Why Biblical Counseling is Not the "Christian Alternative" to Therapy

In the most fundamentalist Christian spaces, mental disorders or poor mental health in general are regarded as spiritual problems. The answer to these spiritual problems is to read the Bible, pray, and eradicate sin. Thankfully, the greater Christian culture has begun to realize the flaws in this approach. Mental health is being taken more seriously. But what often happens is that while many Christians believe mental disorders are real, their solution still falls short. They will often prescribe biblical counseling as opposed to clinical counseling/therapy, often referred to as "secular therapy," which suggests it's automatically a threat to faith. They treat biblical counseling as if it is an equal alternative for the Christian. However, biblical counseling is fundamentally flawed when it comes to dealing with many presenting problems, let alone mental disorders. Let's talk about why.

What is biblical counseling?

The Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC) is the leading organization when it comes to becoming a certified biblical counselor. In other words, if you want to become a biblical counselor, this is the place to go. On the topic of biblical counseling, the ACBC says, "... we seek to bring biblical solutions for the problems people face, upholding that the method God has given to do this is truth in love." Additionally, "Biblical counselors believe it is the divine intention of Scripture to describe the perfect standard to which people must conform as they live their lives, the spiritual problems they face in life which challenge that standard, and the process of transformation that God has designed to help them change. Biblical counselors are committed to using the Scriptures in counseling out of the conviction that the topics addressed in the Scriptures are the exact issues addressed in counseling conversations."

What is the process to become a biblical counselor?

Becoming certified seems straightforward. There is a bunch of reading followed by several exams. Once this portion is completed, the certification-seeker will need to conduct 50 supervised sessions (meaning, they will need to talk to a supervisor about each session) and five of these sessions need to be audio recorded.

For comparison, toward the end of a two-year graduate program on counseling practice, ethics, human development, assessment and diagnosis, and a variety of other subjects, a clinical counselor would need to complete 40 hours of supervised sessions (all of which need to be recorded) followed by an additional 600 hours of clinical experience. These numbers vary by state but are certainly more than what is required for biblical counselors.

"Of course! They are being trained for two different jobs," you might say. I completely agree, which is why this is one of many reasons why biblical counseling is not the Christian alternative to therapy. Let's talk about the others.

The values of the ACBC.

The ACBC's beliefs are built on four core values: theology, Scripture as the intervention, excellence, and church.

Theology. The ACBC is specific in its theological beliefs and trains its counselors to think likewise. Their theological framework is fundamentalist — biblical inerrancy, futurist view of Revelation, all Scripture is God-breathed (which is a misunderstanding of 2 Timothy 3:16), complimentarian view of marriage, etc. While many Christians differentiate between "homosexual acts" and "homosexual desires," the ACBC believes that the desires are sinful — meaning they believe temptation is a sin. ACBC certified counselors must adhere to the ACBC's doctrine and theology statements.

Scripture as the intervention. The ACBC believes that Scripture is completely sufficient as an intervention for any and all problems that a person might face.

Excellence. The ACBC believes that the counsel given to "counselees" should be excellent.

Church. The ACBC believes that being connected to a local church is fundamental to the Christian faith.

The problems.

If you want to boil down the ACBC's approach to one thing, it's their reliance on Scripture. However, there are many contradictions in the way they use and talk about Scripture. For example, they state that Scripture is completely sufficient for counseling intervention, and that "The words of Scripture concern issues of life and faith before God, and because counseling issues are matters of life and faith, the Bible is a sufficient resource to define and direct all counseling ministry."

They find themselves in their first contradiction when they go on to say that Scripture should be used as it was intended to be used. Context matters, they say, and I agree. But the problem with this statement is that by acknowledging the importance of context, you would be hard pressed to also make a case that the Bible was intended to be used for counseling intervention. There is a big difference between the usefulness of something and the intention that something be used for a specific purpose. In other words, while we might use the Bible for certain circumstances effectively, that does not mean it was specifically written for that purpose.

On top of that, they also state that biblical counselors need to be clear when communicating with a counselee on whether the information they are providing is Scripture or if it's a personal opinion. But if Scripture is completely sufficient for counseling intervention, why would the biblical counselor be giving a personal opinion?

It is here that we run into the core systemic issue of biblical counseling. The ACBC trains biblical counselors in one brand of theology and leads them to believe that deviating from this theological doctrine is what causes problems in the lives of their counselees. It sets up a perfect storm for spiritual abuse. Biblical counselors hold the power to tell counselees why their lives are a mess, and according to the ACBC, the problem is always them.

This means that the wife who is being cheated on is shamed for thinking about divorcing her husband. The girl struggling with anxiety is told to just trust God. The man with depression needs to find joy in the Lord. The person who feels like they were born in the wrong body is just encouraged to think differently. The abused child needs to obey their parents. The person who desires to be with someone of the same sex is shamed and told that even acknowledging those feelings is sinful.

These aren't the exceptions either. These are the stories of those who went into biblical counseling hoping for healing, but instead walked out with even more hurt.

When you put someone in a position of power and tell them that they have the monopoly on truth, the counselees are at the mercy of the counselor to define reality and Christianity for them based on one brand of flawed theology. Despite good intentions on the part of the biblical counselor, biblical counseling provides a wonderful place for spiritual abuse to run rampant.

All of this dismantles the very idea of excellence and their "do no harm" approach.

And then there's mental illness.

The ACBC released an intentionally vague statement on mental illness, evidently leaving the decision for medical intervention up to the discretion of the biblical counselor — you know, the biblical counselor that has no clinical training on how to identify the need for clinical intervention. They also do not believe that mental illness is as serious as mental health care professionals claim, nor do they receive any education on dealing with trauma. Let's make the implicit explicit here: Ignorance causes harm.

Perhaps most telling about their stance is what they had to say about the DSM-V. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) categorizes and describes all recognized mental disorders according to the American Psychiatric Association. The ACBC claims that biblical counseling is at odds with the DSM-V because the DSM-V ignores the spiritual aspect of a person, including when it gives treatment recommendations. Here the ACBC becomes absolutely laughable and shows their hand: either they are intentionally lying, or they have never cracked open the DSM-V. If they had, they would know that the DSM-V does not prescribe any treatment recommendations. It only describes mental disorders.

Their denial of psychology is alarming, especially for those going to biblical counseling that need clinical care. "We deny that the findings of secular psychology make any essential contribution to biblical counseling. God’s goodness allows that secular psychology may provide accurate research and make observations that are helpful in understanding counseling issues. Because unbelievers suppress the truth of God in unrighteousness the efforts of secular psychology at interpreting these observations lead to misunderstanding. Because their observations are distorted by a secular apprehension of life their efforts at counseling ministry will be in competition with biblical counseling. They cannot be integrated with the faith once for all delivered to the saints."

Translation: psychology leads to recommendations that claim our approach is harmful, so in an effort to discredit the field, we are going to disassociate from them and claim they are biased.

Never mind the fact that the theology of the ACBC is highly biased.

Last but certainly not least, if you would like to become a biblical counselor but already hold a counseling license (e.g., LPC), you could be disqualified from becoming a biblical counselor. Why? Because the ACBC does not believe biblical counselors should have to follow the ACA Code of Ethics.

I took an entire class on the code. I've read the code multiple times. I'm still confused where the conflict would be with Christianity. But with the ACBC? It could be the code's emphasis on autonomy — respecting a person's right to make decisions about their own life. Or competence — the understanding that you should not counsel people with presenting problems that are beyond your capabilities. Who knows. You can read the code here and figure out for yourself what might be the issue.

Counseling isn't anti-Christian.

Let's just address the elephant in the room, shall we?

At some point, I'll probably dedicate a whole post to the many myths Christians have made up about psychology and counseling, but let me say this here: Although you can find flaws with every counseling theory, I have never heard a Christian critique counseling accurately. While there are dozens of different theories used by counselors in the US, what Christians are often critiquing is a counseling of their own creation. Most often I've heard, "'Secular' counseling is so self-centered." If by self-centered you mean the client is encouraged to look inward and deal with their own problems, you are absolutely correct.

But even this unfounded critique alone exposes much of the mentality Christians have about people: We shouldn't care about ourselves. Needing help is selfish. Learning how to love and accept ourselves is worldly. Counseling is fixing ourselves, and it's prideful to think we can do that.

All of that is false, by the way. We should care about ourselves. Hating ourselves is harm to self and can lead to treating others poorly. Needing something is fundamental to existing. And we all have baggage that we need to identify and work toward healing. When did the view that we should sit back and let God do all of the work become the noble position? Hate to break it to you but... we have a part to play here.

Counseling is hard work. It is hard to acknowledge your flaws. It is hard to learn how to cope with mental illnesses. Is is hard to figure out the best approach to dealing with challenging family members. Counseling is not for the weak or seekers of fluffy affirmations. Whoever gave you that idea has clearly never been in counseling. In fact, let me tell you a secret about counseling: In a nutshell, it's just helping you solve your own problems based on your values. Sure, there might be some psychoeducation thrown in here and there — like the different communication styles and cognitive distortions. But for the most part, counselors are there to help you process, set your own goals, and choose your own healthy way of achieving those goals. 

There are other forms of therapy, too, like EMDR, which is an intensive treatment for trauma. When a person has experienced trauma, that means that the brain has not fully processed the event. The memories of the event aren't connected to time, so a person might feel like they are constantly reliving an event, or in the case of complex trauma, they are constantly being triggered to feel distressed, and sometimes they don't know why. It is an incredible tool that has helped many people find freedom and healing from their traumatic experience by helping the brain — a physical organ — process the event(s) fully. Bible study can't do that; it was never meant to.

So in case you haven't heard this in church or from your Christian friends, know that you deserve to deal with your crap. You deserve to experience the healing that comes from unloading all of your junk and dealing with it piece by piece. Not only do you deserve it, but it's an act of love. For you and for others.

Know thyself.

I heard someone say recently that the only thing they needed to know about themselves was that they are a worthless sinner. I definitely take theological issue with "worthless," but regardless, is that really all we need to know about ourselves? Sure, we sin. But in what ways? To whom? When? There is tremendous power in understanding the "why" behind our actions. In my own life, it has helped me stop hurting people because in all honesty, I didn't realize I was doing it until I understood something about myself and how it was influencing my actions. It led to me realizing my own need for constant self-reflection and also encouraged me to be more patient and compassionate toward others.

Like it or not, psychology has taught us that knowing ourselves helps us be better people. If we are willing, anyway. I can't tell you how many Christians have told me that the Enneagram (or whatever personality or motivation assessment they took) helped them in their marriage; in their family; in their friendships. These amazing tools expose our strengths and gifts as well as our weaknesses and growth areas. They show us how we communicate so that we can see how misunderstandings happen with our loved ones. They show us how we handle conflict. All of this creates awareness, which creates an avenue for change. This is valuable information that we can use to better serve others and follow Jesus. There is nothing "unbiblical" about it.

Not an equal alternative.

Fundamentally, biblical counseling is not the Christian alternative to therapy. At best, it's a Bible study that might bring change or comfort. At worst, it's a systemically harmful practice that ignores serious issues. The Bible was not written to cure anxiety or depression or schizophrenia or bipolar. It also wasn't written to give us an understanding of trauma and abuse. Therefore, a biblical counselor who was only trained in the Bible cannot help with any of those things. It's like taking ibuprofen and expecting it to cure your cancer. It's not a method for healing.

I'm not here to tell you which counseling is best for you, but since the ACBC doesn't believe in informed consent, I felt the need to get this information out there. You have the autonomy to choose for yourself. You are not less of a Christian if you seek counseling outside of the Christian bubble. In fact, you aren't even sinning. You're also not embracing the "secular." You are embracing hope. You deserve healing and peace. If you find that in biblical counseling, I am so incredibly happy for you! Know that your experience is rare, and be grateful for it.

Most of all, be mindful of these realities when recommending biblical counseling to a friend.

If you'd like to read about the ACBC for yourself, head over to BiblicalCounseling.com. If you need help looking for a clinical counselor, check out Psychology Today.com. For free/affordable counseling, OpenCounseling.com is another great resource.