The New Christian Counselor

The New Christian Counselor

Abstract

Hawkins and Clinton’s book on Christian Counselling, The New Christian Counselor: A Fresh Biblical and Transformational Approach provides a holistic approach in Christian counselling. The book contents emphasize on pursuing three dimensions of healing that involve psychological, physical and spiritual healing in the counselling process. The authors guide Christian counselors in enabling clients to take possession of their souls and attain spiritual nourishment. The therapeutic objective portrayed in the book is one that seeks to mend the Client’s relationship with God. The book further emphasizes on a Triune God possession of souls by way spiritual fulfillment by the Holy Spirit, the compassion of God and healing through the love of Jesus Christ. The authors also advocate for an interdisciplinary approach that focuses on the model of “Christ the Transformer of Culture” which seeks Christian Counselors to keep abreast with contemporary developments in science and religion. The book stipulates that Christian counsellors ought to merge the world of cognitive theories and practices with inspiration from biblical scriptures.

Hawkins & Clinton Book, The New Christian Counselor: A Fresh Biblical & Transformational Approach unravels critical ideologies for Christian integrative counselling. The book employs practices and theories to strengthen the authors’ arguments. The primary objective of the contemporary Christian counselor is to promote professionalism and the teachings of Christianity while moving with the current new developments in the field of counselling. The theories and practices in this book are inferenced from diverse sources and tailored to have positive spiritual nourishment effects in perturbed clients. This review seeks to discuss and analyze four concepts in the book and in the process intertwine them with the models for interdisciplinary integration.

Hawkins’ book utilizes the phrase Possessing the Soul and reinforces on Jesus’s teachings to his disciples as stipulated in Luke 21:19. This reading in scripture concerns patience and unwavering faith in God. Jesus’s expectation in imparting this message was to make his disciples to trust in God even in hardships as opposed to departing and looking for easy options. Reliance on our creator fosters our spiritual relationship hence nurturing souls. This sentiment expounds that counselors and clients ought to seek comfort in God for their souls to be transformed. Such transformation is stated to only happen if as Christians we take control of our thoughts with conviction for change in our choices. The authors further argue that our thoughts and feelings determine our decisions and relationships with others. The role of the Christian counselor is to improve his skill and utilize new truths under the direction of the Paraclete. The goal is to achieve positive soul nourishment and transformation in clients and further bring such a soul back to God, as it is only God who can uplift a soul. The incredible aspect is that numerous clients seek out a Christian Counselor who will incorporate the concept of spirituality in their counselling technique. Research has proven that clients with a firm faith become fully satisfied and rejuvenated to believe in God.

The renowned authors of the book seek to define the concept of Christian counselling. This type of counselling is designed to increase the devotion of followers to Jesus Christ and his teachings. The technique implemented is assisting clients to find and experience God’s love, infinite power, purpose, mercy and forgiveness. The counselor is expected to take a guidance role that guides the client to the path of Jesus Christ through a process that involves spiritual healing and reinforcement of a Client’s relationship with God. Hawkins ideology of counselling is premised on the fact that Clients require inner healing even when they have given their lives to Christ. In essence such Christians need to restore the relationship with the triune God in terms of healing, loving and forgiveness.

The concept of the Triune God is further expounded in the book. The Triune God depicts a tripartite spiritual being comprising of God as supreme father, Lord Jesus being God’s son and the Paraclete. The holy Trinity God instills holy workings in a Client’s body, mind and soul during the carrying out of the counselling strategies. Each party to the Triune when called upon imparts freedom and healing from distinct perspectives that elicit a sense of living in the image of God and in keeping with his commandments. God shows compassion to all Christians who live and abide by his ways and including those deviants who seek refuge in his compassion. The Holy Spirit assists Christians to fight and overpower struggles in life by granting them spiritual resolve. Jesus Christ on the other hand awakens the sense of forgiveness, peace, love and gracefulness. The key truth is that the Christian counselling process pursues linkage of the Triune God, Counselor and Client in achieving soul healing and in effect enable the Client to experience the presence of a living and all-powerful deity.

The ideology of anthropology and identity in Christian Counselling is also portrayed in Hawkin’s book. The concept utilizes concentric circles in giving meaning to the soul. It acknowledges that there are several and numerous treatments available for Counselors. Some tend to focus and believe in bodily problems, others reckon that such challenges are relational while some focus on spiritual problems. Based on these treatments are tailored on psyche medication or at times it is in the realm of spirituality. Hawkins and Clinton advocate for a holistic technique that covers all tripartite aspects including individuality, psychology and spirituality of the soul. The authors state that the Holy Spirit if allowed resides in the center human spirit that is made in the image of God. The outcome from the center human spirit are decisions , emotions and sinning sections of the soul. The self in the spirit sense is what needs us to take control in conformity with God’s values. These fundamental aspects are examined and addressed in Christian Counselling sessions that deal with soul transformation.

Attachment and relationships are also discussed in the book as integral factors in our Christian lives. God manifests in our social relationships and that is why in the book of Genesis the creation story depicts Eve as Adam’s companion made in the likeness of God. Counselling in this design is supposed to enable the client to mend all broken social relationships so as to rebuild the vertical relationship with God and follow the path of holiness and inner peace. In a nutshell, positive relationships with God and man assist clients achieve emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing.

Hawkins and Clinton also discuss how to solve addiction and idolatry through Christian counselling. The authors define addiction as a sinful vice that dulls, corrupts and deceives one spiritual sense. Christian counselling upholds the premise that addicts ought to be responsible for their bad choices, face them and work towards making the right choices to deal with the sinful vice. This indifferent from the secular holding that addiction can be linked to genetical makeup or surrounding environments. Idolatry on the other hand is described as that which replaces God in our lives and manipulates us to believe and revere it. These things may seem peril less or non-hazardous but they can lead to consistent sinfulness. The obsession in idolatry is so adverse that it affects our physical and spiritual health. The authors argue that these afflictions can be resolved however such action can take long periods of constant attempts in behavioral transformation. The critical deduction from this topic is that to attain healing against the above sinful vices, it involves counselling that employs unwavering loyalty and commitment to psychological and spiritual warfare against them.

Assessing the five approaches in interdisciplinary, the approach that succinctly comes out in Hawkins and Clinton Book is the “Christ the Transformer of Culture” style. This model reckons that God and Science work hand in hand hence there should be an informed integration of conceptions, professional perspectives and ideologies in both worlds. The approach endorses the fact that the marriage of scientific studies and religious ideologies is the prudent way to handle Clients in Christian counselling. The authors stipulate this marriage as an interdisciplinary professional collaboration that elicits key advantages in sharing of knowledge among different fields. They argue that there is need to keep abreast with contemporary views and developments attributed to scientific breakthroughs in the world of physical and spiritual healing. New philosophical aspects in these disciplines supplement a wholesome approach in pursuing healing for a Client. Further, the internet in this modern age has fostered speedy valuable information sharing that can assist to improve counselling methods.

The main concept propounded by Hawkins and Clinton is that a comprehensive method of Christian counselling commences with the incorporation of theological, psychological and spirituality aspects in the observation and treatment of Clients. The authors expressions are such that Scientific knowledge has immensely assisted in enlightening Christian counselling professionals to adopt therapeutic procedures that integrate physical and philosophical concepts for holistic healing of Clients. The Hawkins and Clinton procedure portrays a firm likeness with psychological practices and theories in contrast with the holy religious scriptures. The authors strongly believe that research and psychological concepts supplement knowledge in the scrutinization of feelings, emotions and mannerisms of human beings. The appreciation that neurological and cognitive parameters of a human being expound on the behavioral patterns coupled with a biblical inspiration has indeed served to address the need for psychological and spiritual nourishment for Clients.