true traumas such as sexual abuse. Because of the focus on the mind instead of the emotions or body (which is where trauma is stored) they fail to process through the depths of the trauma. Many Christian counselors are not trained in trauma modalities and there’s nothing wrong with that. However, many Christians are unfamiliar with or wary of secular approaches such as EMDR, Brainspotting, Internal Family Systems, etc. so they stick to what they know: Christian counseling. Then, after years of merely trying to cope with the effects of trauma, they wonder why they’re still struggling with deep-seated anger or strong bouts of depression. This is when they often turn to psychiatry and are diagnosed and placed on medications that they will remain on for years, decades, or life.
I’m a Therapist Who Is a Christian
There’s no such thing as mental health apart from God. He is the Creator of the mind and of psychology. He is aware of how trauma affects us because He created emotions and the body. Many stay clear of secular approaches because they aren’t grounded in Scripture, but the Bible doesn’t have much to say about how eye movement is tied to processing trauma.
Similarly, the Bible doesn’t have much to say about chemotherapy, but we know it has great potential to kill cancer cells. God designed humans to be able to heal in unbelievable ways so there is perhaps a perfect way to heal from trauma that we have yet to discover. Just because it’s new does not make it wrong much like Advil was new at one point but is now accepted as a good way to manage pain and inflammation.
As a therapist, I’m not afraid of modern secular modalities. In fact, I look to blend a dozen+ treatment modalities to tailor-make a treatment plan for each client. Some of them are secular approaches, but I make sure each one is undoubtedly grounded in Christianity. The unconditional love of God is the foundation for any attachment work. The glory of God is the ceiling for any esteem work. The grace of Christ is the heart of any addiction work. The gifts and abundant goodness of God are the tools that make any therapy work possible. How we do the work is varied, but the work itself is only made possible through God.
This is why I’m a therapist who’s a Christian. We need modalities that seek to answer the why and that are able to help a person not just cope with but truly process the traumas and struggles of life.
If you are someone who has largely written off therapy, someone who knows little about it, or someone who knows a great deal about it and is a big supporter of it, this blog is for all of you. This is intended to be a space where I show how God and therapy intersect. It’s a place for my random thoughts, a place to ask questions, a place to challenge therapy culture, and a place to help people understand the amazing world of mental health apart from the nonsense of this age. If that appeals to you, please consider subscribing below!
Future articles include:
How to avoid the therapist roulette
The dangers of putting yourself in a box (Enneagram, Meyers-Briggs, etc.)
You can’t accept what you won’t give yourself
Therapy: Creating roadmaps in the brain
Stoplight Living
The Intimacy Pyramid
Breaking free from porn addiction
Parents: Disciplinarians - Mentors - Friends
Weaponizing therapy terms
The beauty of exclusivity
No one wants to be alone anymore - exploring attachment
Processing trauma
Overcoming addiction
And so much more!