Define lay counseling

An overview of

Lay counseling: Equipping Christians

for helping ministry

By Siang-Yang Tan

Contents

• The Need for Lay Counseling Ministries • Biblical Basis for Lay Counseling

• A Biblical Model for Effective Lay Counseling

• Basic Principles of Effective Counseling • Reasons to Refer

• The Literature of Lay Counseling • Building a Ministry of Lay Counseling

• Selection of Lay Counselors

• Training of Lay Counselors • Supervision of Lay Counselors

• Evaluation of Lay Counselors • Potential Pitfalls

• Conclusions

Introduction

• Is lay Christian counseling helpful or dangerous? • Can we expect an average person without a master’s

or doctoral degree in counseling to be able to meet the needs of someone plunged into depression or wracked with indecision by some complex problems in life?

• Lay counselors are “individuals who lack the training, educational experience, or credentials to be professional counselors, but who nevertheless are involved in helping people cope with personal problems” (Gary Collins, cited p. 14)

• Lay counseling is present in churches, para-church organizations, mental health settings, Christian, and secular

The Need for Lay Counseling

Ministries

• Psychological problems are increasingly evident

• Christians are not trained to handle difficult problems (i.e. typical answer is “you’re a sinner, just pray about it”)

• There are Scriptural texts that support the use of lay counseling

Biblical Basis for Lay

Counseling

• Conservative circles are concerned about the “seduction of Christianity by secular psychology”

• Every ministry must begin with Biblical and theological basis, including lay counseling

• Two categories of Scriptural reference provide biblical support for lay counseling ministries in churches – Calling of all Christians to be involved in ministry

(priesthood of all believers)

– All believers are called to be involved in ministry to one another (i.e. people-helping by non-professionals and para-professionals)

The Call to Ministry in General (Priesthood of Believers, I Peter 2:5,9)

• Eph. 4:1-16 demonstrates God’s will for all saints to be equipped for ministry or service – Unity of Calling: no clergy-laity distinction

– Unity of Ministry: each member of the body is indispensable. We don’t have a ministry; we are one.

– Unity in Common Life: (Eph. 2:5, 6, 19, 22, 3:6; 4:16); we are interdependent

– Unity in Purpose: ultimate goal is maturity in Christ; ordained pastors should equip the saints for ministry or service

The Call to Lay Counseling as a

Specific Ministry • Mandate to show Christ-like love to one another (John

13:34-35) and carry each other’s burdens (Gal. 6:2)

• All believers are to admonish, encourage, or help one another (Rom. 15:14; Col. 3:16; I Thess. 5:14)

• Some believers specially gifted with exhortation, or paraklesis (Rom. 12:8)

• Jay Adams developed nouthetic (from nouthesia) counseling, “change through confrontation out of concern.”

• Dr. Frank Minirth notes 5 verbs in NT relevant to ministry of counseling: parakaleo, noutheteo, paramutheomai, antechomai, and makrothumeo, all appearing in I Thess. 5:14:

And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.

A Biblical Model for Effective

Lay Counseling

• Primarily based on three well-known

approaches to Christian counseling: Jay

Adams’ Nouthetic Counseling, Gary

Collins’ People-Helping, and Larry Crabb’s

Biblical Counseling

• Three major headings:

– Basic View of Humanity

– Basic View of Counseling

– Basic Principles of Effective Counseling

Basic View of Humanity 1. Humans need a sense of self-worth (not self-

worship), which comes from Christ alone

2. Humanity’s basic problem has to do with sin. The model does not assert that all emotional suffering is due to sin.

3. The ultimate goal of humanity is to know God and enjoy him forever.

4. The model assumes a basic cognitive-behavioral perspective; problem feelings are usually (not always) due to problem behavior and more fundamentally to problem thinking.

5. The model takes a holistic view of persons as physical, mental-emotional, social, and spiritual beings. Similar to Lazarus’ Multimodal Therapy approach of BASIC I.D. (B=Behavior, A= Affect, S=Sensation, I=Imagery, C=Cognition, I.=Interpersonal relationships, D.=Drugs/Biological Factors) but also includes spiritual.

Basic View of Counseling 1. One view amongst professionals is that

counseling and psychotherapy are different, where counseling would not attempt to change the personality. “There is a continuum from the simplest form of counseling through to the deepest levels of psychotherapy” (p. 40).

2. A second view is that counseling and psychotherapy are terms to be used interchangeably, also the view of this model.

20 Most Frequent Reasons

People Seek Counseling 11. Other unpleasant feelings

12. Family and marital trouble

13. Help in resolution of

conflicts with others

14. Deteriorating interpersonal

relationships

15. Drug and alcohol

problems

16. Sexual difficulties

17. Perceptual distortions

18. Psychosomatic problems

19. Attempted suicide

20. Difficulties at work/school

1. Advice in making simple

decisions

2. Answers to troublesome

questions

3. Depression and guilt

4. Guidance in determining

careers

5. Breakdowns

6. Crises

7. Failures

8. Grief

9. Bizarre behaviors

10. Anxiety, worry, and fear

Basic Principles of

Effective Counseling The Holy Spirit’s ministry as counselor or comforter is critical in effective Christian counseling (John 14:16-17). In every counseling session there are at least three people present, the counselor, the client, and the Holy Spirit.

The Bible is the basic guide for dealing with problems in living (2 Tim. 3:16-17). We must learn to interpret and apply the Bible appropriately and properly. This model, however, does not imply that the Bible is an exhaustive guide to counseling.

Prayer is an integral part of biblical helping (James 5:16). Use of prayer during the session requires discernment, proper timing.

The ultimate goal of counseling is to make disciples or disciplers of clients. Counselors should fulfill the Great Commission.

The personal qualities of the lay Christian counselor are important for effective counseling (Rom. 15:14, Col. 3:16). A lay counselor must be spiritually mature to be effective. Other important characteristics include self-understanding, understanding of others, remain objective, able to get along, experience, a genuine believer, capable, God-fearing, honest, available, willing to refer difficult cases (Ex. 18:21-22).

The client’s attitudes, motivations, and desire for help are crucial factors for determining whether counseling will be helpful or not.

The relationship between the counselor and the client is another significant variable affecting the effectiveness of counseling.

Empathy, respect, concreteness, genuineness, confrontation, immediacy, truth.

Talking alone does not lead to change – it requires confession, reconciliation, forgiveness.

Basic Principles of

Effective Counseling

Effective counseling is a process which unfolds cyclically from exploration to understanding to action phases.

Stage 1: counselor helps client identify problem feelings

Stage 2: counselor helps client identify problem behaviors

Stage 3: focus is on identifying client’s problem thinking

Stage 4: counselor teaches right, biblical thinking

Stage 5: secure a commitment from client to such biblical thinking and obedience to the Lord and His Word

Stage 6: client is encouraged to plan and carry out biblical or right behavior

Stage 7: client can identify and enjoy Spirit-controlled feelings of security and significance.

Basic Principles of

Effective Counseling

Directive or nouthetic counseling is an important part of Christian counseling, but style or approach in counseling should be flexible.

The model remains flexible with regard to specific techniques or methods to be used in counseling. Scripture remains as ultimate screening guide.

Effective counseling requires cultural sensitivity.

Outreach and prevention techniques are also important for effective lay Christian counseling. 6 proposals for Lay counselors’ training:

1. To assess role of environmental stressors in emotional problems

2. In technique of community outreach and empowerment

3. In cultural awareness and sensitivity

4. To be aware and make use of existing support systems within the churches

5. In how to develop new support systems within the church when needed

6. To communicate more actively and regularly with others, especially leaders of other outreach ministries in the church

Reasons to Refer

As a general rule, make a referral when you lack the time, emotional stamina, stability, skill, or experience to continue counseling. When you are no longer able to help someone, refer. More specifically refer counselees:

With legal difficulties,

With severe financial needs,

Who require medical attention,

Who are severely depressed or suicidal,

Who will require more time than you can give,

Who want to shift to another counselor,

Who show extremely aggressive behavior,

Who make excessive use of drugs or alcohol,

Who arouse strong feelings of dislike, sexual stimulation, or threat to the counselor,

Who appear to be severely disturbed.

The Literature of

Lay Counseling Secular Literature

Reasons for Using Lay Counseling: 1. Shortage of mental health professionals to meet increasing demand

2. National surveys (1957 and 1976) indicated people would go to a family physician or clergy more often than mental health professionals. (The text does not give evidence of more recent surveys.)

3. “Spontaneous remission” meaning many people get better over a two year period without any professional intervention.

4. Much research has evaluated the results of counseling by lay counselors with little or no training versus professionally trained therapists, and although there is still much controversy over the results, both appear to be equally effective.

5. Indigenous lay counselors may be more effective with their own culture than those professionals from outside a specific culture.

6. Nonprofessional or lay counseling serves as a means for recruiting lay counselors into professional counseling careers.

Problems with Using Lay Counseling: 1. Boundary confusion; lay counselors may attempt more than they can do.

2. Lay counselors may feel insecure due to lack of training/experience.

3. Professionals may be unwilling to support them due to liability/risk/prestige.

4. Pragmatics of training - universities more focused on training professionals

Utilization of lay counselors include: volunteers in hospitals, mature women as mental health counselors, college students as companion- therapists, and indigenous nonprofessionals for impoverished areas.

Need formal assessment for selection and training in human-relations.

The Literature of

Lay Counseling Christian Literature

Jay Adams’ “nouthetic counseling”, Gary Collins’ “people- helpers” and Larry Crabb’s “biblical counseling” are most influential approaches to Christian counseling in the literature.

Models and literature are expanding, with many books and journal articles being published.

Special issue of Journal of Psychology and Christianity was devoted to lay Christian counseling (1987, vol. 6, no. 2).

There is little empirical research evaluating training of lay Christian counselors, and research on effectiveness of lay Christian counseling is scarce. A few are mentioned in the text, along with suggestions for future research.

Building a Ministry of

Lay Counseling Start by choosing an appropriate model for a lay Christian counseling ministry for a particular type of church or agency. Models are not one-size-fits-all.

The Informal, Spontaneous Model assumes lay Christian counseling should occur spontaneously and informally in interactions and relationships already present or possible through the existing structures of the church. Common in evangelical churches; use spiritual gifting and basic training, but do not receive ongoing supervision.

The Informal, Organized Model assumes lay Christian counseling should be an organized and well-supervised ministry which nevertheless should still occur in informal settings as far as possible. Counselors are carefully selected and given training with supervision, but the counseling occurs informally; e.g. Stephen Series system of lay caring ministry.

The Formal, Organized Model assumes that lay Christian counseling should not only be an organized and well-supervised ministry, but should occur in a formal way, such as through a counseling center. May be stand- alone facility or a part of the church. Staffed by professional counselors and therapists who oversee selection of lay counselors. Lay counseling would take place in offices with appointments scheduled. Regular staff meetings occur with a licensed, professional counselor or pastor of lay counseling as supervisor. Several variations of this model occur and are available for review through church groups.

Building a Ministry of

Lay Counseling Five Steps for Building a Lay Counseling Ministry:

1. Become familiar with the 3 models for counseling ministry (previous slide) and assess which one, or combination of, would best fit your agency’s needs.

2. Get support for the idea of lay counseling from the pastor, pastoral staff, and agency board. Without their support it will be difficult to proceed.

3. Screen potential lay Christian counselors from the congregation, using appropriate spiritual and psychological criteria (more on that in future slides).

4. Provide a training program for lay counselors, focused on basic helping relationships within a biblical framework.

5. Develop programs or ministries where the trained lay counselors can be used. Program depends on your model.

Building a Ministry of

Lay Counseling Ten Guidelines for Establishing a Lay Counseling Center 1. Determine clear objectives for the counseling service.

2. Establish the “ethos” or distinctive character of the lay counseling center by giving it an appropriate name.

3. Carefully select, train, and supervise the counseling personnel (director should be licensed professional counselor or pastor with training and experience in counseling). Provide training journals.

4. Arrange for suitable facilities for the counseling center. Include reception, waiting area, and at least 2-3 counseling rooms.

5. Establish operating hours of the center. Days, evenings, weekends, etc., Consider emergency procedures, length of sessions, etc.

6. Establish a structure within which the lay counseling center will function. Appoint a director to run the center, board or committee to oversee, secretary/receptionist, etc.

7. Spread the word about your center - marketing can be accomplished through various media, but should be non-threatening to clients.

8. Clarify services the center will offer: (premarital, groups, individual, etc.). Tan suggests referring out for all testing, including vocational tests.

9. Carefully consider the financing for the center, including books, supplies, furniture. Consider liability issues if you accept donations for services by lay counselors.

10. Determine the church affiliation of the lay counseling center. Several churches could come together and start a center. Take into consideration doctrinal issues and follow-up for ongoing spiritual care and guidance of clients.