In chapter 4 of Christian Counseling, Malony and Augsburger attempt to prescribe what should happen in counseling, “after you say ‘hello?’ In other words, What do you do when the door is shut and there is nothing but space between you and another person?” (p. 26). Note that they do not intend to survey what Christians do, but what they should do.
So, what should they do? The authors suggest that like all counselors, Christians should listen first; advise second. The first part is universal to all counselors, the advising will need to be uniquely Christian. So far, so good. At this point, the authors detour into what behavioral essentials mark the Christian life: prayer, worship, bible study, acts of service to others. The question they undertake is to discern whether these activities are to be part of the counselor’s work with the client. The authors answer both yes and no.
Yes, these behaviors are important in reaching the “master motive” of Christian counseling: increasing and maintaining a sense of God (p. 28). To do so counselors help people encounter (not study) God AND to interpret that experience (just as Moses encounters God at the burning bush, so he also needs God’s words to understand. So, there are explicit uses of prayer, scriptures (not worship as they deem that a church role), and service.
No, the counselor does not always explicitly use these activities. They may incarnate Christ through modeling and not words.
So, how do the authors suggest that be worked out? Intentionality in the following way:
Action 1: Pray for the session prior to meeting with the client
Action 2: Invite the client to pray silently and end with a liturgical phrase such as, “The Lord be with you…”
Action 3: Proclamation: The risen Christ is with us (naming that Christ is present in the session)
Action 4: Creative middle: the heart of the counseling that may be following a particular counseling model. Mostly, there will be searching for insight and moving towards practicing new habits.
Action 5: Committing clients to God
Commentary: If I were more liturgical, I might like this. But I’m not. I’ve never done exactly what they say. However, I think it is helpful to remember why we are counseling (the superordinate goals). And so, I do pray for clients and for wisdom, we do have a middle part, and then we ask for God’s help at the end. My beef with this chapter is that the creative middle is massively important. How does one use the Word there, if at all. How does one listen and advise. Too little is given to that area. I understand that there will be differing opinions but a methodology chapter that focuses on starting and stopping sessions misses much.
What do you think about the essential behaviors of the Christian life? Somehow they cover most of it and yet of course it feels rather thin since lists never convey the rich vitality of living in community.
Musings on Faith and Psychology 