What do you mean by “Christian Counseling”?

For counseling to deserve the modifier "Christian", we believe it must imply more than the mere fact that a Christian is doing the counseling. True Christian counseling is based on biblical views and values. A Christian counselor defines pathology, not solely by scientific study of human behavior, but by the Bible's definition of how we ought to think, act, and relate. For instance, a scientific study could easily confirm that 90-95% of us have told a lie (it's really 100% but we all know that scientific studies have some degree of error). This "scientific fact" would not make the behavior right, normal, or good -- just common.

Good preaching tells us what we should do; good counseling helps us identify and remove obstacles to doing what we ought to do. Thus, Christian counseling is not one-on-one preaching. Counseling is a collaborative experience.

According to Scripture, we are three-part beings (body, soul, and spirit); consequently, our problems often have components in more than one of these areas. A good Christian counselor can help address the mental and spiritual components of our difficulties and assist in the diagnosis of physical factors which a qualified physician would treat.

At Home Improvement Ministry we make a conscious, continual effort to ensure that the counsel as well as the counselor is Christian in nature. Simply put, that means we want our theories, our methods, and our techniques to be pleasing to and honoring of Jesus, our Lord.

Finally, let us consider what "Christian Counseling" does not mean. It does not mean counseling "for Christians only." If you are not a Christian, but are open to counsel that comes from a Christian orientation, we invite you to explore the possibility of working with us on the troubling issues in your life. HIM staff will relate with you, respectful of where you are spiritually. Should we be unable to do that for any reason, we would be open and honest with you about it.