Journal of Biblical Clinical Counseling & Education

Review: Biblical Discernment, Neuroscience and Trauma, Truth in Love Podcast, Episode 414

This PDF is the first article in a series that will evaluate what some biblical counselors say or write about trauma theory.

This article is intended for Biblical Counselors or Christians who seek to understand or help those with trauma symptoms.

Journey Into Biblical Counseling: Part 2

This blog post will continue to explore my journey into the Biblical Counseling certification entities, what I learned along the way and where I am now.

Per my previous post, I shared that in 2011, Elyse Fitzpatrick’s book on parenting was my introduction to Biblical Counseling (BC). Six years and two states later, while I was taking seminary classes, I became aware of a Biblical Counseling summer conference near our new home in Southern California. I excitedly attended it. I was eager to gain information on how to incorporate, not necessarily integrate, what I was learning about secular counseling observations with a Biblical Counseling method and a clear theological Gospel-centered precision.

My Journey Into Biblical Counseling

Many have asked me how I became a Biblical Clinical Counselor. To answer this question, it might be a good idea to first share how I stumbled into counseling as a ministry vocation. After the LORD saved me in 2004, I thought I wanted to enter the mission field. I had to abruptly leave a deployment in Kuwait due to health reasons, and I naively believed I needed to go back and share the gospel in a Middle East country. I changed my major from teaching high school history to English to eventually become TESOL certified, which I thought would be my missionary “in” to a closed country. That never happened because three months after remarrying, I was pregnant with my son and moved across the country to Virginia.

Christian Psychology, PTSD and the Christian

Shortly after Easter in 2003, I was medevac’d out of Kuwait City during Operation Iraqi Freedom because my heart would not stop racing, and I could not catch my breath. Six months later, I left the Army and a physically abusive marriage. A little before Easter in 2004, the Lord saved me, and I was remarried within the year of my salvation to a man who professed Christ as Savior. I left my home state of New Mexico and moved across the country to Virginia and began attending my husband’s church, which had lots of ministry activity that I easily got swept into. I soon began exhibiting PTSD symptoms, but at that time, I did not know it.

Male and Female Differences: Part 2 Helper Made in God’s Image – Debunking Woman’s Inferiority

But for Adam there was not found an ezer kenegedo for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. (Gen 1:26- 28)

“In Cases Such as These”: Wayne Grudem’s Third Reason Divorce is Justified According to 1 Corinthians 7:15

(I wrote this article in 2019 on Medium)

The topic of divorce is always a hot button issue in the church. In general, Christians know that God hates divorce. This comes from Malachi 2:16 and is the “go-to” Scripture reference when pastors are dealing with a married couple in their congregation struggling through marriage, or when Christians are helping another brother or sister endure difficult seasons of life in marriage. In general, the church has promoted only two legitimate reasons for divorce, infidelity (Matt 5:32; 19:9), and abandonment by an unbelieving spouse (1 Cor 7:15).

Male and Female Differences: Part 1 – Debunking the “Men are Visual” Lie

The Problem:

The belief that God made men visual is a myth that has been directed at congregations for years. Churches and ministries alike have been troubled with the vast number of men addicted to porn and didn’t know how to explain it. Blaming immodest women has been the catch-all explanation for why “good” men stumble and is used as an excuse for Christian men to explain why they had a moment of weakness when they submitted to lustful thoughts after being visually aroused, which led to masturbation or viewing porn.

Twice A Year Bible Reading Plan

For 17 years my husband has been consistently and faithfully reading his Bible daily, without a reading plan. Our local pastor recently shared that he reads the Bible 3 times a year. WOW!

I have tried several plans but was never truly satisfied with them. I have enjoyed the chronological plan a few times but I knew from the beginning that I would not get to the New Testament until the end of the year. I often don’t want to wait to get into the life of Christ or the events and circumstances that led to the creation of the NT church. I needed to hear, sooner rather than later, Paul’s admonishment and encouragement to believers because I need those reminders often, in the context that they were written in.

For Counselors: Biblical Change and Insight

What is the nature of Biblical change and how do we help those we counsel gain insight?

As Christians who counsel, we need to understand the distinction between Biblical change and insight. Christians who seek counseling will have some degree of insight into their lives, enough to know that something is amiss, either in their interactions with others or how they react to daily life. They might not know what is going wrong or why it’s going wrong, but they know something is not right.

Counseling: What is Our Foundation for Faith and Practice

– Our foundation and practice for counseling is our faith in Christ and Scripture.

If our counseling practice rests on our foundation, what is the end goal for those we counsel? How are we practicing out our foundation in our counseling? How does our foundation show up in the language of how we counsel? These kinds of questions should be part of our counseling thought process.

In many Christian circles, the field of psychology is often assumed to be neutral objective truth, with many often comparing it to the medical field. However, it is well known that not all doctors interpret objective medical truth the same way, specifically concerning why human bodies break down.