Four myths Christians sometimes believe about counselling, psychology and mental health
living well
1) Christians shouldn’t struggle with difficult emotions
The Bible says that when Jesus’ friend died, Jesus wept. He wept. The son of God, who was perfect, who had more faith than anyone ever will or ever has had, and who knew He was about to bring Lazurus back from the dead . He wept. At other points He got so anxious that He was sweating blood and so angry that He tipped over tables. Our perfect example of what humans should be like experienced the full range of emotions.
Not everyone deals with emotions well, but we can look to Jesus for an example of a good way to behave when these emotions come to the surface. And one thing Jesus did with emotions: He felt them!
2) Counselling teaches people to rely on themselves not God
Like many myths, this one probably started with an element of truth. Counselling does encourage the client to think for themselves and to recognise and not ignore their own perspective, needs and feelings. It may encourage them to explore whether they have abilities to cope beyond what they realised.
However, in my ten years of counselling experience and three degrees in counselling and psychology, I have never come across an aspect of counselling that tells people that all the answers are within themselves and that they should never look elsewhere for help. I’ve never heard of any counselling theory speaking against asking God for help. Counsellors often encourage people to seek support from others and find resources outside of themselves. In fact, a non-Christian counsellor once encouraged me to seek advice from my church, as part of her work helping me see what coping mechanisms I already had available to me.
I can’t promise there aren’t any rouge counsellors out there who are letting their own beliefs influence their counselling, but if they exist, they don’t represent the profession any more than a rouge pastor with unusual theology represents Christianity.
3) Listening to psychology isn’t a good idea because it was invented by non-Christians
Actually, I agree with this to an extent. As Christians, we shouldn’t let psychology tell us what our morals should be or what we should believe about God. And I think most psychologists would agree with me here. Psychology is supposed to answer questions like “what causes a person to behave/think/feel this way?” and “how can we help someone to think/feel/behave a different way (if that’s something they want to do)?” It isn’t supposed to answer questions like “who is God?” or “is a particular behaviour morally right or wrong?”
So how about for the questions psychology is supposed to answer? Does it matter that some of the people we see as the founders of psychology were strong atheists?
Firstly, one question I’d ask is, did psychology have a “founder”? Many people attempted to ask and answer questions we now call psychology for hundreds or even thousands of years before Freud was born and many psychologists have rejected many of Freud’s theories since he died.
Secondly, are the personal beliefs of the founders the most important question? The inventor of chemotherapy didn’t believe in Jesus and the inventor of penicillin did, but does that mean that penicillin is any more Christian than chemotherapy? Of course, the line between psychology and philosophy isn’t as clear as the line between medicine and philosophy, but if you have concerns about the beliefs of some of the more famous psychologists, I’d encourage you to explore to what extent their beliefs influence modern day psychology and counselling.
How would modern day counsellors? What about when they aren’t Christians? An important part of counselling training is counsellors learning to be aware of their own beliefs and biases and not to impose these on their clients. That means that the counsellor’s personal beliefs shouldn’t impact on counselling. But of course counsellors are humans and might not always manage this, so if you’re worried about what beliefs a counsellor might have, you might like to choose a counsellor who is a Christian.
4) Christians don’t need counselling because we have God and the church
I want to explore this fourth myth with some questions and invite you to use them for your own reflection.
Do you think the Bible give any advice about physical health? What about mental health?
Do you believe that God heals physical illnesses miraculously sometimes, never or always? What about mental health struggles?
How can the church and the physical health professionals (like doctors) both play a helpful role in supporting people struggling with their physical health? How can they compliment each other by providing different types of help and support? What about with mental health?
How do these questions impact your view on seeing a professional for help with your physical health (e.g. a doctor)?
Is it different with your mental health? Why/why not?
Suggested reading for churches wanting to better understand mental health:
The website below gives advice to churches about supporting people with their mental health. Like with many resources, we can’t promise that everything they post is something we’d agree with, but they do have some very helpful insights.