Is Biblical Counseling Anti-Science?

I used to be more of a biblical counseling proponent … until I observed 1) several biblical counselors (ACBC certified to boot!) who caused and were unable to resolve relational conflict within their church; 2) the inability of biblical counselors to effectively deal with abuse and trauma; and 3) the lack of lasting, real change taking place in the lives of those being counseled.

I’ve read the Jay Adam’s books. I’ve read many biblical counseling proponents who write about how people have been changed through their biblical counseling. But, I’ve seen very little good fruit in the biblical counseling that took place in the churches I attended.

I’m not saying biblical counseling doesn’t work. I’ve just not been impressed with what I’ve seen and experienced.

As with most things, it’s important not to overgeneralize. In my own experience the “effectiveness” depends on what kinds of problems are on the table. For the most part, biblical counseling is a way of structuring Christian discipleship, and the question about biblical Christian discipleship isn’t whether it ‘works’ or not, but whether it’s obedient. Outcomes are not primary, though Scripture is clear that believers do grow through the ministry of the word of God, the Spirit of God, and the people of God.

They may not grow in the specific ways that are being targeted—and that’s true regardless of the discipleship techniques employed.

Where I think BC sort of disadvantages itself is that ‘counseling’ is a term that references problem solving. People seek counsel to answer a specific question or solve a specific problem, so people enter into BC with that expectation (or at least hope). I have heard some BC leaders directly disavow that they are even trying to solve problems. They say their only aim is Christian growth. Others may be more apt to focus on resolving a specific issue, but there may be barriers to effectiveness on that score built into BC’s history of reaction against mainstream counseling. What I mean is that as a approach to discipleship, it’s not all that well oriented to solving many specific problems… only the general problem of “sinners who need gracious transformation.”

There’s no better work in all the world than participating in God’s gracious work of transforming sinners. But what about solving specific relational or ‘trauma’ problems?

In my view, this is an overlapping but different thing. It overlaps w/discipleship, but it’s much more focused and practical—specific outcome oriented.

I’m not willing to say BC “doesn’t work.” It’s a bit like having a bad experience with a doctor or two and declaring that “traditional medicine doesn’t work.” Oh wait, about 90% of Christians I know have concluded exactly that on exactly that basis! Well, a better example, it’s like having a bad experience or two with a mechanic and declaring that car repair doesn’t work.

I think BC is changing in a lot of ways. Some practitioners are definitely better than others. It remains better at general discipleship than at specific problem solving. For the latter, I really think some kind of team approach is probably better: get the BC and also get the help of a mental health professional with a Christian worldview. They aren’t really all that hard to find, and in my experience, they are not—as is often fabled—going to tell you to do unbiblical things. At least, not in general. They’re humans, so that’s going to happen with BC or with a trained psychologist who is a Christian.

I have come to view BC, and it’s sister anti-psychology, as another expression of conservative evangelical’s general lack of a fully integrated worldview, especially in anthropology. We have an anti-science and anti-reason problem. What we don’t realize is that this results in anti-truth problems, which is not OK for Christians. The general revelation is not a “you can take it or leave it” gift of God. It comes with obligations.

… well, longer rant than I intended, but there it is.

Aaron, thanks for the response. I’ve heard some pastor friends of mine refer to biblical counseling as “a fancy word for discipleship.” If that were the case, then I’d have no issue with it. We should all be involved in discipleship relationships.

However, the ACBC certified counselors I knew viewed counseling as a skill that only they were qualified to practice. They would sometimes look down on other church leaders who did counseling because 1) these leaders weren’t as qualified as they were and 2) these leaders were using integrationist resources in their counseling.

These ACBC counselors would also hold office hours at the church to meet with people regarding various problems. It was viewed almost like a professional practice for them.

That perspective of biblical counseling goes beyond Christian discipleship.

There are some internal consistency problems.

One reason is, as I mentioned, that the approach wants to be about discipleship but also wants to be “counseling,” which sets up expectations it’s not positioned to meet. But again, I’m generalizing. Some of them call it counseling and strive to deliver on that.

The movement’s opposition to integration was, last I knew, a matter of identity. Non-integration is at the heart of it all. So, counselors trained in that approach should be expected to take that view.

It’s never made sense to me. Integration was poorly executed in some ways, and some of them important, but why should that mean integration itself is a bad idea? I can’t really dismiss any of the sciences as having no intregatable features, social sciences and psychology included. Once again, general revelation comes with responsibilities.

So I think we need to do intregation over again and do it right. Part of that is recognizing that psychological resources are not monolithic. Value can be found in bits and pieces here and there and, some cases, quite a lot of value in the “application of principles” department. Application is mostly outside Scripture, so it shouldn’t be that hard find common ground where even the worst worldviews grasp realities of human nature and develop ways to apply those realities in practical ways.

You can be a rabid atheist and grasp the practical realities of gravity just fine… and better than some Christians. I see no reason why this can’t be true of the human brain and/or lots of behavior patterns in human thinking and relationships, etc.

As for training, to the degree that BC is about discipleship, my impression of what I’ve seen of it is that putting in the time and study to get certified results in a legitimate claim to expertise others probably lack. Like fixing cars. If you’re ASE certified, you don’t necessarily know better than a guy who has serviced his own vehicles for decades without training. But the odds are good.

I suppose, as with anything knowledge/skill based, the trick is to balance knowing what you’re worth with the humility of knowing your limits. So, expertise doesn’t justify arrogance. But sometimes you know what you know, and you know others are ignorant. No avoiding it if you’ve done some learning.

[Aaron Blumer] As for training, to the degree that BC is about discipleship, my impression of what I’ve seen of it is that putting in the time and study to get certified results in a legitimate claim to expertise others probably lack. Like fixing cars. If you’re ASE certified, you don’t necessarily know better than a guy who has serviced his own vehicles for decades without training. But the odds are good.

I suppose, as with anything knowledge/skill based, the trick is to balance knowing what you’re worth with the humility of knowing your limits. So, expertise doesn’t justify arrogance. But sometimes you know what you know, and you know others are ignorant. No avoiding it if you’ve done some learning.

It’s interesting that we’re discussing this now. A congregant from my previous church reached out to me last week and asked if I would meet with him for biblical counseling. I told him I’m not an “official” biblical counselor, but would meet with him as a friend and brother in Christ to talk about his concerns.

As I said earlier, I didn’t see much good fruit from the ACBC certified counselors that I knew. They used their certification to project competency and authority to counsel people, but in the end they couldn’t resolve relational conflict that they themselves caused and ended up leaving the church over it.

But, I understand that these individuals don’t represent every ACBC certified counselor out there. The issue is knowing which ones are “competent to counsel” and which are not. But, this same issue is true of any service field.