Nouthetic counseling (Greek: noutheteo, 'to admonish') is a form of evangelical Protestant pastoral counseling based upon conservative evangelical interpretation of the Bible. It repudiates mainstream psychology and psychiatry as humanistic, fundamentally opposed to Christianity, and radically secular. Its viewpoint was originally articulated by Jay E. Adams, in Competent to Counsel (1970) and further books, and has led to the formation of a number of organizations and seminary courses promoting it. [1] The viewpoint is opposed to those seeking to synthesize Christianity with secular psychological thought. Since 1993, the movement has renamed itself biblical counseling to emphasize its central focus on the Bible. [1] The Baker Encyclopedia of Psychology and Counseling states that "The aim of Nouthetic Counseling is to effect change in the counselee by encouraging greater conformity to the principles of Scripture." [2]
The Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (CCEF) was founded in 1968 by Jay Adams and John Bettler. [3] Alasdair Groves is the current executive director. [4] Jay Adams founded the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC) in 1976 (originally named the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors or NANC). [5] The current executive director of ACBC is Dale Johnson. [6] At the end of 2022, there were nearly 1,700 ACBC-certified biblical counselors listed worldwide. [7] Numerous other biblical counseling organizations exist in the United States, [8] including:
There are also many biblical counseling organizations that were created outside the United States. [16]
Nouthetic counseling has been criticized as narrowly conceived, with a confrontational focus upon sin and behavior, which fails to deal adequately with emotion, grief, and suffering, and which lacks understanding of complex human motivations. [17]
Clinton and Ohlschlager describe what they call the historic debate between nouthetic counselors and integrationists. Nouthetic counselors, they say, argue that truth can only be known as revealed in the Scriptures. According to an article published by the Spring Christian Counseling Center, secular counseling and psychology are primarily pseudosciences which only can be transformed [ by whom? ] into "true" sciences within the framework of faith-based Christian dialog.[ citation needed ] Integrationists argue that God reveals his truth universally. This includes general revelation, or what they define as truth known by scientific investigation, as well as truth known by special revelation in Christ. Clinton and Ohlschlager express their belief that "shrill criticism and rancorous debate" are ill-suited to the mission of uplifting Christ as the model for counseling. [18]
Christian counselor and psychologist, and leading proponent of the rival "community model", [17] Larry Crabb, states that Adams compares behavior patterns "with his understanding of biblical behavior patterns, and commands change". Crabb agrees with Adams that obedience to God's commands is "absolutely necessary for effective Christian living", but takes issue with what he sees as Adams' apparent belief that this is the "single key ingredient for spiritual growth". Crabb believes that this neglects what he refers to as the "'insides' of the behaving person", particularly "the person's assumption system and his evaluation of situations based on his assumptions". [19]
Christians also debate the causes of mental illness and the extent of demonic influence on counselees. Three different views as to the origin of mental illness emphasize respectively:
Furthermore, "[i]n the counseling field, many nouthetic counselors have said that Satan and his demons were bound, bruised, curtailed and restrained at the time of Christ's death and resurrection. They assert that human beings today primarily struggle with their own sin natures rather than directly with Satan and his emissaries." [20]
Eric Johnson points out that nouthetic counseling has tended to be "very skeptical of contemporary psychology" and "the efforts of integrationist Christians who seek to combine their faith with that psychology." [21] On page 800, the Baker Encyclopedia of Psychology and Counseling describes nouthetic counselors as "zealous to return God and the Bible to positions of authority in the hearts and lives of people", but criticises them as "failing to see the validity in alternative approaches". [22] Donn Arms, a nouthetic counselor and associate of Jay E. Adams, wrote a response to the Encyclopedia's criticism. [23]
Nouthetic counseling has been criticized for the way its "rational and certain approach can come across as impersonal, emotionally distant, and insensitive." [24]
Nouthetic counseling is viewed as highly controversial by secular psychologists who believe that it is unethical to counsel that the Bible has the answers for all people of all backgrounds. [25]
Some counselors[ who? ] believe that nouthetic counseling can do considerable harm to patients. In addition to techniques which critics consider ineffective, patients who are not helped by nouthetic counseling often consider themselves to be "unfaithful" or religious failures. [26]
The Bible is a collection of religious texts or scriptures, some, all, or a variant of which, are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, Islam, Baha'i'ism and many other religions. The Bible is an anthology, a compilation of texts of a variety of forms, originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek. These texts include instructions, stories, poetry, and prophecies, and other genres. The collection of materials that are accepted as part of the Bible by a particular religious tradition or community is called a biblical canon. Believers in the Bible generally consider it to be a product of divine inspiration, but the way they understand what that means and interpret the text varies.
Pastoral counseling is a branch of counseling in which psychologically trained ministers, rabbis, priests, imams, and other persons provide therapy services. Pastoral counselors often integrate modern psychological thought and method with traditional religious training in an effort to address psychospiritual issues in addition to the traditional spectrum of counseling services.
Jay Edward Adams was an American Presbyterian author who wrote more than 100 books. His books have been translated into 16 languages, and he received his doctorate in preaching.
John Dwight Pentecost was an American Christian theologian, best known for his book Things to Come.
Paul Chaim Schenck is an ordained clergyman, author, and lecturer.
Western Reformed Seminary is a seminary of the Bible Presbyterian Church located in Tacoma, Washington. The school provides theological training for ministers, missionaries, teachers, and interested Christians. The president is Tito Lyro. Western Reformed Seminary was founded in 1983.
Christian counseling is distinct from secular counseling. According to the International Association of Biblical Counselors, Biblical counseling "seeks to carefully discover those areas in which a Christian may be disobedient to the principles and commands of Scripture and to help him learn how to lovingly submit to God's will." Christian counselors, therefore, approach psychology through the lens of the Bible. They see the Bible as the source of all truth.
D. Andrew Kille was an American writer, teacher, biblical scholar and interfaith activist.
Wayne Edward Oates was an American psychologist and religious educator who is often - incorrectly - considered to have coined the word 'workaholic'.
Lawrence J. Crabb, Jr. was an American Christian counselor, author, Bible teacher, spiritual director, and seminar speaker. Crabb wrote several best-selling books and was the founder and director of New Way Ministries and co-founder of his legacy ministry, Larger Story. He served as a Spiritual Director for the American Association of Christian Counselors and taught at several different Christian colleges, including Colorado Christian University.
Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes.
Twisted Scriptures: Breaking Free from Churches That Abuse is a non-fiction book by Mary Alice Chrnalogar, published by Zondervan. Chrnalogar instructs readers on how to determine if a religious group is manipulative or abusive, and describes techniques of mind control. The book was first published in 1997 by publishers Whitaker House and Control Techniques, and republished in 2000 by Zondervan. A Spanish language edition was published in 2006 by Vida.
ACBC may refer to:
The Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS), founded in 1956, is an association of American Christians in the counseling and behavioral sciences. It holds a yearly conference and publishes the Journal of Psychology and Christianity, which is indexed in psychological and other scholarly databases.
Brevard Springs Childs was an American Old Testament scholar and Professor of Old Testament at Yale University from 1958 until 1999, who is considered one of the most influential biblical scholars of the 20th century.
June Hunt is Founder and CSO of Hope for the Heart, a US-based nonprofit Christian ministry which she founded in 1986.
J. Harold Ellens was a psychologist and theologian. He was the founding editor of the Journal of Psychology and Christianity and also the Executive Director of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies International from 1974 to 1989. He was one of the key figures in psychological biblical criticism and served as Chair of the Psychology and Biblical Studies Section of the Society of Biblical Literature.
This is a bibliography of the works of Jay E. Adams.
David Gordon Benner is a Canadian depth psychologist, author and wisdom teacher.
Pamela Cooper-White is the Christiane Brooks Johnson Professor Emerita and Dean Emerita of Psychology and Religion at Union Theological Seminary in New York.
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