Within the body of Christ, there are people who question the need of counseling. In my 25 years as a Certified Pastoral Counselor, I have heard it said, “You do not need to go to a counselor. God has the answers. Pray in tongues for one hour and you will have answers for your problems. The church has the answers. Just pray and give it to God.” The problem with these generalized statements is that they do not give actual God-based answers to problems. The opposite is happening – it is placing undeserved false guilt on people who are sitting in our church pews who are saved but deeply wounded.
A few counseling scriptures:
Proverbs 11:14 King James Version (KJV)
14 Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
We need to make all decisions through God’s wisdom. What is God’s truth? Seeking wisdom from a counselor who basis all answers on God’s Word will not lead someone in a wrong direction. I am responsible to God in all I teach, counsel and write. Without godly counsel, people fall and fail in their attempt to live for God. They are confused and hurting. They need someone that has Bible knowledge to encourage them with God’s truth and show God’s love.
John 8:32 New King James Version (NKJV)
32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
People who are saved but carry deep emotional wounds from childhood or current life need to look at their circumstances through God’s truth – not their wounded heart. The devil delights in taking painful events and planting toxic thinking in the mind of the wounded. A God-based counselor opens the wounded heart to God’s healing truths. This is a process. Instant emotional healing does not happen with one prayer or one counseling session.
I have 25 years of experience of counseling sexual-verbal-emotional abuse, marital discord, sexual sins for all ages, depression, grief, porn addiction, anxiety, etc., all of these are deep painful issues. Emotionally wounded transformation takes time by using God’s truth to replace the toxic thinking. It’s like performing an exploratory spiritual/emotional surgery – applying God’s truth to cleanse and change the toxic thoughts. God’s truth transforms toxic thinking.
Psalm 37:30-31 New Living Translation (NLT)
30 The godly offer good counsel;
they teach right from wrong.
31 They have made God’s law their own,
so they will never slip from his path.
My two-year counseling education came from Holy Ghost filled ministers who had Master Degrees in counseling that is totally different than secular counseling education. (Explained on www.carolclemans.org read ‘about ministry’ page).
Part of my counseling is asking, “What is God’s truth?” about all situations. I had 25 years of teaching God’s Word before becoming a Certified Pastoral Counselor. After counseling 25 years in addition to the total now of 50 years of studying/teaching God’s Word, all of my counseling is founded on God’s truth sharing and encouraging the emotional wounded with God’s healing balm.
Proverbs 18:13 King James Version (KJV)
13 He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.
To be a wise counselor, one must listen to the issue, ask questions for clarification and give the person the safe atmosphere to express their emotions. Then a godly counselor will respond to the issue from a Bible base truth.
Romans 12:1-2King James Version (KJV)
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
This scripture is a foundational truth for spiritual, emotional and relational growth and healing. Salvation erases our sins, but salvation does not erase our life’s experiences and emotions. Spiritual and emotional healing happens through renewing the heart/mind with God’s truth – replacing toxic thoughts with truth. A deeply wounded heart cannot heal itself. A Bible-based counselor is needed as a conduit of God’s truth.
You cannot tell a woman who was sexually abused by her alcoholic father as his prostitute (with her mother’s knowledge) from an extremely young age until she could escape at 18 years of age just go pray and give it to Jesus! All sexual abuse destroys a person emotionally, spiritually and relationally. The victims feel helpless, hopeless, worthless and unlovable even after salvation. Sexual abuse rips away the person’s identity, physical and emotional boundaries. I counsel both men and women who were sexually abused as children. There are multiple thousands of people with salvation today that have deeply wounded souls.
The church must get educated in how to become healing helpers. My heart cringes when I hear ministry speak negatively about counseling. I agree that secular counseling does not have the ability to help people heal spiritually, emotionally and relationally. But when all counseling is condemned, it creates a deeper wound in the soul of the hurting because now they feel guilty for seeking godly help.
Isaiah 61:1 New Living Translation (NLT)
61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
for the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted
and to proclaim that captives will be released
and prisoners will be freed.
The ‘good news’ is the gospel. In addition to salvation, Jesus came to bring comfort to the brokenhearted and release the captives from the prison of toxic thinking that creates wounded hearts. Jesus did not come to release people from physical prisons, but He knew (as God) how people could be imprisoned by the power of their toxic thinking. The only way to replace toxic thinking is having someone share God’s Word through counseling and teaching – being transformed by renewing the mind.
In my counseling, the majority of men/women who are addicted to pornography were victims of sexual abuse in childhood with porn introduced later. Unless you become educated to the physical, emotional, spiritual and relational damage this does to a person, you cannot begin to know how to use God’s truth to help this deep woundedness. I have been using Bible truth in working with these people for 25 years. All the people I counsel have an Acts 2:38 salvation. The devil delights in attempting to destroy people through sexual abuse and the aftermath of the destruction.
Ministry leaders, please become educated regarding the need to have skilled, Bible-based educated, God-based counselors available to the deeply wounded souls who attend our churches.
As a Certified Pastoral Counselor for 25 years, I give God all the glory for leading me down the path of being a conduit of His truth for healing wounded hearts with His truth. All the glory goes to Him. I love teaching God’s Word for churches/conferences and posting teaching videos on Carol Clemans YouTube sharing with others God’s truth.
For the past 13 years, God opened the door for my providing nationwide counseling by phone/Skype/Facetime/Facebook video messenger – it is now 99% of my counseling. I counsel pastors, for pastors and lay people. My counseling is in strict confidentiality. Read the details on ‘about ministry’ page on www.carolclemans.org.
God wants all the saved wounded people to be healed and transformed by renewing the mind with His truth. I cannot speak for any other counselor. I will speak/teach truth in love to share the good news of salvation and God’s healing balm through His Spirit and His Word until He comes for His Bride or takes me to Him.
TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY AND HONOR!
© Carol Clemans – May 2017 – read ‘about ministry’ page and 390+ articles on www.carolclemans.org. Watch video teachings @ Carol Clemans YouTube channel. Ministry ref: Pastor Daniel Batchelor, Dupo, IL. Call to schedule teaching or counseling (636) 448-0121.