Questions For Counselors To Ask Themselves

  I have been studying the history of Biblical counseling, and I have to admit, I have no idea of how we are affected today because of the fact that the area of counseling which was once part of the church, had been taken out of the church by the general public and brought into the medical field, where counseling would now be tied in with psychology and science.
   Psychiatry and psychology are fairly new categories. They were invented by those who wanted to take the responsibility of 'curing the soul' out of the church. Before the mid 1800s, the church took the responsibility for this. Not sure whether it was just taken out of the church, or if the church just abandoned its responsibilities in this area. Whatever the reason, the beginning of psychology, psychiatry, and mental health care was begun, and science was the religion behind how it was supposed to work.
  In the mid 1900s, Jay Adams saw the desperate need to bring Biblical counseling back into the church and has pioneered the way. Many have followed in his footsteps and much has been done to recover the loss. Biblical counseling is now part of many local churches and it is becoming more and more refined as those leading the path continue to blaze the way for it to become implemented and restored by to the church, where it belonged in the first place.
  Today, there are a few, very effective Biblical counseling ministries and ministers. One of them is David Powlison, who has followed Jay Adams in helping to found Biblical counseling. David Powlison has written many articles and has taught classes at CCEF, as well as teaching at seminars and conferences on Biblical counseling issues.
  David Powlison wrote an article called, "Does The Shoe Fit?" which can be found online at: http://www.ccef.org/does-shoe-fit-0
  I was reading through the article and there were about 30-40 questions listed in a section that were directed at the potential counselor. The questions were excellent and I would encourage everyone who aspires to counsel people to read this article and ask themselves the questions. I have also organized some of the questions in a readable format and will reprint them here:

 Questions for us to ask & answer ourselves:

1. Do you treat your counselees differently from how you treat your best friends?

2. Do others see you as embodying tender care for their well being?

3. Do others know you love them?

4. Do people feel that you are for them, and that you are in it for the long haul?

5. Do you elicit trust and promote openness?

6. Do you have a vision, rationale, and modus operandi for the times you might have a 25^th counseling session with someone?

7. Do you so emphasize behavioral sin that you fail to be attentive to heartache and pain?

8. Does the way you look at people and their problems-in-living gravitate to one part of the human condition, but neglect other parts?

9. Do you in fact weep with those who weep?

10. Do you strike the Gospels’ balance between meeting people in their hardships and calling them to change?

11. Does your counseling help some people to weep, giving voice to their sorrows, perplexities, and uncertainties, when they have confused the Christian ideal with the Stoic ideal?

12. Do you strike the Psalms’ balance between suffering and sin and joy?

Please note that in the article, there are many more questions than this, and you can go to the article yourself and read the other questions.