Are You or Your Family Deeply Religious?
What Does a Christian Family Counselor Do?
A Christian
uses a therapeutic approach to finding solutions for family conflicts, in addition to improving mental health using Christian theological concepts. Numerous practices will be used to counsel families who are experiencing distressful feelings or conflicts. Biblical passages will often be used as an appeal to reason, in addition to an authoritative source which helps to motivate family members to talk about and resolve negative feelings and to change unhealthy behaviors. Psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, and cathartic therapy are prime examples of the methods that can be used in this kind of counseling.
One approach is
cognitive behavioral family theory. This appeals to reason and encourages family members to try to better understand and learn new behavior. Not all every method of Christian family counseling will use cognitive therapy, however, most do. This is because Christian beliefs emphasize the power of personal change which pertains to a persons decision to express their faith in God.
Family therapy is not the same as individual therapy, where family units are seen as a psychodynamic system that is affected by personal experiences and their individual values. The system is said to exert its own influence on how family member interacts with other. In Christian family counseling, the
family counselor
will explore how relationship dynamics affect the family relationship. They will help individual family members to better understand and change their patterns of behavior which are the cause of dysfunction within the family.
However, not every family member that participates in therapeutic counseling will believe in Christian theology. Some members have their own belief systems. However, by the nature of this kind of therapy, the counselor is an adherent to the Christian belief system. When the majority of family in the counseling sessions adhere to the Christian belief system, the counselor will most likely appeal to theological concepts in order to resolve family issues and conflicts. If your family
is having issues, then please call Sally Leboy Individual and Couple's Counselor in San Diego, CA now at (619) 345-3797.